Upgrading windows server 2000/2003 (single ATA storage) to windows server 2008 r2 (Raid 5 storage)?

daredavel

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Feb 17, 2016
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I have two windows servers 2000 and 2003 with ATA storage (1 disk) each and I want to upgrade both to windows server 2008 r2 with raid 5 storage. I want to migrate all my settings/data to the new server units. Can someone guide me on how to achieve it? I have new servers with 3 disks each in preparation for the raid 5 setup.

As much as possible, I don't want to shutdown my two servers when updating/migrating to a new setup as I can't afford to have a down time. I would appreciate any help.
 
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I have done that with 2000 -> 2003 transition. For what I remember, AD model was changed with 2008, but I think you should be able to do the transition that way.

If I was you - I would set up an isolated network with two servers, 2000 and 2008, with couple of clients, and test the transition there.

Are these servers part of AD / domain? Are they DCs? What services are running on these servers so that you want to migrate settings, and not just data?
At some point, you are going to have a downtime. You cannot copy open files from old server to the new one, and expect the data to remain intact during switch-over.
 

daredavel

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Feb 17, 2016
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Yes, the servers are part of AD and they are DCs. I've read about making the new server as the backup server, then migrate the settings and data, then promote it as the primary server before decommissioning the old one. Is that really possible?

 
I have done that with 2000 -> 2003 transition. For what I remember, AD model was changed with 2008, but I think you should be able to do the transition that way.

If I was you - I would set up an isolated network with two servers, 2000 and 2008, with couple of clients, and test the transition there.

 
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