1

We just installed Exchange 2010 for transition from 2003, and before continuing, wanted to upgrade to available SP1.

Reading the forums, I seen a lot of complains about list of required hot-fixes and general in-compatibility.

So question - is it worth hunting all these hot-fixes and install the SP1?

Or it better skip this update and wait for SP2?

Thanks.

sysadmin1138
  • 133,124
  • 18
  • 176
  • 300
SyRenity
  • 3,179
  • 11
  • 57
  • 79
  • As SP2 will be "SP1 +" then in terms of hotfix requirements, etc, it isn't likely to be any better, so you have to ask yourself what waiting for that will achieve. – Rob Moir Jan 28 '11 at 08:19

3 Answers3

3

Only you can answer this question. You have to consider whether the (alleged) incompatibilities affect your environment, and research accordingly.

For what it's worth, this is the standard procedure for many companies when evaluating whether to install any patch or service pack.

  • What I'm looking to hear is a bit of experience - i.e. if anybody has installed the SP1 in production, and got actual benefits that made it worth doing the migration, – SyRenity Jan 28 '11 at 07:11
  • 2
    The service pack is a collection of fixes. So by implication it is beneficial, if not to the stability of the system, then to its security. I will always push to install a service pack if it meets the requirements of my environment. I'd upgrade just for the new mailbox repair functionality, notwithstanding the changes in the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer. –  Jan 28 '11 at 07:20
0

The hotfixes people gripe about are hotfixes for Windows 2008/2008 R2 that are pre-requisites for installing Exchange 2010 SP1. They take a few minutes to collect but not a big deal at all. They are listed on the SP1 pre-reqs page on Technet:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354.aspx

Exchange 2010 SP1 has an Update Rollup 2 that you should apply. There is an Update Rollup 3 coming in March (approx) that addresses a few more issues with Outlook 2003.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=0059546f-f43d-4c7e-8367-81c6d5642bf3&displaylang=en

But apart from that the only significant issues I'm aware of at the moment are some Outlook 2003 conditions, for which there are fixes and workarounds anyway.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/concern-is-having-outlook-2003-clients-going-to-prevent-me-from-deploying-exchange-2010.aspx

Importantly, check all your Exchange integrated third party apps (eg backups, Blackberry, antivirus) for any known issues and the required versions, patches, or fixes for those.

Paul Cunningham
  • 281
  • 1
  • 4
0

I would get the service pack deployed before you go forward with your migration. You're going to have to do it sooner or later and it's obviously a higher risk change once the system is live.

There's quite a bit of enhancement in terms of end user functionality in OWA and the like in particular in SP1.

Brian Desmond
  • 880
  • 4
  • 7