Upgrade Network from NT 4.0 to 2000 server???

[kevin2003]

Hi,

Please provide help with this scenario.

Currently: 2 NT 4.0 Servers - PDC and BDC
PDC is file server
BDC is exchange 5.5 server and Proxy Server.

Just bought 2 new servers with window2000 server, planning to replace the existing 2 servers, and running Exchange 2000.

What is an easier way to do this? Should I create a new domain and copy everything over; since exchange 2000 server require active directory?

Or should I introduce the first 2000 server as a member server and later on make it a PDC, then install second server with exchange 2000 and active directory; then, migrate everything over (don't know if this is even possible???).

Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[billieT]

Join your Win2K servers to the domain as member servers. If your pdc hardware can handle it, upgrade that server to Windows 2000, you will then automatically have a Windows 2000 "mixed-mode" domain. When it prompts you at setup, ENSURE that you install Active-Directory integrated DNS on the box. This will save a lot of headaches later. Make sure all other machines are pointing to this DNS.

DCpromo one Win2K machine to make it a DC. Make sure that replication is taking place. Are you totally getting rid of your old servers? if at all possible not to, I suggest you don't make the Exchange server a DC. If you are getting rid of the old servers, DCpromo the Exch 2K box, and move the Global Catalog role onto this box. Also, move the schema master and domain naming master roles onto this box as well, since they should go with the GC (they aren't very "busy" roles, so should have little impact on Exchange).

Hopefully you don't have any users associated with "resource" mailboxes. In other words, your situation is "one user, one mailbox". If not, you'll need to clear that up by marking them with a certain attribute, which means dummy accounts will be created for them on the fly. Make sure your servers are fully service-packed and run the Active Directory Connector (ADC) to populate the AD with your Exchange 5.5 info. Synchronise from the root level of your Exchange site. I'm assuming you only have the one site. Make a two-way connection agreement.

Run FORESTPREP followed by DOMAINPREP, to prepare your forest and domain for the Exchange 2K. Let it go overnight, and check replication in the morning. An easy way to check is if any distribution groups you have in Exchange 5.5 have been created as global groups in the domain. Run Exchange 2K setup and add the server to the existing 5.5 site. Lots of connectors etc will be automatically created. Once that all seems to be running well, use Active Directory Users and Computers to transfer the mailboxes from the old server to the new (right-click on the User object and select "Move Mailbox"). The user's mail (naturally) will be unavailable while the move is taking place, but it's normally pretty quick. If you're using Public Folders, you'll need to move them as well.

Here are a bunch of docos on the Microsoft website that you should check out, for all the detail and proper procedure:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2000/deploy/upgrademigrate/default.mspx

Once all your mailboxes are transferred, you can remove the Exchange 5.5 server, turn off the BDC, and promote your active directory to "native" mode.

There are other ways of transferring mailboxes, using the Exmerge tool for example. If you only have a few, that option may be worth exploring

 

[dholbrook]

The FIRST machine promoted MUST BE THE existing PDC, otherwise you are creating an entire new DOmain. Your new W2k server can not be a DC in an NT domain, it requires AD to run, so it has to join a domain which already is running AD in order for the direct DCPROMO step to work.

I would recommend building one of your new machines as an NT box, with a clean install, only the OS, built as a BDC. Once it is up as a BDC it can be promoted to PDC. Next, pull your original PDC off line for protection and fallback, and upgrade your "new" PDC to WIN2k as the mixed mode PDC/DC. This will insure all the user accounts, etc comes up with the new AD. Having the original ex-PDC offline gives you a fallback if the conversion fails, i.e., you can shut down the "new PDC/DC" and put the old ex-pdc online and promote it back to PDC to try again, as you have a NON_CORRUPTED copy of the original Domain data on this system. This is why you take it off line before you try the DCPROMO on the clean new controller, and after the new system was promoted from BDC to PDC as an NT box.

After this all checks out, you can either bring the original PDC back to the online state as a BDC in the mixed mode configuration, or you can wipe it and rebuild it as a clean Win2k server, add to the Domain and promote it to a DC role (much better route, it cleans out all the accumulated garbage the old server has and gives you a good benchmark to work from).

SInce the current PDC is also a file server, move all the data to the new PDC/DC server (tape backup is nice way to do this!) and this then frees the old PDC to be rebuilt.

Once you have the "clean" new DC, you can use it to hold the Exchange 2000. Installing Exchange will change your Domain schema, and is NOT reversible, so do your planning first, and fully understand what happens to the AD schema, etc. before you begin. When the Exchange 2000 is up and running you can move the mail from the Exchange 5.5 to the Exchange 2000 post office. An even better route, however, would be to build your second new system as a WIn2k server, promote to DC (once the mixed mode configuration is up) and then install the Exchange on this second system.

 

[kevin2003]

Would I be better off creating a new domain with my 2 new servers and migrate evrything over, since I only have about 50 users?

Thanks,

 

[billieT]

no, kevin, creating a new domain is extra work you don't need to do. dholbrook has the right idea with installing one of the new servers as a BDC, promoting it to a PDC, taking the original PDC offline, and then running the win2K install and DCPROMO on the new box. It really is a hell of a lot quicker, you should be able to do all this in a few hours.

Moving your mailboxes, on the other hand, might be quicker with a manual process. Investigate the Exmerge tool.