In-Depth Review of Stellar Converter for EDB: Tested in Live Exchange Environment

As an Exchange Administrator, handling mailbox migrations, mailbox archiving in PST especially across different Exchange versions or to Office 365, is one of the most challenging and time-consuming aspects of managing an Exchange environment. EAC and EMS are limited in scope, and prone to failures, especially when dealing with large or offline EDB file.
I had the opportunity to test Stellar Converter for EDB in a live production environment with Exchange server 2016, and Office 365 accounts. I have tested EDB to PST conversion, migration, and export process in various formats. This review will focus on different features of tool.
The interface of Stellar Converter for EDB is user friendly. For admins using PowerShell scripts are more difficult than Exchange Admin Center, this tool offers a clean and intuitive GUI that simplifies many complex tasks. The software Converts EDB to PST, Export to Office 365, and Export to Live Exchange.

Tested in Live Environment

1. EDB to PST Conversion

Stellar Converter for EDB converts EDB file to PST, and I tested this feature on both live Exchange databases and offline EDB files.

• Live Exchange Database to PST: First connected to a live Exchange server 2016 and began the scanning process. Once scanned, I was able to select the mailboxes I wanted to export.

• Offline EDB Files to PST: Then tested the conversion of an offline EDB file from a decommissioned server. The software converts it easily, even though the database was from an older version of Exchange server. This is an advantage over native tools, which require the server to be online to perform the export. For larger databases, conversion speeds were satisfactory. During the conversion, the software maintained the original folder structures, attachments, and all other data within the final PST files, ensuring full compatibility with Outlook.

2. Export to Office 365 and Live Exchange

One of the key features of Stellar Converter for EDB is its ability to export mailboxes to Office 365 or a live Exchange server, which is especially useful for organizations migrating from older Exchange server versions to Office 365 or newer Exchange servers.

Office 365 Migration: First start the export process from Exchange server 2016 to Office 365. After entering Office 365 admin credentials, the tool automatically mapped the mailboxes between the source and destination. The export process was efficient, and I was able to migrate multiple mailboxes in parallel.

• Live Exchange Server: I also migrated mailboxes to a new Exchange 2016 server. The automatic mailbox mapping feature worked well here too. I had the option to manually map mailboxes in case the automatic feature failed, but it wasn’t necessary for the most part.

• Parallel Export: One another important feature during this migration process was the parallel export, which sped up the migration significantly. The tool allowed me to export four mailboxes simultaneously. I have tested on two mailboxes.

• Selective Export: You can choose to export individual mailboxes or specific folders from within a mailbox. This is particularly useful for targeted migrations or when dealing with mailboxes containing sensitive data that must be handled separately.
• Mailbox Mapping: The tool offers both automatic and manual mapping options, which were useful when migrating mailboxes to a new server. The automatic mapping worked seamlessly for most of the mailboxes, but for more complex setups, manual mapping was available.

Licensing and Pricing

Stellar Converter for EDB is available in three editions: Corporate, Technician, and Toolkit. The licensing options are available to both small businesses and large enterprises.

• Corporate Edition: This edition supports 50 or 500 mailboxes and is priced at $299 (50 mailboxes) and $399 (500 mailboxes). For small to medium-sized businesses, this option provides an affordable and feature-rich solution for migrating mailboxes to PST or Office 365.
  • Toolkit Edition: Priced at $699, the Toolkit edition provides a comprehensive bundle that includes Stellar Repair for Exchange, Stellar Converter for OST, Stellar Mailbox Extractor for Exchange Backup, and more. This edition is for large organizations with complex Exchange environments, where multiple recovery and migration tasks need to be handled.After testing Stellar Converter for EDB in a live Exchange 2016 environment and performing EDB to PST conversions, Office 365 migrations, I can say that it is one of the most reliable and feature-rich EDB conversion tools available today. Here’s a breakdown of its pros and cons:

Pros:
• Comprehensive support for all Exchange versions from Exchange 5.5 to 2019.
• Ability to export to Office 365 and live Exchange servers.
• Efficient parallel export mechanism that speeds up migrations.
• Granular control over what data to export (mailboxes, folders, public folders, disabled mailboxes).
• Automatic and manual mailbox mapping.
• Reliable performance in both live and offline environments.

Cons:
• Price can be high for small businesses, especially for the Toolkit Edition.
• The demo version should allow access to a limited number of emails for testing purposes.

Verdict: Stellar Converter for EDB is a best solution for admins looking for a reliable, user-friendly tool for EDB to PST conversions, mailbox migrations, and more. The software offers high value in terms of functionality, performance, and ease of use. Whether you’re handling small-scale mailbox conversion and migration or managing larger, more complex Exchange environments, this tool is a must-have in your administrative toolkit.