You can use the Exchange Server Deployment Assistant to perform an overall topology readiness scan of your environment. When you run the Exchange Server Deployment Assistant, it provides a detailed report that will alert you if there are any issues within your organization, which could prevent you from deploying Exchange 2010.

 

For example, the Exchange Server Deployment Assistant will notify you if you haven't deployed the minimum required Exchange service pack on all your existing Exchange servers.

 

The checks performed by ExPDA are similar to the pre-requisite checks implemented (via Exchange Best Practices Analyzer) in the Exchange 2010 Setup program. In fact ExPDA is based off the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer (ExBPA) engine.

 

However, unlike Exchange 2010 setup, this tool focuses only on overall topology readiness and not the ability to run Exchange 2010 on the local computer.

 

The scan also performs a deep analysis of each existing Exchange 2003/2007 server to verify that it has the necessary updates and configuration in-place to support Exchange 2010. The end report is structured as follows:

 

Critical - A configuration problem that will prevent Exchange 2010 from being deployed in the organization. For example, the Active Directory Forest is not operating in Windows Server 2003 Forest Functional Mode or higher.

 

Warning - A configuration item that may prevent customers having the best possible experience with Exchange 2010. A warning may also reflect some functionality that is not available in Exchange 2010.

 

Enjoy this great tool to migrate easaly your organization to Exchange 2010! Run the Exchange Server Deployment Assistant directly from the Web via this link: