phill79

Agree. For the money they paid they should expect a new server and OS.

Yes, it was for the hardware as well. The hardware is: HP ML350 2.4ghz 4 core, 16gb RAM, a 300gb and a 600gb SFF drive. That was about £3k and £2k for the commissioning. OS and CALs was in addition to the above, those added up to about £900 with all the CALs.

I have asked them to check with the people who installed it whether or not it is finished.

I have now found out that the school paid approx £5k to have their domain migrated to a "2008/2012" domain. The school also requested that the server be futureproofed as much as possible. The school believe this server is the finished article so would not have questioned the people who installed it had it not have been pointed out to the head that it isn't what they have asked for. For that price too, I would expect a brand new server, brand new domain and to have the clients set up.

Perhaps I should have been a little more clearer. It wasnt just the AD/GPOs in a mess but other things were wrong, the AV wouldn't update, random freezings would occur and a couple of other niggles too. All of which if you had them on your own site would lead you down the route of something isn't right with this DC and after 10 years perhaps it is time for a fresh start. The way I see it is putting a new BMW shell onto an old rusty Ford Escort. It looks new but has all the same problems as before. Yes you could spend money (or time) fixing them but in reality whats going to last longer, a new BMW or the patched up Escort?

I have to agree with JDS. This server is considered "complete", but how can an OS that was out of date 5 years ago be even considered to run on a VM for anything other than "emergency" reasons. By all means run everything on a VM, but do it with a recent OS. Would you agree it was OK if the server was running 2000 or NT?

Hi, Just wanted to pick your brains a bit. We look after a number of schools in the area and have just taken one over from the LA and was wondering if anyone else has seen this: Their old 2003 server which was on failing hardware and the OS/gpo/AD etc was in a bit of a mess, has been installed as a VM on a brand new 2012 server which the school bought. So although the school see this brand new server everyday, the DC is actually an aging OS which is still in need of a rebuild. Is this common practice these days or just utter laziness on the part of the previous support company? Would be interested in your comments. Thanks