NTD Architecture

NTD Architecture Chooses Infinitely Virtual

NTD Finds Infinitely Virtual

When Marshall O’Keefe found Infinitely Virtual, his organization, NTD Architecture, had an aging Windows 2000 network running Microsoft Exchange 2000. Their 200 users were bucking under the tiny information store size limits imposed by their email system that by then was no longer supported by Microsoft. With users spread between 4 locations, and a desire to support Outlook Anywhere, Marshall wanted to upgrade his organization to Microsoft’s most advanced email system to-date: Exchange 2007.

Guaranteed Seamless Migration

NTD Architecture has a first-class IT staff. They wanted to retain the same level of control over their Exchange environment that they had with their current infrastructure. Together we designed a Dedicated Exchange Hosting solution with our Platinum+ Privately Hosted Exchange and Site-to-Site IPSec VPN to tie their remote sites to a private VLAN. With this design, they would have a single Active Directory, and users at connected sites would be able to login directly to the Exchange system without using Outlook Anywhere. Additionally, we were able to guarantee a seamless, mailbox-by-mailbox, migration from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2007.

What Not to Do

Marshall chose a shared Exchange hosting product from a different provider, and they began planning their migration. During the sales process, the hosting provider promised perfection, but as they got deeper into the planning process, they learned that their migration would be less than seamless, and if executed poorly, would lead to down time and mail flow issues. Marshall became concerned.

Second Time’s a Charm

We were again approached by NTD, and this time we focused solely on their migration and how it would affect their users. Our engineers designed a migration that allowed them to migrate their 200 mailbox system slowly over an extended period of time, ensuring that users would not experience any down time or mail flow issues. Now confident that this was the best course for NTD Architecture, we began the implementation.

Active Directory Upgrade

Unfortunately NTD was still running Windows 2000 Server on their Active Directory Controllers, and Exchange 2007 requires that the Active Directory run Windows 2003 Native Mode at a minimum. They began upgrading all of their AD controllers, followed by establishing connectivity between their newly upgraded AD controllers and their new private VLAN in our Enterprise Virtualization Environment (E.V.E.).

Seamless Migration

We built IPSec tunnels between their two largest sites and their new VLAN. Once this was complete, we created a custom Dedicated Exchange Hosting system integrated into their Active Directory. Once tested properly, we began migrating mailboxes over-the-wire; all data was moved seamlessly from their legacy Exchange servers to the new system. NTD determined which mailboxes migrated, allowing them to ensure that the affected users were running Outlook 2007 and that their BlackBerrys could be re-activated.

Power & Flexibility

The successful migration of NTD Architecture to Infinitely Virtual’s E.V.E. demonstrates the power and flexibility of our Privately Hosted Exchange offering. Organizations of all sizes can take advantage of Microsoft Exchange 2007 or 2010 without having to make a massive investment in equipment or software.