Applying SP2 to Windows Server

[snootalope]

Hello, I know this is probably ancient talk to most Exchange admins, but I'm one who held off on the Windows Server 2003 SP2 install..

So, now I'm wanting to install it. However, I'm nervous about what's going to happen to our Exchange 2003 SP2 that's running on this box.

I've been reading others exerperiences on google for about an hour now, and they all seem to be a bit different than mine.

All I want to do is apply SP2 to Windows Server SP1 that's hosting our Exchange 2003 SP2.

Anyone done this? Any issues worth noting? Thank you very much for any advice.

 

[ShackDaddy]

Here's my .02: if your NIC drivers are up to date, you shouldn't have much of a problem. The hairy monsters of SP2 were usually related to new networking features that exploded when combined with legacy NIC drivers.

Can others provide more feedback?

Dave Shackelford
Shackelford Consulting

 

[SteveRoadWarrior]

We work with mostly HP/Compaq servers, so my experience is limited to that brand. However, in the 20 or so that I've seen we haven't had a problem yet. That includes SBS, standalone 2003, AD servers, Exchange servers, SQL servers, etc. None of the other techs here have seen a problem with it either. It probably has more to do with making sure your system gets TLC in general (drivers, firmware, windows updates, space issues, etc).

 

[Helenp1983]

I agree with Shackdaddy, check your driver's first. I had an issue with the network drivers and the RAID drivers.

Since then HP brought out a list of sp2 compatable drivers:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/s...c00972124/c00972124.pdf?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Also any other software on the server, any backup software??

 

[snootalope]

Thanks for the info guys, I'll be sure to just get the support pack (or whatever HP calls it) that has all the updated drivers in one download. I'll probably just pull a hdd on it as well before upgrading.

Thanks again..

 

[snootalope]

this might be a stupid question guys, but our exchange server is setup as raid 5, has 3 disks, I can still just pull one drive out and rebuild off that if necessary can't I? I've always done this with mirrored drives, never with a raid 5.

 

[ShackDaddy]

NO! No single disk in a RAID5 array has all the data on it: they distributed the data across the disks. If you don't know that, it's a good thing you asked! So it's NOT a stupid question!

Dave Shackelford
Shackelford Consulting

 

[snootalope]

i know it.. I realized it after I asked the question. Oops!