Move users/computers to mybusiness ou?

[MCSLOY]

I have just completed an upgrade from windows 2000 to windows sbs 2003 on new hardware using instructions as set out in MS article 884453. Everything went well, but I wondering since the user and computer accounts replicated to the user and computer ou`s on the sbs server, should I move these to the my business ou? does it matter?

Thanks

 

[TechSoEasyMVP]

Unfortunately, KB884453 is not the method to migrate your Server 2000 to SBS 2003. Instead you really should have followed the instructions detailed in

http://sbsurl.com/migrate.

Had you done that, the user and computer accounts would be in the correct OU.

Yes, it's important that they are in the SBS's default OU's if you want most anything that SBS provides to work properly.

In an ideal world, you would be best to start over again... but I'm sure that's not really a possibility at this point. So I would suggest that you definitely move the USER accounts to the MyBusiness\Users\SBSUsers OU, and then run the Change User Permissions Wizard to apply the appropriate user templates to the users for which they are applicable.

Then... you should unjoin and rejoin the workstations by following the steps I've outlined in

http://sbsurl.com/rejoin.

This will not only put them in the proper OU, but ensure that they have the correct configuration, security settings, and installed applications.





Jeffrey B. Kane [MVP - Small Business Server]
TechSoEasy

http://www.techsoeasy.com

Blog:

http://techsoeasy.spaces.live.com

 

[MCSLOY]

Hi jeffery

Many thanks for your advice. I was just wondering it was really neccesary to unjoin/rejoin computers to the domain and not just move the computer accounts over to the correct OU? The 2000 server is still connected to the domain because certain users require access to a billing program installed on that server which and it is still acting as a dc/gc.The 2000 server will be retired when a new billing program is installed on the sbs 2003 server.Exchange server is not in use (all clients use pop3 to download direct from isp)and after the migration, I ran dcdiag/netdiag on the sbs 2003 server to confirm everything was as it should be.Do you think there would be a adverse effect on the client pc`s if I just moved the machines over to the correct ou?

Regards

 

[TechSoEasyMVP]

Why aren't you using Exchange Server? It's really the heart of the SBS. Without it, you have miss out on these benefits:

Automatic Deleted Message Retention and Retrieval

Single-instance storage for messages addressed to multiple recipients -- meaning if an attachment is sent to multiple users it is stored only once

Online backups can be made.

Transactional integrity of the message flow - meaning there is an audit trail

Users have access to Exchange Public Folders.

Ability to work offline as needed

Server-based rules that control how the server handles messages on reception.

Security is integrated with Small Business Server security -- meaning only one username and only one password

Anti-virus is handled centrally

Real-time delivery of messages

SharePoint/Companyweb integration and alerts

Centralized Calendaring

Easy portability of user mailboxes and messages when empoyees leave

Outlook Web Access

RPC over HTTPS access that allow users with laptops to connect to Exchange with any Internet Connection while out of the office

Microsoft Office integration

Delegate access

There are others, and I'm sure some of these may not be important to your situation... but I've always found that Exchange solves many more issues for a company than it could ever cause.

Even if you don't use the full power of Exchange's SMTP Server you should at least use the SBS POP3 Connector to download their current POP3 Email Accounts so that at least there is centralized backup and remote access. Plus, internal mail will not have to go out over the Internet and come back in.

With regards to your question of whether its necessary to unjoin/rejoin the workstations? You don't have to if you don't want to... but in my experience, you'll decide a few months from now that you want to start using Remote Web Workplace (one of SBS's coolest features -- see

http://sbsurl.com/rww)

and when you try to turn it on... it won't work and you might spend hours trying to figure out why. RWW is just ONE of the things that's automatically configured when you join workstations the correct "SBS-way".


Jeffrey B. Kane [MVP - Small Business Server]
TechSoEasy

http://www.techsoeasy.com

Blog:

http://techsoeasy.spaces.live.com

 

[MCSLOY]

I decided not use Exchange because the customer wished to keep the price down to a minimum and moving all the clients over to Exchange, would have increased the price considerably. I also find that minimum schedule for the pop3 connector on Exchange of every 15 minutes unacceptable.
By the way, if in the future the customer decides to have Exchange I realise smtp is the way to go, but if it was decided to download mail from a smart host, is there a way to increase the minimum schedule from 15 minutes? the customer does not have a permenant ip address plus the advantage of the isp holding mail in case there was a serious problem with the sbs server seems more appealing to me.Many thanks for taking the time to share your wealth of knowledge and experiance with me.

 

[wahnula]

I also find that minimum schedule for the pop3 connector on Exchange of every 15 minutes unacceptable.

That's only if you use the POP connector, which we hope you wouldn't. Exchange is really wonderful, and this is coming from a zero-professionally-educated user, just a tech-savvy small business employee and part-time SBS sysadmin.

Since I did not have access to the company's

http://www nameservers,

I did have access to the website control panel, and forwarded all email from the company website to a new FQDN hosted by TZO on my server (a static IP costs twice as much). If I had a static IP I would have simply forwarded all mail requests directly to the Exchange box. In my case getting all the clients to use Exchange was as simple as deleting their website POP accounts and have all email traffic sent to my new TZO FQDN. That's not the "correct" way but it works great for me.

I set the SBS smarthost to send SMTP email through my broadband provider mail.comcast.net because many ISPs will treat mail from dynamic IPs (like mine) as SPAM. The messages still contain the correct sender's address.

You, unlike me, sound like an educated sysadmin. You should take the time to learn SBS and you will see it's a remarkable tool. I cut my teeth on NT 4.0 and fought the wizards of SBS until I learned they were my friend. I respectfully request you do the same.


Tony

"...an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind" - M.L. King

 

[MCSLOY]

Hi Tony

Thanks for the tips! After getting sbs certified this is my first install of sbs in a "real" network. Guess your right,the wizard is your friend! Just used to doing things the old fashioned way on 2003 standard. I shall reinstall sbs on my lab server tonight and get learning!

Cheers

Martin

 

[TechSoEasyMVP]

Martin... ALWAYS use the wizards with SBS. To be honest, the vast majority of my work these days is to fix SBS installations that were done by very experienced MCSE's who ignored the wizards. They're the same ones who shout that all of these services and components shouldn't be on the same box... but don't realize that you CAN put them all there if you use the tools provided to ensure things are configured properly.

I don't know why moving the clients over to Exchange would have increased the price considerably... it doesn't take that much work. But even if you did charge more, you need to show them how much value there would be in using Exchange... especially since they own it already -- it's a shame that they aren't taking advantage of it.



Jeffrey B. Kane [MVP - Small Business Server]
TechSoEasy

http://www.techsoeasy.com

Blog:

http://techsoeasy.spaces.live.com