merging 2 AD's?

[xyyz]

can i merge a new AD with an old AD?

my main home server has quit on me, and it's going to take me a bit of time to get the replacement MB. so i was wondering, is it possible to get another win2k3 box up and running, and then when i have the old one up and running, to merge the two AD's, or merge the new AD into the old one?

in doing this, the roaming profiles and all other things will still remain from the old AD right?

 

[xyyz]

this sucks... how come noone answers about 50% of my questions...

 

[GeekDrew]

Well... the short answer is NO. There is a long answer, but it would involve copying data around from your old hard drive(s) to new ones, without changing any of that data, and other assorted tasks... it would be best to consider it impossible. What you could do, however, is set up a new domain controller, and just use it until you're able to get your old domain controller working again... and when you get the old one up and going, just shut down the new one and power the old one back up.

 

[mikecel79]

Merging two different AD structures is not possible at this time. What I would suggest is you create a new AD structure but give it a different NetBIOS and DNS names than the old one. Then when you bring your old domain backup use ADMT 2 to migrate your old users and computer accounts into the new domain. You'll need to establish a trust between the two domains before you do this.

This really is that last place I would come for asking complex AD questions like this one. No offense to everyone here, it's just that this isn't the type of forum that is AD savvy.

 

[stash]

Some of us are

 

[mikecel79]

Originally posted by: STaSh
Some of us are

I didn't mean to imply that there wasn't anyone on here that isn't AD savvy. There are a few of us that are. It's just the OP wasn't too thrilled his post didn't get answered within 10 hours. He would probably have gotten a quicker and more detailed answer by posting in on a board that is dedicated to AD, such as the MS Newsgroups.