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SBS 2011 to Windows Server 2016 single DC

Hello All,

I have a company that currently has a 1 server SBS setup... I believe it is 2011... They are in need of new hardware as the current hardware is old... Over the years they have moved all of their items like exchange and website off and into the cloud... My question is since they are moving to new hardware is there a simple process to introduce a new server with just server 2016 and move the domain and all its roles over to it including its DNS/DHCP? The idea is to introduce new server, retire the old one and be seamless to all the PC's.

Oh and will 2016 essentials version suffice for this? Just 1 DC that will be used for DNS and DHCP... Only 6 computers in the domain. Possibly the old server that was the SBS2011 server will be rebuilt into a file server.

Thanks,
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Madison Perkins
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ASKER

Can i skip the VM addition? Not sure why i'd add that if its only a 1 server solution?
its only a 1 server solution?
So what?  Why would you WANT to skip it?

Virtualization is not new.  It's a 10+ year old component of Windows Server and older still with VMWare.  It provides many benefits - some of which I explained in my article I already gave you a link to.

In short:
*You throw away an $800 server license if you ever need it
*You make future hardware upgrades more difficult
*Portability. In the event of a server hardware failure (excluding the obvious storage failure) the system can be moved to a temporary server with relatively little effort.  An added benefit this can provide is a reduced need for expensive rapid response warranties on your server.  Related, upgrading the hardware when the server ages out becomes a relatively minor procedure as all that need be done is to migrate the VM to a new host.
*Expandability. Smaller businesses especially may believe they only need one server but should they discover later that they need another, the potential additional hardware costs can be significantly reduced to perhaps as little as a small RAM upgrade instead of purchasing an additional server at a significant cost as well as the potential to save on a license.
*Testing. With appropriate safeguards, you can make a copy of the VM and test planned software upgrades and changes to the server without potentially impacting your network, especially if they fail to work as expected.
*Availability and Disaster Recovery.
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ASKER

Thanks I will give this a shot... Never used Hyper V... I have only run EXSi.
Then use ESXi.  Use what you're familiar with.  (Though ESXi requires you to pay thousands for replication that's free with Hyper-V as I understand the VMWare product line).
Hyper is very straight forward. I have used a number of virtualization technologies over the years and it’s my preferred method.
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ASKER

So you are saying... Install 2016 essentials... Put Hyper V on it and create a VM with a 2nd DC? Sorry maybe I am still confused.
Installing Hyper-V on Server Essentials is a HUGE PITA.  It is technically possible, but I would not recommend wasting the time trying to do it.  If you want to use Essentials, use it, but either use VMWare or the free version of Hyper-V server, don't try to make Essentials the host.
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ASKER

OK i see what you mean... Install hyper V server as the base... Then create a 2016 essentials VM off of it.
If you go with the full version of Windows Server, then yes, install full with GUI (for easy management) and then that gets used as the host.  Then you create another VM for your server that actually does things, File Server, DC, etc.
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ASKER

Each VM would then need a MS license correct? If I created a VM for DC and 1 file server I would then need 2 licenses of 2016 standard? Assume the HyperV base install is free?
No.  That's why you virtualize.  2016 licenses include 2 Virtual machines (essentials is only 1).  One 2016 license covers:
*Install to hardware to run Hyper-V ONLY
*Vm1
*Vm2
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ASKER

Interesting... I will explore... Do I setup the RAID and use the entire disk(s) for formatting when installing the base with Hyper V? Then the VM's pull from that formatted disks? Or do I need to setup partitions for each.?
The 2003r2 sbs to 2016essentials migration I mentioned in my original post was moved to the configuration  suggested by Lee.  The old server was on its last leg and there were a number of problems I needed to resolve. One of the biggest issues was a 15 minute restart time.    After installing 2016 standard and the hyperv role I performed a p2v migration using disk2vhd and created a vhd from the old server. The restart time on the new server as a guest went from 15 minutes plus to less than a minute.  I then created a second guest with server 2016 essentials.  

Once the two guests were virtualized I made backup copies of their respective vhd’s and used the virtual lab that I just created to work through all of the issues on the old server.  I documented the fixes and then proceeded with the migration.  Once I successfully migrated once in the virtual lab I had all of the server fixes documented and the migration tested and documented as well. I was able to do this with very little downtime or interruption to the business and did it all onsite during regular hours (with the exception of the disk2vhd of the old server which I did after hours).

I then came in on a Saturday, repeated the process, and completed the entire migration in a matter of hours.  Once I was done I decommissioned the old sbs server, removed the guest from hyperv and kept the vhd for posterity.
My article on why to virtualize gives a bunch of tips in the second half.  

In general, I recommend (if using Hyper-V): C: 120 GB (+/-) using a separate carved out RAID space or similarly sized mirrored disks (you can go larger, but I don't recommend it - all VMs should be on another drive/other drives, NONE should live on C: (despite that being the initial default location).

Put another way, some controllers allow you to create a RAID volume that only uses a portion of the physical drives, leaving the remaining portion for ANOTHER RAID volume.  This is how I prefer to setup.  Then the VM config and storage lives on another RAID drive (RAID 10/0+1, or 6 ideally).

And for the VMs, NEVER partition a virtual drive (other than the default partitions Windows creates at install).  If you need other drive letters (data drive), create a virtual disk and attach it.  You can attach 100+ disks, so there's no reason to partition.  And you can easily move/backup the data virtual disk at a later date.
No comment has been added to this question in more than 21 days, so it is now classified as abandoned.

I have recommended this question be closed as follows:

Split:
-- 'Lee W, MVP' (https:#a42609890)
-- 'Madison Perkins' (https:#a42609843)


If you feel this question should be closed differently, post an objection and the moderators will review all objections and close it as they feel fit. If no one objects, this question will be closed automatically the way described above.

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