Setting up AD - upgrading from NT4 Domain

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From: John (jsullivan_at_mlsnet.com)
Date: 03/31/04 

Date: 31 Mar 2004 07:41:44 -0800

Hey all,

I am in the process of moving from an NT4 domain (single site w /PDC
and BDC) to Windows 2003 w/ AD.

I have been reading up on the process of upgrading and have found some
well documented step by step instructions. However I read something
yestarday that through me for a loop. Please Help clarify this for
me....

OK so my existing setup is NT 4 Network with PDC and BDC. All of my
clients 50 n all are running Windows XP. I have a few other server
that are mixed NT/2000 servers.

The private network has a domain name of abcdomain.com. All of my
servers and clients are configured with this domain name. However, my
companies web site www.abcdomain.com is hosted offsite and the DNS for
the www.abcdomain.com is also hosted offsite. In preparing for the AD
installation I have setup a new server as BDC and installed DNS on it.
I was planning on upgrading this to the PDC in a few days and then
upgrading that to Windows 2003 w/AD.

However I read something yestarday that since my website is hosted
offsite and has the same domain name as my internal network once the
AD and DNS is setup on Windows 2003 my internal AD DNS with the same
domain name will cause some issues with the external hosting and DNS
of my website. The article went on to say I should setup AD with a new
domain and should name is something like

internal.abcdomain.com

My questions are this -

Do I need to do it this way or can I leave the internal domain name
(abcdomain.com) as it is when uopgrading to Windows 2003 AD?

If I do create a new domain on that W3k Ad server when I am upgrading
does that mean that I will have to go to every server and client
machine and change the domain name on it, in order for it to access
the network an authenticate?

How would this change effect my internal Exchange 5.5 mail server
which is currently in the domain abcdomain.com - If I need to change
the domain names on all of the servers including the mail server -
won't that mess up some settings in Exchange 5.5?

Any other pointers or suggestions for upgrading are appreciated as
well - also if anyone has any good links to doing the upgrade..

Thanks very much,

John

jsullivan@mlsnet.com

Relevant Pages

  • Re: NT Domain to AD migration
    ... Windows 2000/XP always prefer Kerberos authentication, ... Server 2003 Active Directory service, ensure that you have designed a DNS ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory)
  • Re: Secondary DNS and PIX
    ... Of course I updated them with the DNS ... WINDOWS SERVER 2003 FOR SMALL BUSINESS SERVER, ... Windows SBS 2003 SP1 is available. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: Find AD hostname from Linux command line
    ... The Windows XP workstation gets an IP ... "Register this connection's addresses in DNS" turned ON. ... If I am on a Linux server and do "ping lancelot.ad.mydomain.com", ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.dns)
  • Re: Secondary DNS and PIX
    ... SBS SP1 was a very specific service pack comprising several ... Root hints for DNS means you leave the forwarders ... WINDOWS SERVER 2003 FOR SMALL BUSINESS SERVER, ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: Two Win2k3 questions ... Roaming Profiles & Access Privileges ...
    ... >DHCP, DNS, Print Server, and File Server responsibilities. ... lookup zone on Windows NT" ... http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=229873 "Delegate Control Wizard Cannot Be Used ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.advanced_server)