Licensing question, Windows Server 2003

My customer wants to upgrade their NT4 network. They do not have an
Exchange server yet, but there is a need for that and I would expect one
down the road.

I want to to offer them a scaleable solution, but the requirements for the
property management software they use is Windows 2000 Server and SQL Server
7. They are adament that SQL Server 2000 will not work.

I want to put in Windows Server 2003, but SQL Server 7 will not even
install. Can I buy a licence for Windows Server 2003 but use it with
Windows 2000 Server until such a time that this company has upgraded their
software? At that point I would install WS2k, possibly around the time the
mail server goes in. I would buy media for both Win2k and WS2k.

Would that work?

Offer Small Business Server 2003. It has SQL, Exchange,
ISA Server, and great management and reporting tools to
make your life easier.



>-----Original Message-----
>My customer wants to upgrade their NT4 network. They do
not have an
>Exchange server yet, but there is a need for that and I
would expect one
>down the road.
>
>I want to to offer them a scaleable solution, but the
requirements for the
>property management software they use is Windows 2000
Server and SQL Server
>7. They are adament that SQL Server 2000 will not work.
>
>I want to put in Windows Server 2003, but SQL Server 7
will not even
>install. Can I buy a licence for Windows Server 2003 but
use it with
>Windows 2000 Server until such a time that this company
has upgraded their
>software? At that point I would install WS2k, possibly
around the time the
>mail server goes in. I would buy media for both Win2k
and WS2k.
>
>Would that work?
>
>
>.
>

So how does that help me if their software needs SQL Server 7 to run?

"Jeff" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:dc5401c3f048$bfbecd10$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Offer Small Business Server 2003. It has SQL, Exchange,
> ISA Server, and great management and reporting tools to
> make your life easier.
>
>
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >My customer wants to upgrade their NT4 network. They do
> not have an
> >Exchange server yet, but there is a need for that and I
> would expect one
> >down the road.
> >
> >I want to to offer them a scaleable solution, but the
> requirements for the
> >property management software they use is Windows 2000
> Server and SQL Server
> >7. They are adament that SQL Server 2000 will not work.
> >
> >I want to put in Windows Server 2003, but SQL Server 7
> will not even
> >install. Can I buy a licence for Windows Server 2003 but
> use it with
> >Windows 2000 Server until such a time that this company
> has upgraded their
> >software? At that point I would install WS2k, possibly
> around the time the
> >mail server goes in. I would buy media for both Win2k
> and WS2k.
> >
> >Would that work?
> >
> >
> >.
> >

"Bob Walker" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> So how does that help me if their software needs SQL Server 7 to run?

It won't. I ran into the flip side of that with something would only work
with SQL2k when we only had SQL7...

Anyway, what you suggested should be ok. The licenses to my knowledge are
"backward compatible" so if you have a license to 2003 you can install 2000
in its place until you can upgrade.

Keep in mind with Exchange, that Exchange 2000 will *only* run on Server
2000 and will not run on Server 2003. By the same token, I believe that
Exchange2003 will only run on Server 2003, but I am not positive about
that,...you'll have to research MS's "Upgrade Path" for the methods that are
used to upgrade that stuff.

Also 2000 Domains are not identical to 2003 Domains. When upgrading the DCs
to 2003 it may be better to build a temporary 2003 DC that is part of the
2000 Domain then demote to original 2000 DC to a member server and rebuild
it from scratch to 2003 and make it a DC again. Wait a day or so for all the
AD replication to settle in, then demote and remove the temporary 2003 DC
and you will be back where you started with your original DC other than now
it would be 2003.

If there are NT4 or Win95 machines on the system, you might want to leave
the 2003 Domain in "2000 mode". It would probably still be in "2000 mode"
after the above proceedure because there was a period of time where it had
both a 2000 & a 2003 DC at the same time. Once all old clients are
permanently gone, you can bump it up to the "pure" 2003 mode.


--

Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
www.wandtv.com