I need to move dedicated Windows servers and they are going to swap the primary hard drive...

[Schnieds]

Hey,

I am a software developer by trade and have some background in server stuff, but am no expert in it.

I have a dedicated Windows 2K3 server through a fully managed hosting company. They have always been top notch with their service and support and my server is very stable. I host my personal business on the site, which is a piece of software that I developed that is monthly subscription based.

The company recently started offering dual core servers with the same specs as my current server for 1/2 the price that I am paying monthly, so I went ahead and ordered one of the new ones. I want to migrate all of my existing data to the new server and de-commission my old server once everything is setup. Since my business is subscription based, I don't want there to be much downtime for my customers, so I need to make the switch as transparent as possible.

When I called and spoke with their engineers this morning about the best way to migrate the data, they said that the best way to do it would be to swap the primary hard drive from the old server to the new server.

This scares me, I am assuming that the chipsets are different between computers since it is moving from a dual processor server to a dual core server. Can Win2K3 server handle being moved to new hardware without a problem?

I REALLY need some input here because I am worried that this might not work well. Would it be better if I just backed up all of my data (web sites, SSL, databases, etc.) and moved it myself?

Thanks for the opinions from any of you server gurus out there.

 

[bruceb]

What the engineers said will probably work fine ... the new Dual Core Servers will have one Drive for the OS
and another for the Data of the Users .. you can check with the company's engineers to be sure this is how it is.
If not, and all you are responsible for is your Data & Web Site files, then yes, copy them off the existing server,
then upload them to the new server once it is in place

 

[Schnieds]

All of my website and users data is on the C: drive, along with the Windows 2K3 installation. It is setup this way because Plesk control panel is installed and uses the c:\inetpub\vhosts directory.

So the engineers proposal is to move the c: drive, including the Windows 2K3 installation, to the new server. It will literally be my current Win2K3 server installation running on new hardware. That is what has me worried, I didn't think that you could swap Windows installations between servers and have everything function correctly. I haven't tried this since Win98 days though, so it could work... I just wanted some confirmation one way or the other.

Thanks!

 

[RebateMonger]

You can do it....unless it doesn't work. I've migrated a couple of SBS 2003 Servers from one system to a different one by swapping hard drives. But I did it by cloning the original hard drive and using the CLONED hard drive for the new Server. That way, if things go bad, your original Server is still up and running.

There are a couple of ways to do a Server migration like this.
I'd probably do it the following way. It's safe and the results are pretty much guaranteed:

a) Use NTBackup to make a full system backup of the original Server.
b) Install Server 2003 on the new Server and patch it to the same Service Pack level as the original Server. This doesn't take very long. Install any special drivers needed for the new Server.
c) Use NTBackup to do a full system restore to the new Server.

Doing it this way, you have a guaranteed result and your original Server is never touched.

 

[Nothinman]

I didn't think that you could swap Windows installations between servers and have everything function correctly.

Worst case they should be able to run a repair install to fix any driver issues, but just tell them to image the drive first just in case so that you can put the old server back up if it fails.

It is setup this way because Plesk control panel is installed and uses the c:\inetpub\vhosts directory.

Gotta love crap software with hardcoded path requirements.