Upgrading from Server 2003 to Server 2008

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Pantherboy

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
278
Ok.. here is the dilemma. I have a Windows Server 2003 Running Active Directory and 1 Domain. I am looking at upgrading to a 1u Rack mount server and was wondering if anyone has any tips for me before starting. The biggest hurdle that I know of is going to be exporting all the settings and users from the 2003 box to the 2008 system. If anyone can give me any tips or share some resources of things I need to do to prepare please let me know. I am kind of new to the whole migrating to a new system. Especially in Windows Server.

Thanks in advance.
 
Can't you just join the 2008 to the existing domain, then move all the roles to the new server, then dcpromo the old server to just a standalone??
 
thats exactly why i posted here.. because i've never done this before.. its a big undertaking for me.. I work for a Sheriffs Dept. and I'm trying to keep things as smooth as possible... I do appreciate you giving me the info.. I'll look into doing it this way...
 
QwertyJuan said:
Can't you just join the 2008 to the existing domain, then move all the roles to the new server, then dcpromo the old server to just a standalone??
Click to expand...

As long as we are not talking about sbs then yes. If either is a small business server then you have some extra steps.

Pretty much you dcpromo the new server and add it as a domain controller and setup all of the rights. You also copy everything you need over. You can then go through and pull the old server out and remove any rights/dns links to it. This comes on top of a bunch of other stuff like moving dhcp to the new server if the old one was running it. Same with updated links for mapped drives, etc. For someone experienced this isn't a big deal, just takes some time to plan out. If you are not and need this done on a production system I'd recomend having a consultant come in and do it.
 
Thanks for all the input guys. What I have is just a small sheriff's office with 15-20 computers. DHCP is handled by our wireless router. I have found out that the current server (the only one we have) is set up as a DNS server, a file server, and hosts our Incident Reporting system and our Motor Vehicle Accident system. So it is very important that I keep it as smooth as possible in going from one server to another, and also have to keep it as fast as possible so we don't have much downtime. Again I thank you all for your input, it will help me get through this.
 
Pantherboy said:
Thanks for all the input guys. What I have is just a small sheriff's office with 15-20 computers. DHCP is handled by our wireless router. I have found out that the current server (the only one we have) is set up as a DNS server, a file server, and hosts our Incident Reporting system and our Motor Vehicle Accident system. So it is very important that I keep it as smooth as possible in going from one server to another, and also have to keep it as fast as possible so we don't have much downtime. Again I thank you all for your input, it will help me get through this.
Click to expand...

DNS is run through the server because active directory relies on it. That is going to be one of the most important things that needs to be configured before taking the old server down.
 
I would run DHCP off of the new server once you get it up and running. Forget the router doing that....
 
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