NT4 to Server 2003 Migration

Planning on migrating from NT4 to 2003, and have a few questions I have
found the answers to in various MS white paper.

The network runs NT4, has 4 BCDs (all of which perform other various
functions, too), 1 PDC (only function is to be a PDC), and a few member
servers.

BDC 1 - RAS, Print Server, File Storage (90% inactive data)
BDC 2 - RAS, Goldmine, Quotewerks, and 2 license servers
BDC 3 - Licensing server, file storage (active data)
BDC 4 - Exchange 5.5, proxy through IIS, file storage (80% active data)

Member Server 1 - Blackberry server (approx. 12 users who require blackberry
service)
Member Server 2 - (2000 Adv Server) OWA (don't really care about this
server, no one uses it)
Member Server 3 - (2000 Adv Server) Inactive Exchange 5.5 server, file
storage (no active data)

The PDC put in place is temporary, as it's only a P4 3.0.
The hardware for BDC 1 and 2 will not support Windows 2003 Server. I fear
the hardware in BDC 4 is slowly dying...

From my understanding, I first need to upgrade the PDC to Server 2003. It's
my understanding that each BDC will see the new 2003 PDC as a NT4 PDC.
There's a few things I'm curious about...

Will Exchange will be able to properly communicate and authenticate after
the PDC upgrade?
Will clients using RAS be affected? Or will it all be transparent?

Now comes the next issue....I also need to deploy AD so I can later on setup
clustered Exchange servers.... However, the PDC I currently have cannot be
permanent, this is only in place because the new server purchased for the
PDC doesn't support NT4. How should I go about doing this? In the end, I
need to make the new server a PDC running Windows 2003 with AD, and
decommission the P4 PDC. I'd like to get the current PDC out of there ASAP.

I apologize for my ignorance, but this is such a huge learning curve for me
and have been given very little time to plan and implement the new network
(this is only the tip of the iceberg). Any input is greatly appreciated!!!


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Second Trust
    ... Will the Trust be there when I change my current PDC and make my new ... server a PDC? ... you'll have AD with the NT4 server as a BDC" Why would it be a BDC and ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.active_directory)
  • Re: NT 4.0 to windows 2003 AD in place upgrade.
    ... PDC that I make a BDC is the one I will take offline before I do the ... Exchange server the PDC, allow to SYNC. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.migration)
  • Re: PDC/BDC problem
    ... Did your BDC got all the FSMO rules after takeover? ... Seems that it is missing one of the roles after you take out the broken server and cleanup your metadata. ... The PDC arrived last Monday. ... everything to reestablish the trust. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.networking)
  • RE: nt4 appserver migration
    ... I understand your mainly concern is you want to migrate a NT4 PDC to Win2k3 ... need to keep the NT4 server. ... want to demote the BDC to be a member server. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.migration)
  • Re: PDC/BDC problem
    ... Even com away from PDC and BDC. ... So which server from you has which role in the moment? ... I tried everything to reestablish the trust. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.networking)
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