Forum Discussion

Iron Contributor

Apr 20, 2023

Exchange Hybrid Clarifications

I currently have a single Exchange 2016 server and planning to migrate to 365 by deploying an additional Hybrid server. Have a couple of questions with regards to Hybrid deployment and appreciate if ...

Iron Contributor

Apr 21, 2023

Dan_Snape,

Thanks for your response!.

A second server (dedicated for Hybrid) Is simply because the current server runs Windows Server 2012. Apparently the minimum supported Windows for Hybrid is 'Windows Server 2012 R2'. I just wanted to stay out of 'In-place upgrade' and a migration to a new server which takes even more effort.

Wildcard cert - Thanks for that Dan. Happy days then I can easily use the existing cert with no modifications to SANs given it covers the domain entirely.

Additional Question though - In terms of Autodiscover record, I should be able to leave it as is (continue to point to the current Mailbox server) and let the new server solely act as the Hybrid EndPoint for 365 connectivity, I suppose? should there be any DNS record level modifications o to point to the Hybrid Server in this scenario ?

Thank you so much again Dan !

Dan_Snape

Bronze Contributor

Apr 27, 2023

I don't believe there is a server OS requirement for Exchange hybrid, only requirements for the version of Exchange itself https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/hybrid-deployment-prerequisites
You can leave autodiscover pointing at the existing server, however generally it's best practice to have all connectivity going through the server with the latest version of Exchange installed. Exchange online will need a namespace in external DNS to connect to the on-prem hybrid server via https (port 443), and your network needs to be configured to facilitate that. You can create a new namespace specifically for that (ie hybrid.domain.com) or reconfigure something you already have to point to the new hybrid server (you might use webmail.domain.com for OWA already and this can be used by Exchange Online)