[AntiLochus]

Hi all,

We are integrating another company's BES into our environment and I would like to confirm that what we are doing is feasible.......

Basically, we have 1 x BES server currently with 750 users. We are installing another BES with a temp SRP ID and attaching this to the same database (1000 CAL installed) as the first BES. We will then drop the users from the other company's BES and activate them on the temp BES.

Once all the users are dropped from the other company BES we will strip the SRP ID from it and apply it to the server with the temp SRP ID, making this a permanent ID connected to our live database.

Is this OK?

I am assuming it is OK to install a new BES with a temp SRP ID and attach it to our live database and then apply the other company's SRP ID to it to remove the temporary ID.

Can anyone tell me if they have done something similar? Or am I mad

Cheers

[sferical]

AntiLochus,

That should work fine. You'll get up to 90 days on the temp SRP.

When you change the temp SRP to the live SRP it will need to resend service books to all users on the old SRP. This can take a matter of hours sometimes or you can get users to re-activate.

[gibson_hg]

You are on the right track but I would think you need a migration kit. A temp BES will not be supported by RIM if you have issues. Temp BES are not to be used in a production environment.

The migration kit costs less then $1000, not sure how much exactly though. The migration kit will give you a permanent SRP and will allow you to have the acquired BES running and a new BES running while you peform the user move. When the move is complete the acquired BESs SRP will disable.

The only thing with using the temp srp scenario is that when you switch the SRP's at the end of your process the BES will then send a switch service command to update the service books and users mailboxes. This in turn causes a higher work load on the BES and has varied restults in my experience. I try to avoid switching SRP's for that reason.

But it's up to you how you want to proceed. Just don't tell RIM why you want the temp srp, you won't get it for that.

[AntiLochus]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I am just worried about adding the server with the temp SRP ID to our live database and it corrupting it or something. BTW we are on 4.1.4 MR4 and I will be making sure the temp BES is running exactly the same version.

I take it the SRP ID is not tied to a particular company - is it simply a connection agreement with RIM? We can effectively take the SRP ID from another company BES and apply it to our own company BES without any problems?

Thanks again!

[sferical]

You can get full SRP ID's cheaper on Ebay. We've done this a few times with no problems. OK, it can be a slight risk but we just buy the full boxed product to minimse this.

I'm not saying that this is the best way of doing things. Just supplying another option.

[gibson_hg]

The SRP is only tied to RIM's network. Adding a new BES to your DB won't corrupt it, just back it up beforehand. You can apply an SRP from any company and apply it to another BES as long as it's not already in use as 2 BES cannot us the same SRP at the same time. That will disable the SRP until RIM enables it again.

[AntiLochus]

Originally Posted by gibson_hg

Temp BES are not to be used in a production environment.

That's what I'm worried about!

Originally Posted by gibson_hg

The migration kit costs less then $1000, not sure how much exactly though. The migration kit will give you a permanent SRP and will allow you to have the acquired BES running and a new BES running while you peform the user move. When the move is complete the acquired BESs SRP will disable.

The only thing with using the temp srp scenario is that when you switch the SRP's at the end of your process the BES will then send a switch service command to update the service books and users mailboxes. This in turn causes a higher work load on the BES and has varied restults in my experience. I try to avoid switching SRP's for that reason.

We will be completely removing users from the acquired company BES and re-activating them on ours - approx 100 users - so I'm not too worried about the load on the temp BES

Originally Posted by gibson_hg

Just don't tell RIM why you want the temp srp, you won't get it for that.

Hah, hah no I definitely will not, but they don't give us the temp ID for free anyway!

Thanks!

[gibson_hg]

I would be extremely careful of buying an SRP from ebay. You have no way of knowing if it's already in use by another company. If it is in use then it will take some time to determine that it's in use then you will have to fight to get your money back. Definitely not worth the hassle, I've seen to many incidents of BB products bought from ebay and it usually doesn't end well.

It is a cheaper solution but definitely not worth it in my opinion. I would just download BES express for an SRP, that's free and it's completely supported and not limited either. Free is always good.

[AntiLochus]

Originally Posted by sferical

You can get full SRP ID's cheaper on Ebay. We've done this a few times with no problems. OK, it can be a slight risk but we just buy the full boxed product to minimse this.

I'm not saying that this is the best way of doing things. Just supplying another option.

True, it is an option, I didn't realise you could buy these on eBay - not sure our purchasing dept would be too happy bidding on a 2nd hand ID though!

[AntiLochus]

Originally Posted by gibson_hg

The SRP is only tied to RIM's network. Adding a new BES to your DB won't corrupt it, just back it up beforehand. You can apply an SRP from any company and apply it to another BES as long as it's not already in use as 2 BES cannot us the same SRP at the same time. That will disable the SRP until RIM enables it again.

Thanks, that certainly clears up a great deal of confusion

[sferical]

Gibson's right.

You can get a completely free SRP ID from

BlackBerry - BlackBerry Professional Software Express

This can be added to your BES without any problems. RIM will probably know this is a single user SRP if you call for support so it's still best to transfer back to the other SRP when you've migrated them all.

[gibson_hg]

I would just sign up and download BES Express. Don't bother with the software just use the SRP you get in the email. It's a full SRP, it's permanent and FREE

All you need is a PIN from one your BB's to sign up. No strings attached, check out the info here:

BlackBerry - BlackBerry Professional Software Express

This will probably work best for you. This way you can keep the SRP you acquire form the company for a test server or a new BES later on.

[gibson_hg]

Originally Posted by sferical

This can be added to your BES without any problems. BlackBerry will probably know this is a single user SRP if you call for support so it's still best to transfer back to the other SRP when you've migrated them all.

RIM won't care, it's not the SRP that is limited to one user, it's the CAL that comes with the software. For all RIM knows they got the BPS software and then upgrade to full Enterprise. Either way RIM won't care about the SRP, they can't stop people from downloading the free software and they can't force people to use CAL's.

This won't be an issue with RIM.

[AntiLochus]

Originally Posted by gibson_hg

I would just sign up and download BES Express. Don't bother with the software just use the SRP you get in the email. It's a full SRP, it's permanent and FREE

Now THAT is my kind of thinking !

[fadmin]

Not sure what you want to achive? Migrate to a new hardware? Or add second BES to a db? If you want migrate from one HW to another then just use cutover method and use the same SRP as the first one.

[AntiLochus]

Originally Posted by fadmin

Not sure what you want to achive? Migrate to a new hardware? Or add second BES to a db? If you want migrate from one HW to another then just use cutover method and use the same SRP as the first one.

Why have acquired a company who have their own BES and I want to

a) Install a 2nd BES in our environment connected to the existing management database, and
b) Add the users from the acquired company to this BES, and
c) Use the acquired company SRP ID so we don't have to purchase a brand new one

The plan is to use the free software download (mentioned above) to acquire an SRP ID for the 2nd BES and once all the users are added, overwrite this with the acquired company's SRP ID - job done!

[fadmin]

Use cutover option and you don't need temp SRP as you would use the old (acquired company srp).
Or else you'd need to reactivate them again..
Job done.

[AntiLochus]

Originally Posted by fadmin

Use cutover option and you don't need temp SRP as you would use the old (acquired company srp).
Or else you'd need to reactivate them again..
Job done.

We actually do want to re-activate the new users hence the plan as it stands. Also this gives us more flexibility for migrating the users to our company as this will be happening over a number of weeks.

Thanks for your response though

[dfriedrich]

What is the best solution for me in this scenario:

Production BES server (BES01) and Temp BES server (BES02) pointing to same SQL BES database. I need to replace the temp BES SRP with the production SRP and demise the Production BES (BES01).
When is the best time to cut the users over from BES01 to BES02, before or after changing the SRP on BES01? I'm trying to minimise disruption to users.

Understand it would be better to use the knife edge cutover but I would prefer to not rebuild this box.

Cheers!