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file server as secondary DC

T

ThePiston

Senior member
I'm converting an existing p2p network over to one with a domain.

What i have now:

- Server 2003 box
- Server 2008 R2 box (will be used to run an EHR, serve files)

Since I do not want to buy another box and another Server license, I'd like to use one of these boxes as the primary DC.

Question: is it better to use the 2008 box (that will also be used as file server) as the secondary DC? I figure that way if DC1 goes down, I'll at least be running everything.
 
The DCs are all on the same "level" in AD I believe unless you are going to run one as an RoDC (primary domain controller is oldschool), but I do not think that is available with a 2003 DC in your forest/domain.

Do you need to be at a certain domain or forest functional level for anything specific or are you just wondering if it is o.k. to run a DC as well as a file server on one box?

That probably depends on the setting the server will be running in. Is this for a business?
 
RoDC is only 2008 and above. this is for a business, but not super-critical (not life threatening anyway). it's important that the network stays alive obviously.

yes, I guess I just wanted to know if it was better to use the file server as primary domain or secondary.
 
If the business is small enough that you are sweating buying server licenses, then it is small enough that either server shouldn't have an issue handling AD as the load is really small, even in with several hundred PC's / servers. AD doesn't have a primary or secondary anyway, just the FSMO role holder which adds almost nothing over another DC. However if the domain was built on 2008R2, the domain level is likely at 2008R2 which means a 2003 server can't host the 2008R2 AD schema anyway.

Also 2003 goes end of life in a few months so I wouldn't waste a lot of effort on it.
 
imagoon said:
If the business is small enough that you are sweating buying server licenses, then it is small enough that either server shouldn't have an issue handling AD as the load is really small, even in with several hundred PC's / servers. AD doesn't have a primary or secondary anyway, just the FSMO role holder which adds almost nothing over another DC. ...
Click to expand...

This was more what I was getting at.

Unless you are going to weight authentications to prefer the 2003 box it really is not going to matter if you are set on having them both be DCs. I would also try to stay away from 2k3 if possible, if it's 32 bit install then that is going to add more difficulties in the future.
 
the 2003 box is 32 bit, but does that matter if it'll just be used for DC? We only have about 20 boxes and at most maybe 10-12 online at any time.

Should I just stay with p2p?
 
32bit Server can't be upgraded to Server 2008 R2 (64bit - only). So thats the major concern on sticking with 32bit (besides memory requirements).

Generally its not recommended to run a file server on a DC, but in a small environment its not a big deal.

Even for a small network running AD can really simplify file access and user permissions. If it doesnt matter who can access what on the file server then AD is probably overkill.

As said, with Server 2003 and up, theres not a PDC or BDC anymore. The only differentiating factor are the FSMO roles and for a small network like this, its not a big deal again. You just don't want EVERYTHING on one box.
 
ok, so knowing that I have a 2003 box as well as a 2008R2 box (which will be the FS) how would you set it up? just promote each onto same domain so in case one goes down the other can control? if there's no PDC or BDC then it deosn't really matter which one I use then, correct?
 
That is likely fine. You can weight user logons to the machine you would prefer handle those requests and have the other machine take over if it is down, but for what you have been describing it should not matter.
 
ok, this sounds like the better option since the 2003 machine is currently running the p2p network. I'll promote the 2008R2 box, install the FS on it and then promote the 2003 machine once the network is set up as a fallback. I'll use 2003 as the forest functional level unless someone sees a good reason to use something else
 
ThePiston said:
ok, this sounds like the better option since the 2003 machine is currently running the p2p network. I'll promote the 2008R2 box, install the FS on it and then promote the 2003 machine once the network is set up as a fallback. I'll use 2003 as the forest functional level unless someone sees a good reason to use something else
Click to expand...

If you promote the 2008 box first, the 2003 box won't be able to join for the reasons I stated above.

I am not technically right however as you can do the DCpromo via the command line to set it to 2003 but the GUI picks the level of the OS by default. There is a drop down but it doesn't always contain the older releases depending on service pack levels etc.
 
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I thought that if you chose advanced install from dcpromo it always asked what domain and forest level to use, but anyway, I agree, promote the 2003 box first.
 
CubanlB said:
I thought that if you chose advanced install from dcpromo it always asked what domain and forest level to use, but anyway, I agree, promote the 2003 box first.
Click to expand...

If its the first DC in the domain, it will not let you choose an older Functional Level. In this case, you'd have to run dcpromo on the 2003 box, then run it on the 2008 box. If you run it on the 2008 box first, the 2003 box will only be able to join the domain as a member server, not a DC.
 
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