How to move Exchange Server 2007 mailboxes of one forest into higher Exchange version?

Exchange mailbox migration becomes significant and certain to manage growing mailbox storage needs of an organization. Microsoft Exchange Server connects all user mailboxes of an organization with a domain. However, every MS Exchange Server version has its own mailbox storage capacity and therefore becomes unstable or slow after crossing the permissible limit. Microsoft has been continuously expanding email storage capacity of MS Exchange Server in the updated version. Putting Exchange mailboxes of an old Exchange Server on the upgraded Exchange version is best option for organizations to get additional storage space and ensure email security compliance. 

Suppose, if your organization is using MS Exchange Server 2007 for email communication. By migrating Exchange mailboxes into higher version such as Exchange Server 2013, you can easily accommodate new users plus protect your crucial business emails from hackers and intruders. All administrative tasks on the Exchange Server 2007 including mailbox migration are performed by Exchange Management Shell. Exchange Management Shell is a part of Exchange Server 2007 Management Console that comprises of a set of Powershell scripts or cmdlets. Using move-mailbox cmdlet, you can export Exchange 2007 mailboxes over different domains of a network. 

But following conditions must be fulfilled before you can move Exchange Server 2007 mailboxes into Exchange Server 2013: 

• 1. Both Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2013 must be part of your network

• 2. You must possess administrative role on both source and target servers

• 3. You must have access rights of local administrative group of the target server

• 4. Both source and destination Exchange Servers are listed in the Active Directory list

• 5. Both source and destination Exchange Servers are running in online mode

Exchange management cmdlet to move mailbox into another server is:

• get-mailbox –database <old database> | move-mailbox –targetdatabase <new database> -configurationonly:$true

You can also set the mailbox database size limit in the set-mailbox cmdlet for Exchange migration and other tasks. The powershell script line to restrict mailbox database size is:

Set-Mailbox <UserID> -ProhibitSendQuota <Value> -ProhibitSendReceiveQuota <Value> -IssueWarningQuota <Value>

Suppose you specify send limit of the mailbox database to 15 GB in the set-mailbox cmdlet then Exchange mailboxes above 15 GB will not be accessed by users and will show warning messages. You can use set-mailbox and move-mailbox cmdlets in combination also. With set-mailbox cmdlet, you shall be able to export only specific mailboxes of your Exchange Server 2007 organization. However, Exchange mailbox migration with Exchange cmdlets takes considerable time and therefore, it is not suitable for large scale migration. 

Lepide Exchange Server caters the bulk mailbox migration requirements of organizations. This Exchange mailbox migration tool lets organization to move mailboxes into lower or higher Exchange Server. It also export Exchange Server mailboxes to cloud. This Exchange mailbox migration tool also proves beneficial in moving public EDB databases of one forest into the new MS Exchange domain. Read more http://www.lepide.com/exchange-manager/export-multiple-mailboxes.html