NT domain / 2000 Server upgrade

[scj6771]

Ok here is my situation, I have been assigned the task of writing up a proposal of how to upgrade our Windows NT domain into a Windows 2000 Server domain, we are NOT talking about Active Directory yet, that will come later, we are a large food distributor located in the Northeast with 5 other small centers located in the northeast as well, I work in our Corporate center with around 400 - 600 employees, we are currently running a Windows NT environment ( PDC / BDC ) and of course WINS as well, I could sure use some help on this and any help would be much appreciated, I await your questions and suggestions.

[twwabw]

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a Windows 2000 domain without active directory. You can integrate 2000 member servers into your NT domain, but active directory IS what 2000 server is all about. Active directory in and of itself is not necessarily a big deal, but WAN connectivity of a 5 site Domain is. You need to be very sure of how will deploy this type of migration- there is a LOT to it. You need a well planned, organized migration strategy, to include hardware upgrades; scheduling; likely bandwidth considerations; on and on. 600 employees over 5 sites = bigtime professional services here. I would suggest enlisting the services of an experienced IT firm to help you with this. If you don't know how, something of this size is NOT what you should learn on.

BTW, skip the dead horse (2000) and move into 2003 server.

ps- P&C / Penn Traffic??

[scj6771]

Hmmmm..... I should have known!!!!!!!....... Anyone else have any suggestions??

[twwabw]

Hmmmm..... I should have known!!!!!!!.......

Ahh yes.... I thought your name looked familiar. Well, apparently you don't like my response (again), but how do you actually expect a complete solution to your Corporate migration in a user forum? You don't feel this is over your head???

If not, then there are multitudes of articles, how-to's, posted everywhere. MS is your best first source. MS Certified Professional magazine has also has some excellent articles regarding 2K/2003 migrations and strategies. So has Windows.Net magazine. MS lays it out pretty thoroughly for you in their articles though.

I have only performed single Domain migrations personally. Will this be a single domain or a forest? We have no idea from your post how your domain(s) are structured; what kind of traffic there is; what your replication requirements are; whether or not e-mail is involved in the migration, etc.

Again, as I stated before, there is no such thing as a 2K domain without Active Directory. Period. The first major change in your migration will be upgrading the PDC to a W2K domain controller. This installs AD- period. It can continue to function in your NT environment by emulating an NT PDC, so your existing BDCs and clients don't know of the change yet- this is the default install mode of a mixed environment. Then you will install 2K on (or replace) all BDC's. you mentioned WINS- it is irrelevant in 2K. You can continue to run it in a small network, but it serves no purpose in a 2K environment. It was the biggest PITA in large NT domains, so I say good ridence. All resolution is performed with DNS.

So, there's a start. You have lots of documentation to do first, and better lay out a roadmap. Location of data, users, applications is a huge consideration, as replication itself consumes much more bandwidth than it ever did in NT. Plan for it. Decide your Domain / Forest structure. This needs to happen first. And my comment about Windows Server 2003 is true- there is absolutely no reason to plan and deploy a 2000 rollout now- use 2003. This does not change most of your migration strategies.

[YeOldeStonecat]

Listen to TWW's advice....

And I'll add to that...what else runs on your servers. Meaning, customized applications, special programs, databases/database engines, etc etc.

You will be upgrading the server OS (and hopefully servers themselves) that they currently run on. Will all your software be fully compatible with the new server OS? Will any database engines need to be upgraded at the same time? Will support of your specialized software support it on 2K3? (most likely yes, as they all should by now, but I recently did a server migration/replacement at a major golf club resort, I had the server ready in November, but the support for their Club software did not approve 2K3 at that time...it took until end of January til they "blessed it"). At first the club just wanted to rush and get 2K Server, but I said "Wait, since 2K is old now, 2K3 has been out long enough, just wait until they will support it".

A lot of work here...live production network spread out over a WAN, we need to approach this carefully, spread it out over time so there's minimal down time, could be a month and a half full of weekend work here.

How are your remote sites setup?

[scj6771]

Actually I just enjoy givin TWW a hard time.. and of course I will take all reply's serious, My proposal will be just one of many and to be honest with you I have vey little experience in that field, this is merely a learning experience for myself. now on to some of your questions

Will this be a single domain or a forest?
This will be a single domain.

whether or not e-mail is involved in the migration
Yes we will be setting up a single mail server, we currently have 1 in each location.

there is no such thing as a 2K domain without Active Directory. Period.
Yes I totally agree, not sure what my boss was thinkin, but I WILL be including it into my proposal.

what else runs on your servers. Meaning, customized applications, special programs, databases/database engines, etc etc.
I will get back to you on that one, sooooo many databases and programs.

How are your remote sites setup?
Pretty basic, our remote sites really only house around 100 employees max, we have setup a server for data and print, and an exchange server.

Yes I agree this is quite a task, but again I can only gain from it. thanks for your replys.

[YeOldeStonecat]

Originally posted by scj6771
I will get back to you on that one, sooooo many databases and programs.



Hmm...take your time here....a 100% thorough inventory. Including any interface hardware, such as data collection, legacy applications, how some applications treat hardware like printers or other hardware. Just because it ran fine on NT 4 doesn't mean 100% that it will run fine on 2K or 2K3. On the flip side, you may find things that didn't run well on NT4 suddenly do run fine on 2K or 2K3.

Just picture something down the road, as you go down the final stretch of this project...and suddenly find that something will not run correctly on the new OS. It's hard to make sure you find everything ahead of time. Just think of everything. Even stuff you'd normally expect to be fine...like your current antivirus app...is the version completely up to date? Or do you need to update that because the version you're running isn't 2K3 compatible. Same with backup software. Database already mentioned.