Cloning a Windows 2000 Server installation onto a new server w/ DC Opteron

[cameronjpu]

I am considering helping someone upgrade their server economically by
simply cloning it (P4 1.4 Ghz Rambus system) to a dual core Opteron
system. I am wondering though if I should expect any problems getting
the OS to recognize both cores. Anyone around here done this kind of
thing, have any tips on what to look out for? From what I can imagine,
it should be pretty straightforward - the OS when put into the new PC
will need drivers reinstalled but the database performance should
improve greatly, right out of the box.

Thanks!

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I am considering helping someone upgrade their server economically by
simply cloning it (P4 1.4 Ghz Rambus system) to a dual core Opteron
system. I am wondering though if I should expect any problems getting
the OS to recognize both cores. Anyone around here done this kind of
thing, have any tips on what to look out for? From what I can imagine,
it should be pretty straightforward - the OS when put into the new PC
will need drivers reinstalled but the database performance should
improve greatly, right out of the box.

Thanks!

I'm afraid your wrong. Porting an existing Windows installation
to a new box fails in most cases, because Windows is "married"
to the hardware. There are ways to deal with the issue as per
the links below but I would never consider using them for a server,
because one expects a rock-solid and robust installation on a
server. Still - it's your decision.

How to Move a Windows Installation to Different Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q249694
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314082

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q292175.ASP

And here is how the professionals do it with servers. The Swing
kit is the best developed method but it is not free.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/upgrading/nt4/tooldocs/msfsc.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/techinfo/overview/ads.mspx
www.sbsmigration.com (swing kit)