Mingling servers

[Bill Even]

I currently have a small domain with one PDC running
Windows NT 4.0 Server. I want to add a Windows 2000
Server to this same domain and have it take over as the
domain controller. How complicated will this be and is
there any good reference material that I can follow as I
attempt this?

 

[Salt_Peter]

It's not that complicated once you realize that W2K can't operate as a BDC.
The only way a single W2K domain controller can participate in a mixed NT4
based domain is as a PDC emulator.

Basicly, installing NT4 on the new system, promoting it as a NT4 BDC,
promoting it again into PDC will allow allow you to upgrade safely to a W2K
mixed mode domain.

It's a good idea to keep an NT4 BDC offline during the NT4 to W2K upgrade in
the case you need to recover.

There are numerous whitepapers over at MS's W2K site that deals with such
upgrades with specific scenarios that you can gather info from.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/planning/default.asp
www.microsoft.com/windows2000
www.microsoft.com/windows2000/docs/WinUpgrd.doc

 

[Salt_Peter]

Read my Post again, if you convert a W2K member server to a DC, it will
potentially generate a new, seperate domain. Your goal is to upgrade an NT4
domain to a W2K mixed mode domain. W2K must be the root of a mixed mode W2K
forest/ NT4 domain. Since the sole W2K DC can't participate as a BDC in NT4
domains, the best procedure is to install new system as an NT4 BDC, promote
to PDC and upgrade that to W2K.

Failing to do so will not replicate your NT4 domain structure but instead
will generate a new domain with same name but different SID. Old news.

Should you decide to just promote the W2K member server, hoping the NT4 PDC
will demote itself automatically, you are in for a big surprise.

and nobody here is talking about upgrading your old NT4 PDC.