teks14
asked on
Migration Tools for Server 2003
Looking to do a migration from Server 2003 to Server 2003 - but want to leverage a tool to do most / all of the heavy lifting.
The Mgr on-site insists on doing a Server 2003 (Server A)-> Server 2003 (Server B)- for the sole purpiose of updgrading the Hard Drives....they currently run an old Dell P/E Server with SCSI drives that aren't upgradable much beyond 750gb - So we've got a newer server with mirrored 2TB drives....I would install Server 2003 on the newer server then, would look to leverage a tool to essentially make Server B look / function EXACTLY like Server A.
Server A would then be decommissioned. BTW Server A currently is the PDC and handles DNS, DHCP, and File Server duties - NO EXCHANGE on this server
Thoughts?
The Mgr on-site insists on doing a Server 2003 (Server A)-> Server 2003 (Server B)- for the sole purpiose of updgrading the Hard Drives....they currently run an old Dell P/E Server with SCSI drives that aren't upgradable much beyond 750gb - So we've got a newer server with mirrored 2TB drives....I would install Server 2003 on the newer server then, would look to leverage a tool to essentially make Server B look / function EXACTLY like Server A.
Server A would then be decommissioned. BTW Server A currently is the PDC and handles DNS, DHCP, and File Server duties - NO EXCHANGE on this server
Thoughts?
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Your setup is old and antiquated and shouldn't be used. I would have several questions including:
1. Why are you migrating to a new server using the OLD software that is outdated and essentially not supported. It puts your company at AT LEAST as much risk of problems as does running it on old hard drives.
2. You should be virtualizing if you MUST use 2003 so that you can easily migrate it to new hardware and protect against other disasters with things like replica (using Hyper-V)
3. What kind of heavy lifting do you envision? Buying a tool to do this is a huge waste in my opinion and I doubt there are many to pick from because this procedure is generally simple. You either use a product like Acronis that can transplant Windows from one server to another, sort of forklifting it - in some senses like a complete backup and restore where the software program supports the ability to change the underlying hardware - or you just add the new server as another DC and then move the files over. If you were moving the files to a virtual environment it would be as simple as running Disk2VHD and creating a virtual hard drive with all your files and attaching that as your data drive to the VM based DC.
Here's the thing, I want to understand your problem before I go recommending SPECIFIC courses - what I recommend above is general and based on experience and best practices... but if you want more specifics, I need to know why you must stay on 2003, what kind of hardware you're using, more about your business... Understanding the big picture is important to getting the right solution.