Windows Server 2012 vs 2016

[MrDudeMan]

I need to buy a new server that will function as a domain controller (Exchange and Sharepoint are through O365 - this machine is a local filesystem/dc only). I'm currently running SBS 2011 and the install was done by a total moron, so it's pretty much never worked correctly.

I've been looking at how much it will cost to reinstall SBS 2011 vs buying a new server with 2012 and the cost isn't very different. I say that because I don't have time to do the reinstall/config, we don't have a dedicated IT person, and the IT company we typically use charges $135/hour.

We have a mix of desktops running Windows 7 pro or Windows 10 pro, Surface 3 Pros running Windows 10 pro, and SurfaceBooks running Windows 10 Pro on our network. SBS 2011 doesn't seem to work very well with Windows 10 (group policies are very inconsistently applied), but that could be the result of the craptastic configuration instead of the OS - I don't know. WSUS doesn't work right, backups don't work right, etc.

Now I'm considering waiting for 2016 or using one of the pre-release versions because the current server is terribly slow. The sucky part is the hardware in my server is pretty decent and it would be fine to run 2012 or 2016, but we can't afford the downtime to install 2016 and get it setup. Or, maybe we can because it takes less time than I think, but that's an unknown to me obviously.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you happen to do any consulting, please get in touch with me so I can pay you to help me with this. I really don't have time to screw around and I'm more than willing to pay for advice/help/suggestions.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

When is server 2016 due to be released? Are you sure that you'd use a pre-release version of windows server for a production system? I tested out one of them a while back and it was noticeably buggy!

 

[MrDudeMan]

When is server 2016 due to be released? Are you sure that you'd use a pre-release version of windows server for a production system? I tested out one of them a while back and it was noticeably buggy!

I don't like the seemingly bad support for Windows 10, so I figured the newest version would be less problematic. However, I agree it's probably a bad idea and I most likely won't go that route.

I just need to figure out how to rebuild the current server (quickly - I've never done a Windows Server setup/config) or swap a new server in that's been setup ahead of time to minimize downtime.

 

[yinan]

There is going to be some downtime no matter what you do.

What roles is this thing functioning that need to be moved? If the server is slow, it is not because of the software more than likely.

I would NEVER use beta software in a production environment.

 

[quikah]

Are you trying to upgrade the existing hardware? Do you have a secondary/backup DC somewhere? If you do then it should be pretty easy, just promote secondary DC to primary, remove this server, format, install 2012, add AD and join to the current DC, then promote to primary. There should be little downtime doing it this way.

Here is a nice step-by-step article I found: http://jackstromberg.com/2013/10/migrating-domain-controllers-from-server-2008-r2-to-server-2012-r2/

If you just have the single system then it is going to be hard, and you should really think about getting a second system anyway as a backup.