Moving Mailboxes from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2013 Migration Slow

Many users frequently complain of the migrating mailboxes from exchange 2010 to exchange 2013 slow inspite of having fast network speeds and plenty of resources. This blog discusses how to solve the problem of slow Moving of Mailboxes from Exchange 2013 during migration by adopting some technical measures so that the users get enhanced migration performance. Under real-world conditions, one cannot expect transition speeds of more than 6 mbps on a fast speed internet connection. If your migration speed is going on in a lesser frequency than the one mentioned above, then it is time to try the manual methods to troubleshoot the migration issues.

Manual Method to Speed up the Slow Migration of Mailboxes from Exchange 2010 to 2013

Method 1: One can migrate only two mailboxes at a time when the server is running at high loads since the increase in the frequency of transition of mailboxes can lead to lengthy access time of the server in busy sessions. Only when the system is sitting idle and not performing more than 25% of the load must you consider migrating more number of mailboxes at a particular period of time. To increase the number of mailboxes for migration first go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft exchange Server\V15\Bin and locate the MSExchangeMailboxReplication.exe.config file which resides on the front-end server. Make changes as per the given below values to the maximum active moves per source, per target, per source server, per target server and to the maximum total requests per MRS and the export buffer size.

 MaxActiveMovesPerSourceMDB=”20” 
MaxActiveMovesPerTargetMDB=”20” 
MaxActiveMovesPerSourceServer=“100” 
MaxActiveMovesPerTargetServer=”100” 
MaxTotalRequestsPerMRS=”100” 
ExportBufferSizeKB=”512”

 Restart the replication of Microsoft Exchange Mailbox for the changes to take place.

 Method 2: There are more than one methods using which one can execute the process. Another effective solution to increase the speed of the slow moving mailboxes is to utilize the parameter –“priority emergency” during the mailbox movement. By using this solution the mailbox is moved to the highest priority in message recovery services (MRS) queue.

 New-MoveRequest –Identity user@domain.com –TargetDatabase “DB1”- Priority emergency 

Method 3: Even after trying out the above two methods you haven’t met with success regarding the slow moving mailboxes, then the problem might be due to the non-disabling of the MRS throttle. For this the user has to go the registry and make changes in the “MRS”REG_DWORD key by modifying the previous value of 1 to the new value 0. Restart mailbox Replication Service and re-enable it back once the migration is completed.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\MSExchange ResourceHealth 

After this command, restart the Exchange MRS by moving the mailboxes without enforcing any throttling policy. Observe the migration speed and once the migration process is completed, re-enable the MRS resource monitoring and change the value back to 1 from 0.

Manual Approach Is Not the Best Always!

For any non-user, the technical jargon of the manual method is tough to comprehend. Also, the manual method is cumbersome process because the speed has to be checked each time a method is completed and if there is no response, then a different solution has to be tried. This takes a lot of effort and time of the user. The manual method doesn’t guarantee result that the speed of the mailbox migration from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2013 will improve.

Software Approach Is Better Off in Most Cases

Due to the pitfalls of the processes done manually, it is best that the user go in for automated tools like SysTools Exchange to Office 365 Migration Software. This tool has many advantages and is easy to use as it has a user-friendly interface. It is reliable and efficient with no loss of data taking place during the migration process. This utility provides date and time filtering options to export selective data in the destination. The folder structure hierarchy is kept intact while copying the mailboxes from 2010 Exchange Server to 2013 server.

In a Nut-Shell

This blog deals with the manual method to effectively speed up the process of migrating mailboxes from exchange 2010 to exchange 2013 slow . But due to the drawbacks of the manual method, the use of software tool like the Exchange Migrator is recommended which effectively speeds up the migration process and it comes with a host of additional features too which helps the users for speedy migration.