Promoting Windows Server 2008 R2 as DC + DNS in 2003 AD Domain

[albertwt]

Hi All,

I'm about to do the Domain Controller + DHCP and DNS role transfer from Windows Server 2003 Std. R2 SP2 into Windows Server 2008 Std. R2 SP 1, is there anything that i should be careful about ?

Here's the current AD Domain details:

Domain Functional Level: Windows 2000 Native (since there is Samba Server)

• ServerA: DC + 1st DNS + DHCP (this will be decommissioned) - Windows Server 2003 x86 R2 SP2

• ServerB: DC + 2nd DNS + All FSMO Role + Exchange Server 2007 SP1 - Windows Server 2003 x64 R2 SP2

I'm afraid if there is any incompatibilities in running Windows Server 2008 R2 with Server 2003 then I could not restore the Server A from backup image (Acronis True Image backup).

Any kind of help in how to run Server 2008 R2 as a DC in Windows 2003 domain side-by-side would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Albert

[bio]

This should work just fine.. just keep the domain in 2000 or 2003 native mode and you'll do fine

bio...

[kevin_lane]

could you post any problems you came across. as would be usefull to know as im going to be doing thing after crimbo when i get my new budget 2 new g6 server which will just be pure dc and use the 2 other as just dhcp and dns

[Psymon]

I did an in-place from Server2008 x64 SP2 to 2008R2 last week. Machine was a DC with DNS, WDS, NOD32 AV Server (+ IT Support file shares) and it was flawless. Took about 2 hours but asked no questions.

Performed a schema update previous to performing the install ofc.

Si

[zag]

It might be a good idea to seperate the DC and exchange server at some point.

Will make these kind of upgrades far easier in the future.

[albertwt]

It might be a good idea to seperate the DC and exchange server at some point.

Will make these kind of upgrades far easier in the future.

Hi iTech,

So in this case i should move all FSMO role from the Exchange Server into the new Server C ? previously it was configured separately like that but then when the server gets rebooted, the Exchange Server cannot send and receive email ? and the users disconnected.

[m25man]

I haven't seen anyone else post this, but one thing I discovered was that in mixed mode (2003 + 2008 R2 DC's) certain management tools do not work as expected.
For instance, DNS Management, a 2003 DNS server can view the zones etc on a 2008 DNS server but cannot make any manual changes (Access Denied), the opposite way however 2008R2 -> 2003 everything is fine.
I found a number of other similar quirky management functions all relating to the differences in 2003/2008R2 security settings.

All of the reference material seems to recommend that the transition from 2003 to 2008 R2 native mode be completed as soon as is practicable.
Yes mixed mode works, but it seems far from an ideal long term solution.

I would suggest that your plans include the objective to reach 2008 R2 Native Mode as quickly as possible to avoid any interim compatability issues that may arise.

Clearly 2008 R2 was designed and delivered to partner with Windows 7 and it seems to do so very well BUT living alongside 2003, Vista and XP it seems to bring along more potential issues day after day.

We have gone for 2 x 2008 R2 DC's in Native mode, everything else runs on member servers on physical or virtual machines.

[albertwt]

I haven't seen anyone else post this, but one thing I discovered was that in mixed mode (2003 + 2008 R2 DC's) certain management tools do not work as expected.
For instance, DNS Management, a 2003 DNS server can view the zones etc on a 2008 DNS server but cannot make any manual changes (Access Denied), the opposite way however 2008R2 -> 2003 everything is fine.
I found a number of other similar quirky management functions all relating to the differences in 2003/2008R2 security settings.

All of the reference material seems to recommend that the transition from 2003 to 2008 R2 native mode be completed as soon as is practicable.
Yes mixed mode works, but it seems far from an ideal long term solution.

I would suggest that your plans include the objective to reach 2008 R2 Native Mode as quickly as possible to avoid any interim compatability issues that may arise.

Clearly 2008 R2 was designed and delivered to partner with Windows 7 and it seems to do so very well BUT living alongside 2003, Vista and XP it seems to bring along more potential issues day after day.

We have gone for 2 x 2008 R2 DC's in Native mode, everything else runs on member servers on physical or virtual machines.

M25man,

Thanks for your reply,

I really appreciate your efforts in sharing your experience here.

Cheers,

AWT

[jcollings]

I haven't seen anyone else post this, but one thing I discovered was that in mixed mode (2003 + 2008 R2 DC's) certain management tools do not work as expected.
For instance, DNS Management, a 2003 DNS server can view the zones etc on a 2008 DNS server but cannot make any manual changes (Access Denied), the opposite way however 2008R2 -> 2003 everything is fine.
I found a number of other similar quirky management functions all relating to the differences in 2003/2008R2 security settings.

All of the reference material seems to recommend that the transition from 2003 to 2008 R2 native mode be completed as soon as is practicable.
Yes mixed mode works, but it seems far from an ideal long term solution.

I would suggest that your plans include the objective to reach 2008 R2 Native Mode as quickly as possible to avoid any interim compatability issues that may arise.

Clearly 2008 R2 was designed and delivered to partner with Windows 7 and it seems to do so very well BUT living alongside 2003, Vista and XP it seems to bring along more potential issues day after day.

We have gone for 2 x 2008 R2 DC's in Native mode, everything else runs on member servers on physical or virtual machines.

Interesting. We run in the same mixed mode (2003 DC + 2008 R2 DC) and we haven't encountered any issues. Just tried the DNS thing on our 2003 DC and it let me manually add records fine. Touch wood we seem to not have had any issues since adding 2008 R2 DC to the network.