Can OWA coexist with Exchange 2000 Enterprise and 2003 Enterprise? I have just added the 2003 server to the network. I can access OWA on both serviers inside the network but when I try to access it from home I can only access accounts onthe 2000 server. Also when I move an account to the new 2003 server the user loses Blackberry connections in addition to losing OWA. One other thing, the new 2003 server keeps disabling the www service. I have to enable it periodically and start the service.

Check info: 1. Please describe the exchange topology (Front-End, Back-End) and the exchange version on the FE and BE Front-end server Back-end server Outlook Web Access version Exchange2000 Exchange2000 Exchange2000 Exchange2000 Exchange2003 Not supported Exchange2003 Exchange2000 Exchange2000 Exchange2003 Exchange2003 Exchange2003 2. Please based on the table above to check the FE/BE 3. Quote: I can access OWA on both servers inside the network How did you access the OWA on both servers externally and internally? Could you describe the URLs that users will use? 4. Please try to use Front-End and Back-End Topology Troubleshooting section in the article below Resources: Front-End and Back-End Server Topology Guide for Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange 2000 Server

1. Front-end Server Back-end Server Outlook Web Access Version None Exchange 2000 Enterprise Exchange 2000 Exchange 2003 Enterprise Exchange 2003 2. We only have about 100 email accounts so I see no need to have a devoted FE server. Is this the problem? Can a FE server also house email accounts? I understood that a FE server cannot be used for anything else other than to direct traffic, which would make a two server setup useless. Am I wrong? 3. Inside the network we can access OWA via their DNS names, such as: http://exchangeserver2000/ http://exchangeserver2003/ Outside the network we use the domain name: http://mail.domain.com 4. I am downloading the Word document now.

Since now we have two Back-End (BE) servers, a Front-End (FE) server need to be set to accept requests from clients and proxies them to an appropriate BE server. You can also find the list of benefits of FE in the document I posted

Is there any way around a FE server? Having three exchange servers for 100 email accounts is a bit overkill. My ultimate goal is to lose the exchange 2000 server after testing on the 2003 server is complete. If I temporarily add a FE server, how easy is it to eliminate once the 2000 server is removed from the network?

In a pure exchange 2003 environment, if there are two BE servers (Server A, server B), OWA can redirect users to server B when users try to access the mailbox on server B via the URL of server A. So, we just need to publish both servers to the internet, then OWA can redirect the URL to the right server if users try to access the URL of the server which doesnt have the mailbox However, I need to verify what the result in a mixed environment is. So, could you tell me the following info about the environment? I would like to simulate the situation to find the solution 1. Whats the current error info if users try to access mailbox on exchange 2003 externally on Internet Explorer? 2. Detailed version of windows server 3. Service packs of windows server and exchange server 4. OWA configuration (No SSL?) 5. Internally, could users access the mailbox on exchange 2003 server via the URL of exchange 2000 (http://exchangeserver2000/)? Please test on the client PC and exchange 2000 server, and post the error info if has

I am finally back on this project. Here are the answers to these questions: 1) Whats the current error info if users try to access mailbox on exchange 2003 externally on Internet Explorer? I go to the web address http://mail.domain.com and I enter a username and password for the new 2003 exchange server. I get the following DNS error: Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage Most likely causes: you are not connected to the Internet the website is encountering problems There might be a typing error in the address etc 2 &3) Detailed version of windows server and service pack versions Original server: Windows 2000 SP4 Exchange 2000 Enterprise - Version 6.0 (Build6249.4: Service Pack 3) New server: Windows 2003 Enterprise SP2 Exchange 2003 Enterprise - Version 6.5 (Build 6944.4) 4) OWA configuration (No SSL?) no SSL 5) Internally, could users access the mailbox on exchange 2003 server via the URL of exchange 2000 (http://exchangeserver2000/)? Please test on the client PC and exchange 2000 server, and post the error info if has Yes, internally both exchange servers are able to logon via the exchangeserver2000 address from within the network.Also, on the new 2003 exchange server, the service keeps disabling automatically. A couple of times a day I have to enable it and restart.

James-Luo are you still out there?

Hi Caveforce. Thanks for the information. I'll build the lab to test as soon as I get back to office on Monday, and will post the result at here

I have built the lab: Exchange 2000 enterprise SP3 with windows server 2000 SP4 Exchange 2003 enterprise with windows server 2003 SP2 And based on the local test, OWA redirection in an exchange 2000 and exchange 2003 coexistence organization is same as pure exchange 2003 environment. So, please publish the new exchange 2003 into the external DNS server. Then, when users are trying to access the mailboxes on the exchange 2003 server via exchange 2000s URL, exchange can redirect them to exchange 2003 server. Eventually, users can login to exchange 2003 server after they input credential again on the new server

Thanks for helping me out. Now I am confused on how to add the new exchange server to an external DNS server. I do not have access to an externalDNS server. Our internal DNS server routes to our ISP DNS server. I do not recall givingour ISPour old email server's address as it is an internal network address (192.x.x.x) as is our new email server's address. Any direction is appreciated!

You said before, Outside the network we use the domain name: http://mail.domain.com. Usually, there must exist a DNS record that associated mail.domain.com with the public IP address in the external DNS server However, you also said, I do not recall giving our ISP our old email server's address as it is an internal network address (192.x.x.x) as is our new email server's address , which means that therere only private IP address on both exchange servers, right? So, there shall be another device that provides a public IP to link your internal exchange with Internet. We need to find it and provide another public IP for the new exchange server

Ah! So I can have two instances of "mail" in my internal DNS server pointing to different IP addresses? Or should I name the new server different such as "mail2"? Will this solve the problem? Or will I need to contact my ISP to add it to their DNS? It has been seven years since I setup the original server and I can not remember if I contacted them then to add the original settings...argh.

We need to contact ISP to add the DNS record, yes, name the new server different such as Mail2