SBS 2003 Swing Migration via Laptop

Earlier this year I had an opportunity to try out Jeff Middleton's SBS 2003 migration kit with a small 15 user network. An HP ML370 G4 server running SBS 2003 was being replaced with an HP ML370 G5 server. The new server was prepped and configured with identical name, disk partition layout and network settings in workgroup mode. I loaded up a laptop with Windows 2003 server, called it TempDC, joined it to the customers existing domain, ran DCpromo, enabled Global Catalog role then replicated DNS and Active Directory. The next step was to remove the laptop from the customer network, seize the FSMO roles and clean up Active Directory.

The same scenario was then performed with the new server pulling Active Directory from the laptop. The rest of the SBS 2003 setup on the new server continued after migrating Active Directory and completed without any issues.

The cutover was done on a Saturday. The customer's production data was backed up to an external hard drive Friday evening using Symantec Backup Exec. The Exchange Store database files were also copied over to the same drive. On Saturday, the external hard drive was connected to the new server, inventoried and cataloged. The Exchange Store database files were copied over first to the same path on the new server and successfully mounted. The data was then restored. The remainder of the day was spent making sure all the typical functions of the server were in order and accessible. Shares, security, printing, login scripts, etc.

On Monday morning the users logged in as usual with only a few minor issues. Jeff's swing kit was easy to follow, provided good detail and offered solutions to common issues that may arise during the various steps of the swing migration process.

More info:  http://www.sbsmigration.com/