We have an existing DAG with 2 x mailbox servers – 1 @ each of of our 2 x DataCentres. We now have to take on another 2k users. We feel we spec’d the mailbox servers to cope with this extra load when putting them in – they have 64Gb RAM in each / Quad core etc. But we certainly haven’t got the storage to cope with the extra load. Currently we have 4 x 350Gb database lun’s, and 4 x 100Gb log drive lun’s. 2 of each are used for the copies from the other mailbox server. DB1 – F:\ & G:\ (G for logs) DB2 – H:\ & I:\ J:\ & K:\ and L:\ & M:\ for copies from the other mailbox server - DB3, DB4 and vice versa With this in mind I want to redesign so we have F:\ @ 1TB instead to house all 4xDB’s. and G:\ for logs for all 4. Then we’d present another 1TB for growth etc. So without causing disruption to users and to present this new layout I thought to :- a) activate all databases on the untouched mailbox server b) stop seeding copies on the mailbox server I want to redesign c) rebuild the mailbox server with new LUN’s etc. d) re-seed DB1 from F:\ to new newly rebuilt mailbox server e) activate DB1 on new new server f) proceed to move other databases to F:\ on untouched mailbox server, reseed and activate on rebuilt mailbox server Then once all DB’s are on re-designed server, I can re-design the other one. Does this sound ok? The question I have when doing all of this is if I need to actually clean install windows and exchange 2010 on the mailbox servers; should I run the install with Remove-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupServer -Identity DAG1 -MailboxServer MBX1 Setup /m:RecoverServer

Hi Jammert, About your procedures, those seems good. But, I would suggest that you could make the backup, even test it on your lab. If you want to rebuild the OS and the Exchange Role, it is better remove the node from the DAG firstly, and it is better remove the exchange role. And then rebulid a new exchange mailbox role, and then add it into the DAG. This method would be fine. Setup /m:RecoverServer cmdlet just be used when we do the server corrupted, but there are some information about the server in AD. That means the disaster recovery. I would not use this method. Regards! Gavin TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.