Hi everyone,
I need to fix up a network I'm just now getting involved in. It is a mess.
This network currently consists of 8 servers - 7 of them are Win2K Svr. or Win2K3 Ent. - and the newest hardware is running SBS2011 Essentials. The functional domain roles (PDC,
Schema, GC, etc.) are all running on the SBS2011 box, as is DNS, however Exchange is not. It is running in a VMware Workstation VM, on Win2K3. Also, it's not the Exchange 2010 that comes with SBS2011, it's Exchange 2003. Yeah...
My original goal was to migrate all the services to the one SBS2011 box and retire the rest of the unnecessary servers. However, I am now realizing that the SBS2011 installation
seems to be corrupted. I can't add DHCP without it crashing, it thinks it's not Genuine (it is), and it frequently pops up an error about activation not being possible and to re-install. And if those weren't decent reasons to re-install, here's another one.
They are bursting at the seams with users and anticipate exceeding the 25 concurrent user maximum of SBS2011 Essentials within the next 3 months. So they'll need to step up to SBS2011 Standard. There is no upgrade path between these products AFAIK.
So I'm looking for a little input on what might be the best procedure to do this. How can I funnel the domain/AD from SBS2011 Essentials and the Exchange 2003 data into a single
install of SBS2011 Standard? And of course, this is their only dependable server, and as always, they need as little downtime as possible. This seems a bit tricky, since they ultimately will need to be back on the same box.
Any thoughts on migration strategies for this one?
Thanks in advance for your input!!
JC