Planning Server Migration

[dodgyone]

I have two servers HSGNT1 and HSGNT2 on an active directory domain.

HSGNT1 is the live server on MS Windows 2000 Server. It is a database server (MS SQL Server 2000) and also acts as a file and print server.

HSGNT2 used to take data backups from the HSGNT1 database server. I have rebuilt this with MS Windows 2003. My aim is to transfer everything important across from HSGNT1 to HSGNT2 and then switch them over so that HSGNT2 becomes HSGNT1, the live server.

When I come to switch over the machines are there any issues that I should be made aware of?:

1. When renaming the servers and changing the IP addresses etc do I just take HSGNT1 off of the domain (i.e. put it as a Workgroup) and then just rename HSGNT2 to HSGNT1? Or is there something else that must be done with DNS or active directory?

2. The users also have apps that connect to MS SQL Server. Will these apps happily connect as always if the new server/database is a mirror image and configured in exactly the same way?

3. I have copied over the printers and their configs by copying the registry profiles to the new server. I take it that the printers will not have to be reinstalled on user machines and will immediately accept this change as they will still be pointing to the correct server?

Thanks for your help...


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Chaos, panic & disorder - my work here is done!
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[wdoellefeld]

Hi dodgyone, your plan here is scary. Changing the IP and name of your DC in a 2000 domain is not a good idea. Bring up the new machine and promote it to a DC. Remember you'll be running forest and domainprep to get the schema up to 2003. Then gracefully start moving things over piece by piece. After which you can demote the 2000 machine and eventually take it out of the domian

The plan of dropping the 2000 machine to a workgroup and then renaming the 2003 machine is going to simply destroy the domain.

FRCP

http://www.frcp.net

 

[dodgyone]

Thanks for the advice wdoellefeld. The server HSGNT1 is not a DC, just a standalone server for one of the departments at work. If this is the case then will my plan work out alright?

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Chaos, panic & disorder - my work here is done!
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[wdoellefeld]

Ah, that changes everything then. The reference to 2 server made me think you only had 2 servers total.

Yes this will work. Drop the old server from the domain and take it off the network. Check DNS and give some replication time. Then join the new server (already renamed) to the domain. I like to manually register in DNS (ipconfig /registerdns) to be sure. Wait a few then check DNS to be sure it has the entry right.

As long as the permissions are the same the clients should reconnect no problem. May have to reboot though.

FRCP

http://www.frcp.net