In my opinion (which is just that... my opinion, this isn't AVs official statement on the matter) doing a standing upgrade of Exchange, NT and Unity is going to be a tall order.
I'll tell you what I'm working on in this regard. I've been plugging away at a complete export utility that gets all Unity data on the system (including greetings, voice names, routing rules, COS etc... etc... there's LOTS of data in there) and stores it in an external, portable database (Access in this case). There is then a companion utility to Import all that data back into a clean install of Unity. These utilities will work exporting data from a Unity 2.3.4 or later and can import into any Unity version 2.4.0 or later (including 2.5 of course). Stand alone versions will be available on my web site when they're done and tested.
Since our data storage and directory schemes need to change completely to support Ex2K, just updating the directory is not going to fly. Further, SQL will need to be installed on the box, which adds some complexity. As such, the upgrade process will probably look something like this:
1. Export all the Unity data to an Access database. Store it somewhere on the LAN or the local system. This shouldn’t be too huge, but with all the greetings and stuff in there it can get to be several hundred meg for large systems depending on the number and size of the greetings.
2. Uninstall Unity from the system. This means getting rid of all Unity data in the directory as well (we'll be carting around much less data in the directory itself in 2.5).
3. Upgrade NT to Win2K and appropriate SP if necessary.
4. Upgrade Exchange to Ex2K (this step is definitely a weak spot… the Exchange Ex2K upgrade process has some wrinkles in it).
5. (steps 2 through 4 can be replaced with a wipe and reinstall of the appropriate stuff if folks prefer… this would definitely by my choice if I were doing this in the field)
6. Install SQL
7. Install Unity 2.5.0 and get it working with your switch.
8. After you get Unity flying the way you want, import all the Unity data from the Access database saved in step 1.
Not too bad, but not quite a “standing upgrade” you’re looking for. Yes, the export and import processes are going to take a while depending on how much data you’re talking about. Running a beta version of the export utility on a site last week with 2800 call handlers and 1100 subscribers took around 90 minutes. Not too bad considering. The database zipped down to 175 meg. Large but manageable. The import process will be somewhat slower… I don’t have any numbers on that as yet… still working on it.
Again, this is just my opinion of what things might look like. When 2.5 comes out we may have a different/better/alternate upgrade plan. Either way I’m going to complete the export/import stuff so this will be an option. It’ll be handy for folks wanting to reinstall everything or upgrade their hardware or go from a POV to a unified install etc… in the process of going to 2.5/Ex2K. This method also allows for fairly easy direct upgrades from older versions instead of having to do an upgrade to 2.4.5 first and then another upgrade to 2.5. It’ll also allow you to keep the old system running while you build the new system on another box and “cut over” when you’re ready.
Jeff Lindborg
Unity Product Architect
Active Voice
jlindborg@activevoice.com
http://members.home.net/jlindborg
