Transferring Windows 2003 small business server from an IDE HDD based computer accross to a SCSI HDD computer Source Platiform: P4 2.4GHz CPU, 1.5GB RAM, VIA VT6410 RAID Controller, RAID 1 2x ST360015A 60GB HDDs Target Platform: Dell PowerEdge 750, 3.2GHz CPU, 2GB RAM, RAID 1 2x 140GB SCSI HDD I have a Pentium 4 2.4Ghz with 1.5GB RAM that is running windows 2003 small business server. It has a VIA VT6410 IDE RAID Controller with two ST360015A 60GB HDD's in a RAID 1 configuration. This box is OK but we are moving to two sites and therefore need to buy a new server. Seeing as I have the opportunity to upspec the new hardware I have purchase a rackmount Dell PowerEdge 750 with a 3.2GHz CPU and two 140GB SCSI hard disks. The builtin PERC 4/SC. The hard disks are configured to use RAID 1 The problems is that you can't just backup an IDE drived server to tape and then reinstall the whole shebang on a SCSI machine. There are several options to allow one to transfer the image accross. * Do a dummy install of the correct SCSI / RAID drivers onto the IDE machine and then ghost the disk on the IDE machine and transfer the image to the new scsi box and hope that the new box can pick up the dummy controller as it's own. * Install a fresh domain and transfer all the stuff from the old domain to the new one and hopefully get it all working again as it was I am going to try and see if I can do the first approach. Following will be all the little gotchas that I go through to get the job done. First step is to do a trial install Windows 2003 Small Business Server onto the Dell hardware so that you can see which drivers and devices that it uses The Dell "Server Assistant" CD that comes with my Dell PE750 can step you through the process but unfortunately there is no option for install SBS only w2k3. I tried to install SBS from the SBS CD's but it got hit by a known Installation HANG as noted in the following Microsoft KB article http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;839492 Interestingly this didn't effect a test workstation running an IDE disk that I installed earlier. I waited for it to finish installing over a weekend came back in on monday after leaving my computer with the 13 minutes remaining notification on it only to find that it was still hung (mouse/kb active and m$ blurbs cycling but no progress). Trying SHIFT-F10 to get a command prompt up and then taskmgr to look at the running setup processess didn't give much help at all. The Perc 4/SC is supported under W2k3 so you don't need to worry about fetching SCSI drivers. To get SBS installed I decided to install from the w2k3 ent edition disks and then do a parrallel SBS install. Once you have Win2k3 Ent Edition installed you can run the i386\winnt32.exe file from the SBS2003 Install CD this will attach to the internet and download the 'latest' setup files. Which I presume finds a fix for the 13mins remaining error. Once you have SBS installed you then update all the drivers to the latest The drivers needed for the chipset/nic and perc are on the Server Assistant CD that comes with the Dell server. Once it's all installed run wupdmgr to get the latest service packs and security patches 1:39 AM 19/11/2004 Issues. Problem: Test install of SBS onto target box hung at 13 Minutes remaining. Resolution: Install Windows 2003 Standard/Enterprise Edition (less patches) and then run the SBS setup from windows. Installation will complete successfully Problem: Couldn't install Perc 4/SC controller using windows 2003 SBS GUI Cause: Despite using all the manual options the GUI wouldn't allow the driver to install because of not being recognized as an installed item. Resolution: Use OemSetup.inf to find all relavent service and registry entries and then copy these from the test install on the target box. Problem: IDE Drived Server didn't have Floppy drive Resolution: 1. Create a bootnet floppy with correct nic driver 2. Use rawritewin to copy floppy to image file 3. Transfer image file to linux box and use mkisofs to create a bootable cd iso. Problem: 30MB/min ghost network transfer speeds meaning 8+ hrs to transfer image to workstation Resolution: Use crossover cable to connect server and workstation transfer speed went up to 280-300 for taking the image and 200-240 for applying it. Not sure if this is significant but I also loaded smartdrv.exe for both taking and applying image. Exchange SP1 Upgrade -------------------- Had to install the service pack ==> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=831464 and reboot Added the stuff in the release notes about /3GB etc for a server over 1GB