Rename Domain or create a new one?

[comp101]

Hi

We are a small company with a limited IT Department(Me!).
We have one server running Server 2003 and 11 clients. The domain was originaly setup on NT and then moved to 2000 and then to 2003 serveral months ago.

The problem is the original domain was setup with no extension, simply "domain". We have had the same IT company set up the original network and do all of the upgrades. After we called them back due to problems with the network they tell us the transfer to the new server was not complete because of the lack of an extension on the domain name which is required with 2003.

We were told they will need to rename the domain to "domain.local" and will be billed 30 hours at an after hours rate as not to interupt business.

Is this the best option to do a rename or would it be easier to create a new domain and migrate to it? Also, does the amount of hours sound correct? We were already billed 4 hours for them to tell us they did not transfer it completely the last time.

We know this is not something we would want to do ourselves. We just want to make sure we are getting what we pay for.

Thanks for any input.

 

[58sniper]

A rename is better than a new domain. A new domain would require rehoming all of the workstations, as well as recreating all user accounts, shared resources, etc. That's assuming you don't create a new domain and establish a trust between them. If you have Exchange in the mix, it's complicated further. Exchange 2007 still doesn't support a domain rename, IIRC.

As for the number of hours, no one here can say. Domain renames are generally not that complicated, but do take careful planning, as well as rebooting a bunch of things. It's likely the planning that they're quoting the most hours for. But you haven't supplied any info about your environment for us to say anything other than speculation.

As for the company telling you that a single name domain is because of a failed transfer, I'd say they are incorrect. A single name domain can exist from the beginning without issue, and as designed.

The real question here is why do you need to get away from the single name domain? What problems are you having?

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[comp101]

Thanks for the response.

We do not have Exchange and it is a fairly simple environment. We have a software package for our accounting, ordering, inventory, etc. that uses Terminal Services on 7 machines and share a couple of databases. We share 6 printers, some network drives, and have a VPN that is used very little.

As far as problems, we have trouble with printers being unavailable until their print server is rebooted (almost daily). The router also drops the internet connection several times a day and needs rebooted. The VPN is not available. We sometimes get a message "Logon failure. The target account name is incorrect." when trying to connect to a network drive until we reboot the client PC.

The IT people tell us they cannot completley transfer the FSMO to the 2003 server because of the domain name. The RID operations master is still the old server. The following errors are also constantly repeated in the Event Viewer:

213 Replication of license information failed because the License Logging Service on server "Old Server" could not be contacted

2042 It has been too long since this machine last replicated with the named source machine.

1864 The local domain controller has not recently received replication information from a number of domain controllers.

2092 This server is the owner of the following FSMO role, but does not consider it valid.
FSMO Role: CN=Infrastructure,DC="domain Name"

1837 An attempt to transfer the operations master role represented by the following object failed.

6702 DNS server has updated its own host (A) records.

13508 The File Replication Service is having trouble enabling replication from "Old Server" to "New Server".

Thanks again for any help. I just want to make sure we are on the right path.

 

[Davetoo]

Exchange 2007 does not allow for a domain rename. I know...just installed my server a few months ago and now have to rename my domain...nothing like starting over.

Anyway...it appears your IT outsource group has completely screwed up your environment (based upon the errors your reporting). Because of that, I'd tell them to get their lazy butt's back in and fix the issues they created first...and then make decisions on how to proceed.

If they migrated you to a 2003 domain with out a ".local", then that was their mistake, not yours (assuming it is a mistake, which really it doesn't appear to be).

They appear to be wanting you to pay for their inability to migrate your DC's properly...that's their problem to fix, not yours. IMHO.

I'm Certifiable, not cert-ified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.

There are no more PDC's! There are DC's with FSMO roles!

 

[TechyMcSe2k]

I hate to say it, but they royaly messed things up. I would either make them get in there and fix all the issues they have caused, or hire a new IT firm and migrate to a clean domain. If you are near Atlanta; let me know lol Seriously, they should resolve what they caused and you should not have to pay for their mistakes.

 

[58sniper]

In looking at the errors posted, I don't see where having a single name domain is to blame for any of them. Some of them appear fairly benign, and should be simple enough. I'd research the RID issue a little. Plenty of orgs have single name domains without RID issues.

Maybe it's time to change companies.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[comp101]

I went back to the people who did the transfer, they insist FSMO role cannot be transfered because with a single label domain name "the netbios name and domain would be the same and 2003 cannot resolve it".

They said went through this before and had Microsoft on the phone who told them it could not be done.

According to:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555040/en-us

#13 only says some configurations changes may be required.

Do I need to just go elswhere? We are in a small town and options are limited.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Davetoo]

You're dealing with people that don't know what they're doing and aren't owning up to what they've done. I'd find someone else to resolve the issues.

I'm Certifiable, not cert-ified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.

There are no more PDC's! There are DC's with FSMO roles!

 

[TechyMcSe2k]

It sounds like they want that 30 hours to go in and secretly fix what they screwed up.

Cliff, MCSE/MCSA/MCTS/CCNA/VCP/CCA

http://www.samtechconsulting.com

 

[58sniper]

Exactly. Single name domains DO exist. They're generally not recommended if you've got things like Exchange running, but they do exist.

If they admit things weren't moved completely over when THEY did the move, they should fix it. On their dime.

If, at that time, a decision to move to a multiname domain is made, then that's another story. But keep in mind that Macs don't like .local

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[Titleist]

We acquired a company who's upgraded 2003 domain was called "WORKGROUP". It ran with no errors or issues. Trying to create a transitive trust with it was another story but all in all their domain did operate correctly. Sack em and find someone who knows what their doing..

John

 

[comp101]

I have someone else coming in this week!

Thanks for the input.