Need to Upgrade NT 4.0 Server

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tuffgong

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I'm doing a favor for someone. His office currently uses NT 4.0...God knows why.

Any suggestions about which OS to switch to (2000, XP Pro, etc.)?

Stability is my main concern and I don't know much about networking.
 
Personally, I would probably switch it over to 2000 (if you can find a license for it nowadays?) on both the server and workstation fronts. Obviously the office doesn't require the latest and greatest if it's been working off of NT 4.0 for this long.

However, depending on the budget/needs here, it could very well be easier / a better option to do a major upgrade on all the hardware and move to SBS2008 and Windows Vista Business computers. This of course depends on what software their using, and whether they can afford to change that out, which they could very well have to either way.

Lastly, unless the NT setup is causing any issues, why change it?
 
Oneos said:
Personally, I would probably switch it over to 2000 (if you can find a license for it nowadays?) on both the server and workstation fronts. Obviously the office doesn't require the latest and greatest if it's been working off of NT 4.0 for this long.

However, depending on the budget/needs here, it could very well be easier / a better option to do a major upgrade on all the hardware and move to SBS2008 and Windows Vista Business computers. This of course depends on what software their using, and whether they can afford to change that out, which they could very well have to either way.

Lastly, unless the NT setup is causing any issues, why change it?
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If your going to upgrade why not go to something thats at least supported. 2000 is old. XP would be a minimum or the workstations. Server 2003 for any server. Anything else and your just wasting your time.
 
It should be illegal to sell 2000 license. You are stuck with 2003. You probably need a new server if it is still running NT4. Another option is graphical Linux servers.
 
If you're replacing a server, XP Pro would not be a replacement, as XP Pro (or any version of XP for that matter) is a desktop operating system, not a server operating system.

2000 is too old, good luck finding. I'd not invest any time in doing an upgrade to 2000...as it's more and more difficult to support that (peripherals, etc).

2003 can still be had...although getting harder to find.

And as mentioned above, the server that this NT 4 box is running on...is probably quite old...I'll safely assume that it's well...well past the standard 3 year warranty. Probably bit low in horsepower too for more current server operating systems.

Unless there's a reason to remain with 2003 (like software vendor support for whatever LOB app they run)....I'd look at a new server with 2008 on it.

More info needed though...
*What runs on it
*Details on client PCs
*What other needs does the office have
*Backup solution will change substantially
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys.

The office uses client info software that works in Windows 98, so I need to check with the vendor to see if it's compatible with later versions.

As far as the server, NT is giving me problems and the whole infrastructure needs to be changed. I proposed buying three new systems...hopefully he'll listen to me.
 
It will a lot easier to upgrade to a new hardware. There will be less blame to go around for you. The easy way is not to offer options that customer can't understand.
 
why three new servers?

what is the current system?

if it runs on Win98 you can run it in Windows XP Pro as compatibility mode, but probably works natively.

Server should be Server 03 or Server 08.

give us more details, very vague, you say propose 3 servers what will those roles be? how many workstations?
 
If worse comes to worse, you can P2V the old servers to a newer platform, breaking your hardware replacement dependence.

We still have a couple of LOB apps running on NT 4.0 that use hardware keys. We lost a hard drive the other day. Finding a 9.1 GB SCSI 2 drive ain't easy. I shudder to think what will happen when a MB goes...

If it wasn't for a pile of spare parts kept from other servers of the same type when they were decommed. Shudder.
 
How about a pre-built Dell server with Windows 2008 SBS pre-installed on it?
 
With Win2k3 you may be able to recycle some more of the existing infrastructure. Win2k8 uses a lot more resources, so unless you need specific features in Win2k8, stick with the proven tech :)
 
The Spyder said:
I switched my Lawyer from NT to XP/2K3, he was very very happy.
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Yeah, XP/2k3 is pretty much the solution most companies are using at the moment (those who aren't still running Win2k Pro/Server ;) ). In many ways it's pretty much no-brainer to switch to this combination.
 
The Spyder said:
I switched my Lawyer from NT to XP/2K3, he was very very happy.
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Elledan said:
Yeah, XP/2k3 is pretty much the solution most companies are using at the moment (those who aren't still running Win2k Pro/Server ;) ). In many ways it's pretty much no-brainer to switch to this combination.
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Personally, if I was doing a full network upgrade, Vista/2k8 would be my route.

But we do need to know more about what these servers are doing, what kind of budget are we talking about, future plans for the network, etc. The more details we get, the better we'll be able to point you in the right direction.
 
^ i would not be throwing vista in any mix.

we decided (our office) we will keep recommending all our clients to stick with XP, all new machines will be XP Pro and then Windows 7.

skip vista, so slow in a business domain network.

But yeah Server 08 would be in my mix.
 
marley1 said:
^ i would not be throwing vista in any mix.

we decided (our office) we will keep recommending all our clients to stick with XP, all new machines will be XP Pro and then Windows 7.

skip vista, so slow in a business domain network.

But yeah Server 08 would be in my mix.
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Agreed, Server 08 is a great server OS but Vista really isnt something you want to stick in a domain. Vista still has it quirky errors here and there and thats something the IT staff isnt going want to troubleshoot.
 
Holy cow. NT 4.0... haven't seen anyone actually using that in awhile.

So right now, we're working on NT 4.0 and Windows 98? Ouch. My guess is everything on the network is probably pretty old and incapable of any modern variation of Windows.

How many computers on this network are we talking about? If it's around 10, and you don't see growth over 50ish, I'd get a whole new Small Business Server network with new servers and workstations.

Either struggle with old stuff or run smoothly with new stuff.


Lazy_Moron said:
Agreed, Server 08 is a great server OS but Vista really isnt something you want to stick in a domain. Vista still has it quirky errors here and there and thats something the IT staff isnt going want to troubleshoot.
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In this case, I'd strongly disagree with you.
Vista and Server 2008, in a new network install (which is what we are looking at) works GREAT (assuming all software they need to run is supported).

I'd agree however of moving Vista into an existing network... Still a PITA, I myself have yet to get it working seamlessly on my 2003 network.

But on a new network, I'd have no reluctance of rolling out Vista and 2008.
 
The computers are as follows:

One Windows NT system (the server)

Two Windows 98 SE systems (the clients)

However, he wants to upgrade the server to a more modern OS (I proposed SBS 2008). I think if that happens then we might as well upgrade the two clients.

I don't even think he really needs a fancy setup. It's just one piece of software run off of the server that needs to be accessed and backed up.
 
tuffgong said:
I'm doing a favor for someone. His office currently uses NT 4.0...God knows why.

Any suggestions about which OS to switch to (2000, XP Pro, etc.)?

Stability is my main concern and I don't know much about networking.
Click to expand...

We upgraded our directory service from NT4/Exchange 5.5 to Active Directory on Server 2003 and Exchange 2003, back in 2003. It went pretty smoothly. But then again we did a LOT of planning beforehand, and I worked about 18 days straight on the project.

One potential pratfall is if you have your Exchange server as a domain controller. That will cause major problems. BDC's are hard to uninstall in NT4.0. I used a program called U Promote to remove the BDC role from the Exchange server.

Of course, you cannot upgrade an Exchange 5.5 server straight to 2003, you have to do 2000 first. Or at least that's the way it was back in 2003. We upgraded to 2000 first and then I built a separate Exchange 2003 server and used the AD U&C to move all the users to it.

I really do not miss NT4 at all, ever! Those are the days we used to ask ourselves, why is it that we switched from Novell 3.x in the first place?!?!? :D
 
nessus said:
Finding a 9.1 GB SCSI 2 drive ain't easy. I shudder to think what will happen when a MB goes...

If it wasn't for a pile of spare parts kept from other servers of the same type when they were decommed. Shudder.
Click to expand...

same here. I have 9's, 18s, 36's lying around, also spare decommissioned systems, etc.

fortunately I don't have to do much of that anymore, most of the datacenter operation is outsourced and I can focus on the network, virtualization and capacity planning.
 
Lazy_Moron said:
Agreed, Server 08 is a great server OS but Vista really isnt something you want to stick in a domain. Vista still has it quirky errors here and there and thats something the IT staff isnt going want to troubleshoot.
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why not...I am running Vista as my corporate desktop on a 2K3/Exchange 2007/SQL 2005 network and it works great. In fact I've been doing so for 2 years. I run XP in vmware for the few times that I need it for something.

That being said the standard PC image is XP, but I'm not a standard PC image kind of guy! :D
 
So 1 server and 2 desktop and maybe 2 more just for file application.

If the guy wants to spend a little:

Dell T300 with sbs03, rd100 backup drive and apc750va. For workstation go with Dell Vostro or Optiplex from one of the deals (core 2 duo, monitor, xp pro).

If he wants cheaper you could get away with the T105 but by the time your all done your saving a few hundred.

Reason for sbs is its cheaper then server 03 or 08 and can mess around with email by just doing pop connector. Which most lawyers like having calendar and email and contact on the phone. So you can also do bes and such

Just my opinion
 
SBS2003 or 2008 on server. I personally don't care much for Dell servers but the deals you can get in their outlet store are ridiculous so that is where I would start looking. Go buy some cheap dell or HP workstations and monitors. Then you are all covered for hardware warranty for three years. Toss in a decent firewall and switch, bam, whole new network for about $4k.
 
tuffgong said:
However, he wants to upgrade the server to a more modern OS (I proposed SBS 2008). I think if that happens then we might as well upgrade the two clients.
Click to expand...

If you mean just the software (OS) think again. If you want anything modern you'll have to get new machines, that's all there is to it.
 
So it looks like I'll be upgrading the hardware and software later this month. I'm leaning towards SBS and two XP Pro machines...probably Vostros.

Too bad Windows 7 is just around the corner.
 
I haven't heard anything yet from my Dell rep about Software Assurance from XP/Win7. So I emailed waiting for advice.

Nothing wrong with sticking with XP Pro, its gonna be a huge upgrade for them. And just so you know Dell has been doing those $550 Optiplex 360 deals - 2.8s, 2gb, 250gb drive, dvd burner, XP pro, 22" LCD

I have 5 on order to stock, take those over Vostro
 
marley1 said:
I haven't heard anything yet from my Dell rep about Software Assurance from XP/Win7. So I emailed waiting for advice.

Nothing wrong with sticking with XP Pro, its gonna be a huge upgrade for them. And just so you know Dell has been doing those $550 Optiplex 360 deals - 2.8s, 2gb, 250gb drive, dvd burner, XP pro, 22" LCD

I have 5 on order to stock, take those over Vostro
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Thanks for the head's up...I was going to try the Outlet as well since monitor's aren't really needed...but for only a few bucks more, why not?
 
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