Best upgrade path from NT4.0 to Windows SBS 2003? 1

[wahnula]

I am a self-taught IT guy that is responsible for maintaining and administration of my small-office, 8-workstation domain hosted on an NT 4.0, Service Pack 6 machine. It was originally set up by a pro but over the last six years I've been the guy, replaced/upgraded/added hardware and configured new user accounts & PCs as they came online. I've wrung every bit of life out of the old girl, her IBM 9GB SCSI drive is full and transfer speeds are pathetic. I've built all the machines except the server, been through setup of a hub,then router, ISDN, then cable, mixed 10/100 & wireless AP,Win2000 & XP OSes.

This NT4.0 server is the most basic setup, it's just a file server, only app running is Exchange, doesn't even know about the Web.

I've checked past posts & visited the Microsoft site, the scenarios they present for upgrade really don't apply, or maybe I just don't understand, but there's no forest or child domains here! Here's what's happening and my question:

After receiving excellent advice here I have chosen to build a sweet new server, dual Opteron, SATA RAID 5, etc and plan on installing Windows Small Business Standard Server 2003. I have 20 extra CALs. My question:

Is it necessary to "migrate" by loading NT on the new machine, promoting from bdc to pdc then upgrade to 2003 or can I just start from scratch, install 2003 on the new machine, import the Exchange accounts, create the same directory structure and then import the files? I think I can handle it, but will defer to a pro for the transfer if that's the concensus. Please remember I'm not an IT pro...yet. If I'm posting in the wrong forum let me know. Thanks for reading, if you can help I will be very grateful.

Tony

 

[wahnula]

Addendum: The mainboard I have chosen, ASUS K8N-DL, doesn't support NT. And I misspelled "consensus"...

 

[mattjurado]

Look, make it easy on yourself. You've been beating your head against that server for a month now. You only have 8 users. Here's what you do, without, upgrading, promoting, demoting, etc...

STEP 1. Load your new server and get it running right. Create a new domain, with 8 users. Don't plug it in to your network, just get it ready. Make sure the server has a different name and IP than the old one.

STEP 2. Backup all of your user's Outlook data to local .pst files (done through file>export).

STEP 3. Transfer all data to one desktop, shut the rest down.

STEP 4. Unplug the network cable on your old server. Plugin your new server. LEAVE THE OLD SERVER RUNNING. Transfer data to the new server from the desktop you used.

STEP 5. Attach this ONE desktop and ONLY this one to the new domain. Make sure you can access data and the exchange server. When you setup Outlook to use the new exchange server, reimport your backed up pst file, and tell Outlook to store data on the server (assuming that's where you want it).

STEP 6. Once that ONE machine is 100% good to go, do the rest. If you get stuck on something and the you know what hits the fan, guess what? You can switch back to the old server because you left it running, and you only have one desktop to reconfigure back.

Now, you have a nice clean solid plan. No more insane threads about upgrading this, not upgrating that, please. Here's a easy, clean plan, if you have questions on any of it, or get stuck on something, feel free to ask.

Matt J.

Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[wahnula]

You've been beating your head against that server for a month now

Only a month on this forum...;-0)

I believe there is more head-beating to come, but thanks for the simple, understandable plan. Server parts arrive today, I'll post back in a few days with the results. Thanks for taking the time to post Matt.

No more insane threads

Insane? I resemble that remark...

Tony