Support growth
Prepare the Exchange environment to support planned growth to more than 1,000 users.
Case study • Engineering consultancy IT infrastructure
Enhanced IT infrastructure for Peter Brett Associates LLP
Altiatech supported Peter Brett Associates LLP with a Microsoft Exchange Server upgrade, helping the organisation centralise email infrastructure, improve reliability, strengthen resilience and support planned growth across a distributed estate.
Engineering & construction
IT infrastructure
Exchange upgrade
High availability
Overview
Modernising core communication infrastructure for a growing multidisciplinary consultancy.
Peter Brett Associates LLP needed a more scalable, reliable and manageable email platform. Altiatech helped shape an Exchange Server upgrade that could centralise the estate, improve performance and support the organisation's continued operational growth.
Programme priorities
From distributed email infrastructure to a more resilient centralised model.
The engagement focused on improving Exchange performance, backup and recovery, secure access, high availability and manageability while making better use of existing infrastructure investments.
Improve reliability
Address performance issues and deliver a more responsive email service for the organisation.
Centralise infrastructure
Move from an Exchange model distributed across five sites towards a centralised, easier-to-manage architecture.
Strengthen resilience
Improve backup, recovery and high availability capability through a more robust Exchange design.
The challenge
Replacing a legacy Exchange environment that was limiting performance, manageability and growth.
PBA's existing Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 environment needed to support a growing user base while addressing performance, backup and operational management challenges across a multi-site infrastructure.
Growth
Supporting more users
The environment needed to support planned growth to more than 1,000 users without creating further service pressure.
Performance
Improving email responsiveness
The existing Exchange solution was experiencing performance issues that affected service quality and user experience.
Resilience
Addressing backup concerns
PBA had concerns about backup capability and needed a more reliable approach to recovery and continuity.
Infrastructure
Centralising across five sites
The Exchange infrastructure was distributed across five sites, making management and control more complex.
Availability
Improving service reliability
The organisation needed a more reliable email service that could better support daily communication and collaboration.
Access
Securing remote connectivity
The upgrade needed to support secure access to Exchange services and improve remote communication capabilities.
Altiatech's role
Designing a centralised Exchange architecture with high availability, secure access and improved recovery.
Altiatech proposed a comprehensive Exchange Server 2013 upgrade covering architecture design, infrastructure deployment, high availability, storage usage, SSL certificates, VPN connectivity, mail routing and backup recovery.
Delivery focus
Design • Deploy • ProtectA practical infrastructure upgrade built around reliability and operational control.
The solution combined Exchange architecture design, virtualised infrastructure, high availability and improved access controls to help PBA move from a distributed legacy environment into a more scalable centralised model.
Architecture
Exchange 2013 design
Developed a centralised Exchange model using two multi-role servers for Client Access and Mailbox roles.
Availability
Database Availability Group
Implemented a single Database Availability Group to improve resilience and availability across the Exchange environment.
Infrastructure
Virtual machine deployment
Deployed new virtual machines on a Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V cluster and used existing SAN storage.
Security
Secure access and mail flow
Implemented SSL certificates, configured point-to-site VPN connectivity and optimised mail connectors and routing.
The approach
A structured upgrade path covering architecture, infrastructure, security, mail flow and recovery.
Altiatech's approach connected design and deployment activity so the upgraded Exchange environment could improve scalability, centralised management, secure access and service resilience.
Assess the Exchange estate
Understand the limitations of the existing Exchange Server 2010 environment and the requirements for growth.
Design the target architecture
Create a centralised Exchange Server 2013 model with multi-role servers and high availability.
Deploy virtual infrastructure
Provision new virtual machines on the Hyper-V cluster and align them with existing SAN storage.
Configure availability
Implement the Database Availability Group and align mailbox databases and transaction logs to the storage model.
Improve access and routing
Set up SSL certificates, VPN connectivity and mail connector configuration for secure and reliable access.
Strengthen backup and recovery
Use Symantec Backup Exec to support daily backups and point-in-time recovery capability.
Outcomes
A more scalable, resilient and manageable communication platform for future growth.
The Exchange upgrade helped PBA improve service reliability, support planned growth, simplify management and strengthen disaster recovery, while improving secure access and collaboration capability for users.
Improved scalability
The new model supported business growth and provided a stronger foundation for a larger user base.
Better email reliability
The upgraded environment improved the reliability and responsiveness of the email service.
Enhanced disaster recovery
Database Availability Group implementation and backup planning improved recovery capability.
Simplified management
Centralising the infrastructure made the Exchange environment easier to manage and support.
Improved secure access
SSL certificates, VPN connectivity and routing improvements strengthened secure communications.
Stronger collaboration support
The upgrade supported larger mailbox sizes, mobile device support and improved collaboration features.
Project impact
A communication infrastructure upgrade that improved resilience, performance and operational control.
By upgrading and centralising Exchange, PBA gained a more robust platform for day-to-day communication, secure access, backup recovery and future user growth.
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Services connected to this work.
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One connected model: infrastructure upgrades work best when architecture, availability, secure access, backup and service ownership are planned together.
View all services →Next step
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