Re: Need to rebuild my SBS 2003 Premium Server

I'm still thinking this would be a good way to go, since you don't want to
image your existing drives. IMO recovering from backup might be somewhat
complex given that you'd want to recover a backup from prior to the power
outage, but then recover the most current data.

What you'd be doing with this is two migrations, one to the Dimension, which
would then be your production server, and then one back to the repaired PE.
So it would be some extra work over a migration to new hardware, but
probably not that much. During the migration process, you're creating a
temporary DC to hold your AD and FSMO roles. I don't see why you can't use
that same temp DC for the migration back to the original hardware.

What I would suggest is to look at the sbsmigration web site. You'll be
able to get enough information about the process to see if you're
interested. Then if you have questions at that point, you could e-mail Jeff
to get his opinion.

My original suggestion would have been to let Dell fix the hardware, then
call PSS for some help in resolving the software issues. However, I believe
the migration kit costs less than a call to PSS, and you'll have the benefit
that you're left with a clean install of SBS.

In your situation, I might consider imaging or something to make sure you
have a good, easily accessible copy of your data outside of that PE, just in
case an array fails while you're setting all this up or waiting for Dell.
I'm sure you don't need to hear anything about the value of a good UPS at
this point.


"AllenM" <ghost@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:urXt1r7ZGHA.608@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the input however I do have one issue with your suggestion. I'm
not migrating to new hardware. Are you suggesting that I use this
procedure to build my "temp" SBS server. Sounds like it could work.
However I am going to be using a new Dell Dimension 8400 (3.3 GHz, 1GB
RAM) desktop as my temp SBS server. Would this be a problem?


"Dave Nickason [SBS MVP]" <gwdibble@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message news:umWCAl7ZGHA.2376@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I recently migrated my SBS 2003 to new hardware, although thankfully not
for the reasons you describe - it was just time to replace the old
hardware. I used http://www.sbsmigration.com/, and that's what I'd
recommend to you. As long as your existing server is limping along, you
should be able to do this with essentially no down time. This procedure
allows you to do most of the building and configuration of the new server
offline, on your own schedule. When you're finished, you migrate the
Exchange and other data to the new box, and just swap them. Your only
down time is during the actual migration of the data, and the cutover is
literally as simple as swapping the LAN cable.

The best thing about all of this IMO is that there's absolutely no
disruption to your users or your other servers. Other than one user who
happened to be here when I cut over to my new SBS, I don't think the
other users were even aware we swapped servers. In fact, some of them
probably don't know it to this day. Another pro is that the
documentation pretty much walks you directly through the process and
accounts for every eventuality, plus support is included if you run into
something unexpected.


"AllenM" <ghost@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23KQLST7ZGHA.3880@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I need to rebuild my SBS 2003 server and am seeking the best procedures
on how to go about it. I got a game plan that needs some issues addressed
before I proceed.

My network consists of an SBS 2003 Premium Server (SP1), 2 NIC's
ISA 2004 (SP1)
SQL Server 2000 (SP4)
MS Exchange 2003 (SP1) SMTP server.

Windows 2003 Server (SP1) as my backup domain controller hosting DHCP
and DNS for "internal" only.
Windows 2003 Server (SP1) as my application, Citrix and file server.

Here's what happened and my current status. Due to problems from a power
outage still unknown many things on my SBS Server went faulty. Some
important services such as MSSQL$SBSMONITORING and
SQLAgent$SBSMONITORING I can no longer start. All my sharepoint
applications, Companyweb, OWA, RWW no longer function. I also had some
hardware issues that is currently my main issue. I have 2 arrays on my
SBS 2003 server. RAID 1 (2-36GB) on one channel and a RAID 5 (5
36GB-hotspare). The problems lies within my RAID 1. I had one drive
shown as being faulty. I can not see the drive in the RAID Controller
utility even though during POST it showed it was rebuilding. This went
on for several days and I know it doesn't take that long to rebuild a
36GB mirrored drive. So I figured that the drive couldn't rebuild due to
a faulty drive. With the assistance from DELL support we tried to
resolve this. Well it was determined I needed a new motherboard, perhaps
a new HD, CPU and VRM controller. It was also suggested (here's what
caused the big problem) that I flash my RAID controller firmware with
the latest version. Apparently even though the drive never rebuilt, it
was displaying that it was and that when I flahs the RAID contoller
firmware it is preventing me from rebuilding the drive (replace with a
new HD)because it cannot recognize it. So basically I need to replace
both drives and either do a diaster recovery from tape or rebuild from
scratch. Due to the many ongoing issues with the current image I
wouldn't want to recover and still have all these issues and problems.
I would prefer to rebuilt from scratch and upgrade to SP2 with a fresh
new install Other than the SBS products there isn't much on the C
drive. I have everything on tape. A few programs on the D drive that I
can reinstall no problem.

So here's what I am thinking of doing. I have several remote users who
obviously need remote access. It is a critical time for the comapny as
we have a few deadlines we need to meet to keep the customers happy. My
remote users come in via Citrix Web Interface (which by the way is still
functioning well). I need to limit my downtime because of them. My
internal users I have no problems with as they only need access to my
other Windows 2003 server. They can live without internet and email we
can access via webmail through the ISP. I will have a pc hooked up
externally that they can do this on.

So I need to build a "temp" SBS 2003 server with my only concern being
ISA so my remoe users can Citrix in. It has to be SBS due to licensing
requirements. After the temp SBS server is in place I will take the
production SBS server offline and rebuild my RAID array with new HD's.
Of course I have several questions as to the best way to go about it. I
also have many concerns reagrading how much can I do rebuilding an SBS
server offline. I open to comments and criticism and am seeking
suggestions, best practices, best documentation. thanks in advance and
if I left some info out please let me know and I will post.







.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: How can I back up SBS 2008 VM inside Hyper-V Server 2008 R2
    ... which is the USB drive plugged into Hyper-V Server 2008. ... After it was created, I went into Disk Manager in SBS, activated it, ... the drives being swapped but Server 2008 won't. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: SBS 2008 Backup - restore utility?
    ... If you've already installed a fresh copy of SBS 2008 on another server, ... the Recovery Wizard in Windows Server Backup to recover files and folders ... On the Specify location type window, choose "Local drives" and clik ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: slow disk response
    ... Same for the SBS CALs. ... once i have the new server up i will add a note to this ... great with PATA HD and mobo driver is unlikely to improve things much. ... drives passed. ...
    (microsoft.public.backoffice.smallbiz2000)
  • Re: Determin drive letter using DeviceHarddiskVolume##
    ... drives in the RAID array. ... replaced during the time they were bringing the server back up. ... On a workstation of the SBS domain, Event ID 55 is recorded that indicates ... Microsoft CSS Online Newsgroup Support ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: Moving computer and user accounts over to a new server
    ... If we are all familiar with the idea that you can mirror a pair of drives, ... Now you build a different server as you described, ... Essentially that is the core of a process that I've written a migration ... I would say that 1 in 50 SBS techs at most would find the entire ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
Loading