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eitconsultingFlag for United States of America

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Adding a 2nd DC to a current SBS 2008 and demoting SBS 2008?

I have a customer with a SBS 2008 server.  The customer has approved an upgrade to Windows 2012 R2 with Exchange 2016 OR Windows 2016 with Exchange 2016.  The goal would be to add the 2nd/new DC to the network and then, remove the SBS 2008 server.  
I'm seeking recommendations on how to remove the SBS 2008 server while making the new Windows server the primary DC.
Unlike Standard Windows Server (2008/2012/2016), can SBS 2008 be demoted using DCPromo?
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Cliff Galiher
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Yes, but then it must be retired. You cannot run SBS as a member server. It will know it is out of licensing compliance.
An SBS box has to be the FSMO role holder for all roles, and cannot be demoted. You can transfer the FSMO roles on the 2012DC, however the SBS box will get upset and shutdown periodically.

If you want to keep the SBS box I operation, then it has to remain a DC, with all FSMO roles.
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@Malmensa "If you want to keep the SBS box I operation, then it has to remain a DC, with all FSMO roles."
As I stated above, I want SBS 2008 out of the network once the new 2012 R2 server is added.
My goal is to keep the AD data hence, adding a new Standard server and Exchange Server followed by removing the SBS.  
I'm seeking recommendations on how to remove the SBS 2008 server while making the new Windows server the primary DC and ultimately maintaining the Active Directory content.  I want to avoid having to remove each computer from a current DC (SBS) and add the computers to a new DC since it'll take longer and can be messy due to having to restore end-user profiles.

@Cliff  No mention of keeping the SBS server.  SBS 2008 must go after I add a 2nd DC hence, I'm seeking a way to remove SBS after I've added the 2nd DC.  So, you mentioned "retiring" but no further information on how to retire SBS 2008.   How would the SBS be retired so that the added/new DC can be the primary DC?
Same as any other DC. Move FSMO roles. Dcpromo (which is what you asked and I said "yes"), then remove the computer object from AD. Nothing unique to SBS here.

Just spelled out that it must be retired (using normal methods') pretty much as soon as you remote it with dcpromo. So demoting it should be one of the last things you do. Don't plan in moving mailboxes', removing exchange, copying files after. Do all of it beforehand.
This is just my opinion.

Being SBS means its a small domain.  For the sites that I have migrated to NON SBS Servers I have just created a new domain and moved their data and workstations to the new domain.

I ran some scripts provided my MS Support for one migration, and they even admitted the process the scripts "ran" didn't always succeed.  I have seen postings on several forums showing ways of doing it, but I can move mailboxes, data and workstations to a new domain in 12 hours
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Mal Osborne
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When "Adding a Domain (Win2016 Srv Std) to an existing Domain (SBS 2011), will the FSMO roles replicate over to the new server (win2016 Srv Std)?  If not, what other step(s) is necessary to ensure the added domain has the FSMO role(s)?
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FSMO roles do not replicate. Only one server holds any given role at any given time. You can gracefully transfer them. Technet has official documentation that a quick google search will churn up (I'm on my mobile so can't really do so easily at the moment or I'd paste a link.)
Yeah, I've googled that.  In the past, I've added a Win2012 R2 domain to an existing Win2012 domain.  Then, proceeded to remove the first (Win2012) domain Not Checking "This is the Last Domain in the Network".  The second domain (Win2012 R2) therefore had the roles transferred over without any issues or the use of NTDSUTIL.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/255504
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I converted the customer's SBS 2008 Std to a VM using the Disk2VHD utility and transferred it over to my laptop.   Boots up fine.  I'm going to install a Windows 2016 Server VM with Exchange 2016 on my laptop and test everything out.  My Dell Precision laptop has 64GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and a decent i-7 processor so, testing from  the laptop should be good.  I'll post an update here after I've tested adding a 2nd domain, transfer issues (if any) of FSMOs, and removal of the SBS 2008 server from the network.
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