DFS Replication to work from SP1 to R2 SP2

[Flash3200]

OK this post is kind of like "lenm123" post of "Dfs replication
between Windows server 2003 R2 and Windows server" below, but here is
my question...

I have one File Server with approximately 2.5 TB of data (from a SAN)
attached to it. That server runs 2003 SP1. I have another server
that is suppose to be a DFS failover (has a dedicated SAN also) File
Server for the other one and all of it's data. I want to upgrade this
"failover" server to R2 SP2 first. Then move the data over to it, so
it can be the Live server and then Upgrade the SP1 server to R2 SP2 as
well so that I can get the DFS Live Replication working. From the
above mentioned post above I'm assuming there is no way to do this
without upgrading the current "live" server first? I only ask because
i was hoping to avoid this in case something crashed during the udpate
of the server.

[Danny Sanders]

Not totally following what you are wanting to do, but I would leave SP2 out
of the mix at least until you get the two servers running R2.

R2 is a relatively painless "update". You run adprep from the second disk of
the R2 set to prepare the domain for R2. Since the two servers are already
Win 2k3 SP 1 you can install R2 on each by running setup2 from the second
disk of the R2 set.

I've "updated" about 20 servers to R2 without a problem what so ever. I've
seen in these news groups where SP 2 for Win 2k3 breaks a lot of things.
Having SP 2 is not a "must" for R2.

I would leave SP 2 out of the mix until after you get R2 up and replicating.
Then if something breaks after installing SP 2 you can be pretty sure SP2
broke it.

hth
DDS

Post by Flash3200
OK this post is kind of like "lenm123" post of "Dfs replication
between Windows server 2003 R2 and Windows server" below, but here is
my question...
I have one File Server with approximately 2.5 TB of data (from a SAN)
attached to it. That server runs 2003 SP1. I have another server
that is suppose to be a DFS failover (has a dedicated SAN also) File
Server for the other one and all of it's data. I want to upgrade this
"failover" server to R2 SP2 first. Then move the data over to it, so
it can be the Live server and then Upgrade the SP1 server to R2 SP2 as
well so that I can get the DFS Live Replication working. From the
above mentioned post above I'm assuming there is no way to do this
without upgrading the current "live" server first? I only ask because
i was hoping to avoid this in case something crashed during the udpate
of the server.

[Flash3200]

When you upgraded, did you run into any problems with R2 breaking your
DFS Links or Folder Shares? That would be my main concern with
upgrading to R2 on my Production File Server before getting the
replication running.

Post by Danny Sanders
Not totally following what you are wanting to do, but I would leave SP2 out
of the mix at least until you get the two servers running R2.
R2 is a relatively painless "update". You run adprep from the second disk of
the R2 set to prepare the domain for R2. Since the two servers are already
Win 2k3 SP 1 you can install R2 on each by running setup2 from the second
disk of the R2 set.
I've "updated" about 20 servers to R2 without a problem what so ever. I've
seen in these news groups where SP 2 for Win 2k3 breaks a lot of things.
Having SP 2 is not a "must" for R2.
I would leave SP 2 out of the mix until after you get R2 up and replicating.
Then if something breaks after installing SP 2 you can be pretty sure SP2
broke it.
hth
DDS

Post by Flash3200
OK this post is kind of like "lenm123" post of "Dfs replication
between Windows server 2003 R2 and Windows server" below, but here is
my question...
I have one File Server with approximately 2.5 TB of data (from a SAN)
attached to it. That server runs 2003 SP1. I have another server
that is suppose to be a DFS failover (has a dedicated SAN also) File
Server for the other one and all of it's data. I want to upgrade this
"failover" server to R2 SP2 first. Then move the data over to it, so
it can be the Live server and then Upgrade the SP1 server to R2 SP2 as
well so that I can get the DFS Live Replication working. From the
above mentioned post above I'm assuming there is no way to do this
without upgrading the current "live" server first? I only ask because
i was hoping to avoid this in case something crashed during the udpate
of the server.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

[Danny Sanders]

We did not have DFS setup before we moved to R2.

After we installed the R2 DFSR, we can manage it using the DFSR Management
snapin. The "Distributed file system" application is still there.

If I recall right you should be able to manage the two separately.


hth
DDS

Post by Flash3200
When you upgraded, did you run into any problems with R2 breaking your
DFS Links or Folder Shares? That would be my main concern with
upgrading to R2 on my Production File Server before getting the
replication running.

Post by Danny Sanders
Not totally following what you are wanting to do, but I would leave SP2 out
of the mix at least until you get the two servers running R2.
R2 is a relatively painless "update". You run adprep from the second disk of
the R2 set to prepare the domain for R2. Since the two servers are already
Win 2k3 SP 1 you can install R2 on each by running setup2 from the second
disk of the R2 set.
I've "updated" about 20 servers to R2 without a problem what so ever. I've
seen in these news groups where SP 2 for Win 2k3 breaks a lot of things.
Having SP 2 is not a "must" for R2.
I would leave SP 2 out of the mix until after you get R2 up and replicating.
Then if something breaks after installing SP 2 you can be pretty sure SP2
broke it.
hth
DDS

Post by Flash3200
OK this post is kind of like "lenm123" post of "Dfs replication
between Windows server 2003 R2 and Windows server" below, but here is
my question...
I have one File Server with approximately 2.5 TB of data (from a SAN)
attached to it. That server runs 2003 SP1. I have another server
that is suppose to be a DFS failover (has a dedicated SAN also) File
Server for the other one and all of it's data. I want to upgrade this
"failover" server to R2 SP2 first. Then move the data over to it, so
it can be the Live server and then Upgrade the SP1 server to R2 SP2 as
well so that I can get the DFS Live Replication working. From the
above mentioned post above I'm assuming there is no way to do this
without upgrading the current "live" server first? I only ask because
i was hoping to avoid this in case something crashed during the udpate
of the server.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

[Flash3200]

OK, so I have the schema update completed. Now I have Server A that
is just SP1 and Server B that is R2 SP2.

1. Server A is my productions server with about 20 DFS Roots, each
root containing approximately 3-10 Links for a total of approximately
2.3 TB of data.

2. Server B is fresh and empty. I want to create my DFS Roots and
Links on Server B just like Server A but leave them Disabled so users
only connect to Server A.

My question now is... What is the easiest way to get a copy of the
Data for each link on Server A to Server B without having to upgrade
Server A to R2 first? My plan is that as I get the current data
populated into the DFS Links on Server B I'll enable those Links and
disable the links on Server A. That way I don't have to worry about
crashing my Production server with an upgrade. Then once all of the
DFS Links on Server B are enabled and those on Server A are disabled,
I plan on rebuilding Server A fresh and I can at that time recreate my
DFS Links and set up DFSR with no problems and let that re-copy the
data back over the Server A. Any suggestion though on the initial
copy of data from Server A to Server B? XCopy/Robo-Copy? Manual Copy
of GBs at a time?

[Jill Zoeller [MSFT]]

Before you can run DFS Replication, both servers MUST run R2, and you must
update the Active Directory schema with the R2 version of the schema. There
is no possible way to avoid either of these requirements.
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Want to learn more about Windows file and storage technologies? Visit our
team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.

Post by Flash3200
OK this post is kind of like "lenm123" post of "Dfs replication
between Windows server 2003 R2 and Windows server" below, but here is
my question...
I have one File Server with approximately 2.5 TB of data (from a SAN)
attached to it. That server runs 2003 SP1. I have another server
that is suppose to be a DFS failover (has a dedicated SAN also) File
Server for the other one and all of it's data. I want to upgrade this
"failover" server to R2 SP2 first. Then move the data over to it, so
it can be the Live server and then Upgrade the SP1 server to R2 SP2 as
well so that I can get the DFS Live Replication working. From the
above mentioned post above I'm assuming there is no way to do this
without upgrading the current "live" server first? I only ask because
i was hoping to avoid this in case something crashed during the udpate
of the server.