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Thanks for the confirmation. Was able to get promoted and added as a DC. Had a few hiccups but nothing that isn't covered already on the web.
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Thanks for the confirmation. Was able to get promoted and added as a DC. Had a few hiccups but nothing that isn't covered already on the web.

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Hi all. I am tasked with migrating a Windows 2003 R2 <b>Standard</b> DC to a WIndows 2012 R2 <b>Essentials</b> server. The old server will be taken out of the mix after migration. Nothing crazy on the existing DC, just users and printers, DNS, DHCP. No Exchange in the environment, nor will there be.<br />
<br />
My question is, is going from a Standard 2003 server to an Essentials 2012 server even possible? <br />
<br />
I have read that you have to go from 2003 SBS to 2012 Essentials, but you cannot go from Standard to Essentials. You have to go Standard to Standard. Is this correct? All migration documentation that I have found is from SBS to Essentials as well.<br />
I cannot find official word on this. I just dont want to go forward with DC promotion and risk blowing something up.<br />
<br />
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.<br />
<br />
Thanks,<br />
Shawn
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Hi all. I am tasked with migrating a Windows 2003 R2 Standard DC to a WIndows 2012 R2 Essentials server. The old server will be taken out of the mix after migration. Nothing crazy on the existing DC, just users and printers, DNS, DHCP. No Exchange in the environment, nor will there be.

My question is, is going from a Standard 2003 server to an Essentials 2012 server even possible? 

I have read that you have to go from 2003 SBS to 2012 Essentials, but you cannot go from Standard to Essentials. You have to go Standard to Standard. Is this correct? All migration documentation that I have found is from SBS to Essentials as well.
I cannot find official word on this. I just dont want to go forward with DC promotion and risk blowing something up.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Shawn

Windows Server 2003 R2 STANDARD to 2012 R2 Essentials migration

Windows Server 2012 is the server version of Windows 8 and the successor to Windows Server 2008 R2. Windows Server 2012 is the first version of Windows Server to have no support for Itanium-based computers since Windows NT 4.0. Windows Server 2012, now in its second release (Windows Server 2012 Release 2) includes Foundation, Essentials, Standard and Datacenter, and does not support IA-32 or IA-64 processors.

Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2003 was based on Windows XP and was released in four editions: Web, Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter. It also had derivative versions for clusters, storage and Microsoft’s Small Business Server. Important upgrades included integrating Internet Information Services (IIS), improvements to Active Directory (AD) and Group Policy (GP), and the migration to Automated System Recovery (ASR).

Windows Server 2003

Small Business Server (SBS) is a line of server operating systems targeted at small businesses by bundling the operating system with a number of other Microsoft products that would normally need to be purchased or licensed separately. The most notable inclusions are Exchange, SQL Server, SharePoint and ISA/TMG (Microsoft's firewall and proxy server).