Re: Moving my server to new hardware.

BETTER YET!!!

Yank one of the pair of the RAID1 and let the hotspare rebuild the array.
The drive you pull out is your fallback point. DO NOT 'break the mirror',
shutdown, disconnect the drive, restart. This way, the disconnected drive is
ignorant of any changes made after this point, it believes it is one half of
an existing RAID1 set, status 'clean shutdown'. If the process goes wrong
you turn the system off, disconnect _both_ drives which have been effected
by the process, connect the 'clean' drive and put back your existing mobo,
this drive would simply think it's partner had failed.

CHECKPOINT. We are talking hardware RAID? (must be, software RAID does not
support hotspare)

You start _only_ in DSRM to allow the changes to hardware to be detected
without the system attempting to load AD. Ignore this and it is quite likely
the system may take several hours to boot (I've heard of a system taking
more than 24hrs to boot in such circumstances). Let the system sit there for
a few minutes, sometimes the hardware detection doesn't happen immediately,
restart into DSRM again, let it sit, if it detects further changes to
hardware reboot into DSRM again, repeat as necessary. Sometimes it takes
several restarts for all hardware changes to be recognised. I'm pretty
cautious in such circumstance, I'll reboot _again_ after a reboot which does
not detect further hardware changes, after leaving the box sit for no less
than 10min, to be sure, to be sure.

Once you are confident the hardware changes have been fully detected it is
time to check networking. A document from the M&M site was mentioned, I take
it this is their document which refers to using the 'Loopback Adapter' as a
placeholder for your networking. DO NOT IGNORE THIS STEP. The networking is
the most likely thing to cause a slow startup as described above, using the
loopback adapter can save a lot of headache/delay. Once the hardware is
settled you move networking back to your real (newly detected and almost
certainly recognised differently) NIC(s).

You are in the perfect situation to try this 'forklift the whole system'
approach. There are three aspects whcih commonly cause issue. HAL, HDD
subsystem, network.

HAL. Though the mobo's are quite different I would expect the HAL used for
your existing mobo to, at least, work with the new. You can compare the HALs
natively used by the two systems by performing a test install to the new
mobo, see which HAL it loads. It wouldn't surprise me to find it loads
exactly the same HAL as is in use.

HDDs. Not only are you taking both the existing HDDs and controller to the
new system you have (in your hotspares and the fact of RAID1) an optimal way
of implementing a 'fallback point'.

Network. All we need here is care. Precautions such as the use of the
loopback adapter to hold your current config simply make the process more
likely to succeed.

"RobK" <RobK@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:24EE37DC-75CC-4D5F-9971-D18757110346@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi!
Yes, got RAID.

The OS is on a 2-drive mirror and the data is on a 3-drive RAID 5. Both
arrays have hot spares on-line. I REALLY don't want to fiddle with
breaking
the mirror on a well running OS .

Also, why do I re-boot into DSRM? I have SP1 applied the the server. Is
this
a must? Or is the SP1 being installed not a factor?

Many Thanks,
RobK

"SuperGumby [SBS MVP]" wrote:

Got RAID on those HDDs? RAID1 would be handy.

If RAID1 I would disconnect 1 of the pair of drives and simply try to
bring
the system up with the mobo swapped, it is quite likely to work. ONLY use
DSRM on the first restart (first couple actually), this will allow the
system, should it start successfully, to detect the hardware changes.

If it doesn't work, you fall back to the old system by using the drive
which
was disconnected.

NOTE: It can be handy to first copy the \i386 folder from CD1 to the HDD,
means it's available on disc if necessary.

"RobK" <RobK@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4EBEF2A1-D4B2-413D-B75E-C5AFA7A46DFA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi,
The new MoBo is quite a step up:

From a Tyan s2466MPX dual Athlon MP 2600's to a new Tyan s2892 dual
Opteron
265's dual core.

As I stated before, the hard drive and controller remain the same,
obviously
the various chipsets will be different.

A nice horsepower upgrade:)
RobK

"Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]" wrote:

Yours is abit of a different situation.
How much different is the mobo/processor from what you're using now?

You could simply try putting in the new motherboard/ processor if
thats
all
your changing.

The other procedures are really only relative if you are moving to a
new
set
of drives, re-install of OS etc.

--
Cris E. Hanna [SBS-MVP]
----------------------------------------
Please only reply in the Newsgroups and not to me directly.
-----------------------------------------
Posted via Windows Mail, on Vista Technical Edition, RC1
"RobK" <RobK@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:9A86C108-3CC3-4956-99AE-43E6884652B6@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi,
I just reviewed the M & M's .pdf downloaded article, "How do I move
my
server to new hardware-3/7/2006". It looks like this is exactly what
I
need.

My forthcoming job is not that complicated> I have an SBS2k3
(standard)
server that is running an old motherboard/cpu. All I want to do is
swap
out
the motherboard/cpu with a new set. Obviously the chip sets and
associated
hardware will be different, but the hard drives/controller card will
be
the
same. The OS, data, and email will remain where they are on their
respective
hard drives/partitions. I have several backups of all data, email,
and
settings>just in case it goes bad.

It seems that everyone suggests that I use the "Swing Migration"
materials
from Jeff Middleton, but I am strapped for cash and I do not have
another
server to use for the temp box. I want to keep this as simple as
possible.
I
am experienced,but possibly not enough for Jeff's procedures???

This is my own personal server and I really have all the time I need
to
do
the job.

Is the procedure outlined in the article applicable for SBS2k3
w/SP1,
Exchange SP2, and all the other service packs/patches? Is there any
difference I should know about? Do I still reboot into the
"Directory
Services Restore Mode" when told to?

Has anyone used this procedure and what was their results? I will
post
back
my own experience when I am finished.

Thank You,
Robert Kelly






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