White Paper - Upgrading public folders from Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange 2000 (326196)

SUMMARY

In Exchange 2000, like Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, a public folder is a storage container that is used for messages or information that is shared among all users in your organization. Public folders contain different types of information, ranging from custom forms to Internet content, and are part of the information store that Exchange 2000 clients and Web browsers can access. Presently, you can use Microsoft Office 2000 and custom programs to browse Exchange 2000 public folder stores and open and save documents directly to the public folder stores.

If you are using Exchange 2000, you can use a number of features to enhance the use and the administration of public folders, for example:

• Multiple store support
• Integration with Microsoft Windows 2000 groups
• Public folder connection agreements
• Web exposure
• A new way to configure public folder affinity
• Full-text indexing

The following features affect the upgrade of public folders from Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange 2000:

• Multiple store support
• Integration with Windows 2000 groups (which affects permissions on public folders)
• Public folder connection agreements

After you upgrade to Exchange 2000, you must take the additional step to reconfigure public folder affinities. You must do so because Exchange 2000 uses a very different method to configure these affinities. By default, public folder affinities are not upgraded.