I have a fairly basic exchange 2003 install. Have a domain controller running server 2008 R2 and a second server running exchange 2003 with server 2003. Is there any good white papers for the transition for this. Plan on installing exchange 2010 on a new server. Haven't decided on whether I need the edge transport server role on an additional server. I have this with a small business where selling them on the idea of a second server for the edge transport may be a hard sale. Looking for input with this. I know this has to be a common question for small businesses. Can we transition to 2010 without Edge transport for now and add it later? Thanks for the input.

Take a read through this document. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998604.aspx You can add the edge transport server later if you want.Mark Morowczynski|MCT| MCSE 2003:Messaging, Security|MCITP:EMA 2K7,EDA Win 7,ES,SA,EA|MCTS:Windows Mobile Admin|Security+|http://almostdailytech.com

Hi,With Edge Server,we will have additional layers of message protection and security are provided by a series of agents that run on the Edge Transport server and act on messages as they're processed by the message transport components.It will help to minimize the attack surface.With small orgnization, if you have firewall in front of the network, then I think we can select to not to deploy edge server. Also we can implement agent on hub transport server. You can refer to the article below to know more about the edge server.Overview of the Edge Transport Server Rolehttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124701.aspxFor how to upgrade Exchange server 2003 to Exchange server 2010, please refer to the article that mark mentioned.More information to share with you:Exchange 2003 - Planning Roadmap for Upgrade and Coexistencehttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998186.aspxRegards,Xiu