Windows Usenet Topics on Windows Server Migration

..se.. ..e ..nnin..

Hello,
i currently have a nt4 pdc with (dhcp)(dns)(wins) the bdc is nt4 exchange
server 5.5 the current plan is to replace the bdc first with server 2003 and
exchange 2003 then once that is up and running rebuild the old bdc to replace
the pdc also with server2003. that is the current plan and i would like
suggested reading or pointers so i can move this along with minimal downtime.

..n.. ..nde..

To move from NT to AD you either upgrade:
How To Upgrade a Windows NT 4.0-Based PDC to a Windows Server 2003-Based
Domain Controller

;en-us;326209



or migrate:

How to configure the Active Directory Migration Tool to migrate user
passwords from a Windows NT 4.0 domain to a Windows Server 2003 domain

;en-us;832221







It sounds like you are not introducing new servers to the domain, just
upgrading your existing servers. If this is so you are pretty much locked
in to upgrading. You MUST upgrade your existing PDC first in order to carry
the SAM into the Win 2k3 domain. Upgrading the BDC to Win 2k3 first will
result in two separate domains. Chances are upgrading the BDC first will
leave you in a position where you would have to format and reinstall to
recover from.



You should do some research on each way to move to AD. There are pros and
cons for each.

DNS is extremely important in AD.

See:

Best Practices for DNS Client settings in Windows 2000 server and in Windows
Server 2003

;en-us;825036



Setting Up the Domain Name System for Active Directory

;en-us;237675



How to configure DNS for Internet access in Windows Server 2003

;en-us;323380



hth

DDS W 2k MVP MCSE



"Joseph Lee Jennings" <Joseph Lee Jennings@discussions.microsoft.comwrote
in message news:5E18C3D0-F2A4-4329-851F-82D9F3C13C57@microsoft.com...

..se.. ..e ..nnin..

Danny,

Yes i have the hardware from a older server we upgraded to a windows 2000
server but elected not to move to active directory at the time. it is a
standalone win2k server joined to the domain but not a member server per say
pdc or bdc. the reason for this is it is running terminal server and it is a
app server for everyone in the company. either way i have rebuilt the older
hardware from the old app server to replace our dying exchange server box
that is our bdc and the exchange server 5.5 box and that is all it does. it
sounds to me you are suggesting the better way to aproach this is to replace
the pdc first with a new 2003 server as our pdc, dns, dhcp etc then replace
the bdc and mail server?

"Danny Sanders" wrote: