Exchange 2010 requires DCs to be at least Server 2003 SP2 along with domain and forest functional levels of at least Windows Server 2003, so Server 2008 DCs are not required. You could proceed with your Exchange upgrades and leave the DCs alone until you can get updated hardware to replace them. Putting Exchange and a DC on a Hyper-V virtual host is also a valid idea, given sufficient hardware to handle the workload.
-Malcolm From: Erik Goldoff [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 09:39 To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: What are my options, Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 or... I didn't see anyone else mention this, but my understanding is the 2008r2 *requires* x64 architecture, so if you only have 32 bit systems in your environment, Windows 2008 would be your choice, *not* 2008r2 ! On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 4:44 PM, Reimer, Mark <[email protected]> wrote: Here's my upcoming problem. We currently have a Windows 2003 domain. All servers, including DC's are Windows 2003 standard. We will be replacing our Exchange server this summer, jumping from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010. I'm planning on installing Windows 2008 R2 on it. My current DC's are 32 bit, and almost 5 years old, and don't have 64 bit architecture. So . Should I upgrade my DC's to Windows 2008 32 bit? Should I try to get upgraded hardware, and install Windows 2008 R2? Should I not worry about it, put in the new Exchange server on my Windows 2003 domain, and upgrade the DC's later? I'm planning on using the standard version (vs. enterprise or datacenter), unless I can get some beefy server, then I'll virtualize one DC and some other physical servers on it. I'm NOT going to put both DC's virtualized on one physical box. My googling on this hasn't turned up any useful information. Maybe it's Friday afternoon. Thanks for any advice. Mark Reimer, A+, MCSA Windows Servers & Networking Prairie Bible Institute Box 4000 Three Hills, AB T0M-2N0 Canada Tel: 403-443-5511, Ext. 3476 Fax: 403-443-5540 Email: [email protected] www.prairie.edu <http://www.prairie.edu/> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
