Windows 2000 Lab Setup

[wazzup]

I would like to duplicate our current Windows 2000 production environment in our test lab. We have 2 Windows 2000 domain controllers and several member servers. I was planning to setup a another server as an additional domain controller, replicate it, install dns and move it to our test lab, promoting it as our global catalog. It this right?

 

[vbrocks]

Sounds like a bad idea, because the domain where you created the dc will still think it exists within that domain... not to mention fsmo roles being misplaced ....

My advice is to create a domain in the lab unto itself and leave the company domain out of it ......

 

[wazzup]

I can create it from scratch, but I want to simulate our production domain environment in the lab. I'm planning to do a Windows 2003 migration in the future.

 

[vbrocks]

How about setting up the test lab as another site, but part of your domain, will that give you what you want? That way you can control the replication and you still have seperation through another site....

 

[vbrocks]

The more I think about it the more I think you should really keep them seperate and create a mini lan for test purposes... After all you just want to find out what happens when switching OSs. That should give you a good idea without risking the company network doing it....

 

[wazzup]

I want to simulate our AD environment in the lab. This includes user, groups, policies, etc... I don't want to create it from scratch. I was thinking of setting up another server as a domain, replicate it with our production AD server and move it to our lab. Make it a global catalog and assigning all fsmo roles. Is this the correct way of doing it? Also, do I need to do any cleanup in our production environment AD because I'm taking this backup domain server offline.

 

[vbrocks]

The proper way to remove it would be a demotion, that would remove ad and everything dc about the system..... I think the easiest thing to do is create it from scratch....

Only my oppinion of course ...

Anyone else out there with any suggestions......

 

[wazzup]

how about just recreating AD from backup? Would that work?

 

[vbrocks]

You could try it but it would be an image of something that does not exist in your lab....
The computers are different and have different IDs, Your nic cards have different Mac addresses, your processors are probably different ......

I don't think it would work......