Coexisting with Previous Versions

Managing ADC and Coexistence with Previous Versions

Active Directory Connector (ADC) is a component that provides coexistence with previous versions of Exchange. ADC synchronizes Active Directory with the Exchange 5.5 directory. To understand coexistence, it is important to be aware of the two versions of ADC and two types of Connection Agreements.

There are two versions of ADC. One version is included with Windows 2000 and the other is included with Exchange 2000. The Exchange version enables you to synchronize Exchange site directory data with the Exchange 2000 configuration data stored in Active Directory. Use the Exchange version when establishing coexistence between Exchange 2000 and Exchange 5.5.

How you configure ADC depends on the type of coexistence you need during each phase of coexistence. For example, if you are not going to upgrade to Exchange 2000 immediately, but are going to upgrade from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000, and you want to populate your Windows 2000 Active Directory with Exchange 5.5 directory data, you can install and configure Windows 2000 ADC. Then you can configure Connection Agreements that synchronize your Exchange user information with the Active Directory domain information.

For more information about Active Directory Connector, see Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Planning and Installation.

Connection Agreements

Once you understand Connection Agreements, you can to create and maintain coexistence with previous versions of Exchange. Connection Agreements act as a control mechanism for replication between Exchange 5.5 and Active Directory. There are three types of Connection Agreements: recipient Connection Agreements, public folder Connection Agreements and Configuration Connection Agreements.

Configuration Connection Agreements. This type of Connection Agreement is automatically created when you install and configure Exchange 2000 to coexist with Exchange 5.5. Configuration Connection Agreements synchronize the Exchange 5.5 site configuration data with the Exchange 2000 configuration data in Active Directory.
Recipient Connection Agreements. This type of Connection Agreement synchronizes recipient objects between Exchange 5.5 and Active Directory. You need to plan which Connection Agreements to configure between Exchange sites and Active Directory domains to ensure that duplicate objects are not created in Active Directory or Exchange.
Public folder Connection Agreements. This type of Connection Agreement synchronizes public folder objects between Exchange 5.5 and Active Directory. In order to use an Exchange 5.5 public folder on an Exchange 2000 server you need to create a public folder Connection Agreement. Microsoft recommends using on public folder Connection Agreement for each Exchange 5.5 site.

For more information about Connection Agreements, see Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Planning and Installation.