I'm in the process of trying to get our servers all upgraded from the 2000 world. Our current BES is 4.1 running on Windows 2000 Server Standard with Exchange 2000 Standard.

I'm wanting to get our BES upgraded to 5 first and was told by RIM that we can definitely have 2 BES servers running on the same Exchange server but different physical hardware in order to move our handhelds over one-by-one. I started to install BES 5 on a Server 2008 R2 box I put up but had some questions.

When I'm installing BES 5 do I use the latest and greatest MAPI & CDO 1.2.1? I'm just uncertain of which version I should have installed on my new BES server because it's going to be pulling from my Exchange 2000 server so should I install the version of MAPI for my current Exchange version or install the latest?

RIM also assured me that when we do eventually upgrade our Exchange to 2010 that everything will go smoothly as long as we also migrate the Exchange account that our BES uses.

Because this whole server project is already under a tight budget plus, essentially, I am the IT staff around here, I'm trying to do as much of this on my own as I can. So, getting support directly from RIM is pretty much out of the question. I'm just trying to save us from having to soak up more project hours on the upgrade with our BES. Thanks in advance.

Take a look at the matrix.
BlackBerry - BlackBerry Enterprise Server Compatibility

This should help.

Thank you for the response. I previously read through the compatibility matrix but was wondering more specifically about using MAPI & CDO 1.2.1 on Exchange 2000.

I know that technically RIM said everything should work fine running the old version of BES and the new version of BES at the same time but the last thing I want to do is hose something up in my attempts at saving our company money. Thanks again.

Latest version of CDO dont like 2000 that much.

How many users are we talking about?

52 users total.

BES 5.0 does support 2000, limited but can get you through the move.

I am not sure about CDO support for 2000, you might need an older version for it as 2000 support has been dropped for the most part.

sene me a PM if you need the older version of CDO

Should I go that route (CDO) or simply install the Exchange 2000 Administrator utility on the new server?

Things were so much more cut and dry when I installed BES 4.x onto our current Exchange 2000 server because, as you've mentioned, support for Exchange 2000 was still present so there was no question.

ESM is not supported on 2008 or any 64 bit server IIRC, CDO is needed.

10-4. Thank you for the information.

your welcome, glad to have helped out.