DC replication help...

[DonMc67]

I've got a new client who is describing an issue to me I've never dealt with.

He has an old Win 2k3 Server DC he wants to replace. It's out of production, and he's been trying to run FRS on it to create a new DC. He tells me he's running out of staging area (he's created 30Gigs on C: to stage with).

From what I'm reading it shouldn't really be that much of an issue... I don't know how big the whole thing is but shouldn't 30gigs be enough for this normally?

I'm setting up a lab to do some testing and reading about it all. But has anyone done anything like this? Is there something I should be checking? Is there an easier way?

My tentative plan is to bring a drive and hack the registry to use my clean drive as the staging area... any thoughts?

 

[Zelandakh]

WTF?

You don't create a new DC by running FRS on an existing DC. How did he "create 30Gigs on C:"?

Suggest he installs a new server, dcpromo's it and checks all is well with replmon / AD event logs.

 

[DonMc67]

I'm sure he did all that (except checking the log)... but FRS "ran out of room" in the staging area. I've never heard of this in 2k3 environments, so I'm gonna check everything when I get out there next week.

 

[Zelandakh]

If he did all that, you should have said. Why is he playing with FRS? That has nothing to do with DCs.

It is like wanting to service the engine of your car by removing the head rests.