Windows – How to move the small business from a Windows Server 2003 machine to a Windows Server 2008 R2 machine? (Windows Server noob)

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So here's the story. Please excuse any incorrect terminology, I'm not really knowledgeable in the Windows server realm.

My company, pre-me-being-employed-by-them, has a "server" built out of consumer desktop parts, running Windows Server 2003. It's the domain controller, i.e. each Windows PC (we have ~20) logs in through centrally-controlled usernames and passwords. (The Windows PCs range from XP to Windows 7.)

The machine runs some accounting software that's slow, hands out network licenses for AutoDesk products, and stores backups of files. The boss runs a weekly job that transfers them to external hard drives that he stores off-site.

This machine is now beginning to croak – repeat hard drive failures make me question the motherboard and power supply.

I would like to transfer the functions of the 2003 box over to a new Windows Server 2008 R2 machine that's actually made of server hardware. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do this. I want to preserve all the logins and passwords, set up the same shared folders, etc. I'd also like the server to have the hostname ("SERVER") and IP address (192.168.1.2) that the current server holds.

Is there a "migrating an active directory from 2003 to 2008 R2 For Dummies"? Thanks for any tips!

Best Answer

There are lots of guides for this type of thing on the internet. If you have time to do it properly, then the rough steps you need to go through are:

  • Join the 2008 R2 computer to the domain like any normal workstation.
  • Run dcpromo to make it a domain controller (this step copies the user accounts and passwords on it).
  • Move important domain controller functions over to the R2 computer (find documentation).
  • Make the 2008 R2 computer a DNS server and DHCP server and stop the 2003 server doing it.
  • Run dcpromo to take the 2003 server away from being a domain controller, when ready.
  • Move files, printers, etc to the 2008 server. No easy way to do this, you setup the shared folders, copy the data over using a tool which keeps all the permissions and file editing dates such as robocopy, then update all the computers to connect to the new server.
  • Install your Autodesk and Accounting software on 2008 and move the data accross, probably with their support help.
  • Check the 2003 server for last minute look for things it still does, if ok...
  • Shutdown the 2003 server. See what happens.
  • Keep it for a few months at least, just in case.

If it's not going to last long enough for the above, then make the 2003 server into a virtual machine on the 2008 server, either using Hyper-V or VMWare Server, assuming the new one has the disk space to handle it. Then do the above migration from the virtual machine.

A guide like this one http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/sanderberkouwer/archive/2008/03/02/transitioning-your-active-directory-to-windows-server-2008.aspx might well help. You'd be looking at "transitioning" not "restructuring".

Also, take backups first.

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