Just received brand new server

[RageRiot]

I've just un boxed our new server which is going to replace our 7~ year old and 4~ year old box.

new box: P4304BTLSHCN

• E3-1230 Xeon Quad core 3.2 Ghz
• 2x 4Gb DDR3 1333 ECC (8GB RAM)
• 3 X Seagate 1TB @ Raid 5 (Hot swop bay available)

I've not booted it up yet but I know I've got alot of work ahead of me.

since the current system is so old and just ughh badly maintained in the past I have chosen to install this server from scratch.
I asume at this point that the box has 2008 R2 pre install since no OS disk was present in the package.


What I would like to do is try to keep this new server as sperarate from the old system as much as possible so I thought would it be worth configuring it to use a slightly different network ID

current system is on 192.168.1.2 and .1.3
Should I configure the server to use 192.168.0.x ?
will this complicate thing alot more and would it require switch configurations?

Thanks, tell me what you think of the new box as well

Bryan

[storkyIV]

Is your network controlled by a domain controller?

[RageRiot]

the old servers are both domain controllers but they dont control the network.

[storkyIV]

So do you plan on your new server becoming a domain controller?
If so you will need to set it to replicate to at least one of the old pair before demoting them.

IP addresses don't really matter if so.

If you want to give it an IP that's different to the rest of the network you would have to create new vlans etc - to much hassle imho!

[soveryapt]

I think the questions you need to look at are:

Do you have services on the new servers that you would be looking to migrate, if so then as has already been said, you will need to add the new server to your existing network, promote it to PDC and all the other various roles and what not, then you can demote and remove the old servers once you have all the data over etc.

Are you planning to completely redesign the network in terms of taking the chance for a clean sweep, in which case, it might be better to build it on a new domain and IP address that way you can get everything working, add a few machines to it to test things before rolling it out and moving all your other computers over.

It all really depends on what you're comfortable doing and what you see the end result as being.

[K.C.Leblanc]

I asume at this point that the box has 2008 R2 pre install since no OS disk was present in the package.

That's a big assumption, I don't think I've ever had a server come pre installed.

[sonofsanta]

I assume at this point that the box has 2008 R2 pre install since no OS disk was present in the package.

I'd be very surprised if any server ever did come with an install disc. You should have a Windows Server licence anyway, or you need to get hold of one - when you do you should get access to the Volume Licensing Service Center to download the ISO, which you can burn to disc or extract to USB.

What I would like to do is try to keep this new server as sperarate from the old system as much as possible so I thought would it be worth configuring it to use a slightly different network ID

Give it a different IP but keep to the same subnet... co-existing with your other servers on the same subnet won't do it any harm, and will just ease administration. No point in over-complicating things, so go with 192.168.1.4 (or any other free number in that last octet).

[K.C.Leblanc]

the old servers are both domain controllers but they dont control the network.

Can you give us more details, are you saying that your clients aren't members of the domain?

How big is your network?