NT4 migration, need simple answer if possible

currently have an NT4 domain with exchange 5.5. (1 pdc, 2 bdc's, 1 exchange
server). we are moving to server 2003 and exchange 2003. im getting very
conflicting reports about how best to go about this. one side says to bring
a new machine online as an NT4 bdc, promote it to pdc, run server 2003 on
top of it as an upgrade etc... the other side says bring a clean 2003 server
online, then use the AD migration tool to move everything from the NT4
domain over to AD. and this isnt even taken into consideration how we're
going to handle the exchange move! is there anyone that has 100%
successfully performed an NT4 > 2003 AD migration and can give me the steps
theyve taken? thank you in advance!

this is two common impementation of NT4 upgrage. everyone has its pros and
cons. the first method, is best suited to small organizations with 1-2 sites
tops, because if you want to do site consolidation like this, you need to
have eventually all the domains under a single namespace(e.g upgrading the
first one, and then making the rest as child domains during the upgrade) in
order to use the movetree command to consolidate those domains into OU's. +,
you are taking all of the older enviornment "garbage" into your new
invironment. using ADMT, is more a strightfowrward way(after you investet
the neccesery time to properly design and setup your Migration). ADMT don't
care what's your first domain setup is. you can setup a new clean 2003
domain, add the neccesery dc's in each site to the new domain, build your
OU's structure properly, and to migrate each Domain to his corresponding
newly created site. therfore giving you a clean and predesigned enviornment.
this is my prefered method. you can also have a combination of both
strategies also...

--

Omer Maydan
MCSE,Security+
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:YJ5Oc.8810$(E-Mail Removed) ...
> currently have an NT4 domain with exchange 5.5. (1 pdc, 2 bdc's, 1
exchange
> server). we are moving to server 2003 and exchange 2003. im getting very
> conflicting reports about how best to go about this. one side says to
bring
> a new machine online as an NT4 bdc, promote it to pdc, run server 2003 on
> top of it as an upgrade etc... the other side says bring a clean 2003
server
> online, then use the AD migration tool to move everything from the NT4
> domain over to AD. and this isnt even taken into consideration how we're
> going to handle the exchange move! is there anyone that has 100%
> successfully performed an NT4 > 2003 AD migration and can give me the
steps
> theyve taken? thank you in advance!
>
>

because you have only one domain, i will say that the simplest way for you
is the first method...

--

Omer Maydan
MCSE,Security+
"omer maydan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> this is two common impementation of NT4 upgrage. everyone has its pros and
> cons. the first method, is best suited to small organizations with 1-2
sites
> tops, because if you want to do site consolidation like this, you need to
> have eventually all the domains under a single namespace(e.g upgrading the
> first one, and then making the rest as child domains during the upgrade)
in
> order to use the movetree command to consolidate those domains into OU's.
+,
> you are taking all of the older enviornment "garbage" into your new
> invironment. using ADMT, is more a strightfowrward way(after you investet
> the neccesery time to properly design and setup your Migration). ADMT
don't
> care what's your first domain setup is. you can setup a new clean 2003
> domain, add the neccesery dc's in each site to the new domain, build your
> OU's structure properly, and to migrate each Domain to his corresponding
> newly created site. therfore giving you a clean and predesigned
enviornment.
> this is my prefered method. you can also have a combination of both
> strategies also...
>
> --
>
> Omer Maydan
> MCSE,Security+
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:YJ5Oc.8810$(E-Mail Removed) ...
> > currently have an NT4 domain with exchange 5.5. (1 pdc, 2 bdc's, 1
> exchange
> > server). we are moving to server 2003 and exchange 2003. im getting very
> > conflicting reports about how best to go about this. one side says to
> bring
> > a new machine online as an NT4 bdc, promote it to pdc, run server 2003
on
> > top of it as an upgrade etc... the other side says bring a clean 2003
> server
> > online, then use the AD migration tool to move everything from the NT4
> > domain over to AD. and this isnt even taken into consideration how we're
> > going to handle the exchange move! is there anyone that has 100%
> > successfully performed an NT4 > 2003 AD migration and can give me the
> steps
> > theyve taken? thank you in advance!
> >
> >
>
>

I agree with Omer.

Concerning just the Exchange migration, I would like to add that you want to
keep the old NT4/Exchange machine running for now and don't worry about
migrating to Exchange 2003 just yet.

Migrating Exchange can be an even worse pain that moving to AD. Your Active
Directory Domain must be working pretty much flawlessly before you attempt
Exchange because of how Exchange 2000/2003 are so *heavily* integrated into
AD (Exchange 5.5 is not intergrated with AD at all). Keep in mind that
Exchange makes changes to AD that are *not* reversable even if you change
your mind and go back to 5.5. So it is imparative that the Exchange
migration go without incident. Consider it a completely separate project
and don'at attempt it until you are confortable that you understand it.

I studied the process for about a month before I started it and "practiced"
it in a Lab using "copies" of my Domain Controllers on a separate isolated
LAN. I also open a case with MS Exchange Support for the migration even
while using the LAB so that when the time came to do the real thing I
already had an open "case" with support with a tech that was familiar with
what I was doing so that they could help if problems came up a long the way.
There were a few minor problems along the way and this helped keep them from
becomming "big" problems. It was worth the $250 bucks to have someone
"backing me up" with the project if something went wrong. To me the goal
was to get it done right the first time and not wether I could pat myself on
the back for doing it without assistance :-)

--

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


<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:YJ5Oc.8810$(E-Mail Removed) ...
> currently have an NT4 domain with exchange 5.5. (1 pdc, 2 bdc's, 1
exchange
> server). we are moving to server 2003 and exchange 2003. im getting very
> conflicting reports about how best to go about this. one side says to
bring
> a new machine online as an NT4 bdc, promote it to pdc, run server 2003 on
> top of it as an upgrade etc... the other side says bring a clean 2003
server
> online, then use the AD migration tool to move everything from the NT4
> domain over to AD. and this isnt even taken into consideration how we're
> going to handle the exchange move! is there anyone that has 100%
> successfully performed an NT4 > 2003 AD migration and can give me the
steps
> theyve taken? thank you in advance!
>
>

Whether to just upgrade or to go with a migration will depend on a few things:

- Timeline (upgrade is generally faster)
- Cleanliness of your domain (many people use an AD migration as a way to clean up the domain)
- Budget (you'll need a new server at a minimum and possibly a 3rd party migration tool based on the size of your domain)

For a small domain an upgrade will probably be fine, but if you have a lot of orphaned user or computer accounts it might be better to do a migration instead of trying to clean it up. If you do an upgrade I would bring up a new BDC (even on a desktop), let it replicate all the domain information then shut it off and shove it under your desk. That way if the upgrade goes bad you have a box that you can bring up as a PDC to recover from.

I've done both, they both work great if you plan them properly (Which the other Phillip mentioned as well).

Phil

"Phillip Windell" wrote:

> I agree with Omer.
>
> Concerning just the Exchange migration, I would like to add that you want to
> keep the old NT4/Exchange machine running for now and don't worry about
> migrating to Exchange 2003 just yet.
>
> Migrating Exchange can be an even worse pain that moving to AD. Your Active
> Directory Domain must be working pretty much flawlessly before you attempt
> Exchange because of how Exchange 2000/2003 are so *heavily* integrated into
> AD (Exchange 5.5 is not intergrated with AD at all). Keep in mind that
> Exchange makes changes to AD that are *not* reversable even if you change
> your mind and go back to 5.5. So it is imparative that the Exchange
> migration go without incident. Consider it a completely separate project
> and don'at attempt it until you are confortable that you understand it.
>
> I studied the process for about a month before I started it and "practiced"
> it in a Lab using "copies" of my Domain Controllers on a separate isolated
> LAN. I also open a case with MS Exchange Support for the migration even
> while using the LAB so that when the time came to do the real thing I
> already had an open "case" with support with a tech that was familiar with
> what I was doing so that they could help if problems came up a long the way.
> There were a few minor problems along the way and this helped keep them from
> becomming "big" problems. It was worth the $250 bucks to have someone
> "backing me up" with the project if something went wrong. To me the goal
> was to get it done right the first time and not wether I could pat myself on
> the back for doing it without assistance :-)
>
> --
>
> Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
> www.wandtv.com
>
>
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:YJ5Oc.8810$(E-Mail Removed) ...
> > currently have an NT4 domain with exchange 5.5. (1 pdc, 2 bdc's, 1
> exchange
> > server). we are moving to server 2003 and exchange 2003. im getting very
> > conflicting reports about how best to go about this. one side says to
> bring
> > a new machine online as an NT4 bdc, promote it to pdc, run server 2003 on
> > top of it as an upgrade etc... the other side says bring a clean 2003
> server
> > online, then use the AD migration tool to move everything from the NT4
> > domain over to AD. and this isnt even taken into consideration how we're
> > going to handle the exchange move! is there anyone that has 100%
> > successfully performed an NT4 > 2003 AD migration and can give me the
> steps
> > theyve taken? thank you in advance!
> >
> >
>
>
>