[Bkneeland]

Hello All,

I currently have a SBS 2003 Server running everything on our Domain. We are going to introduce a Server 2003 box as a Backup DC. My question is, when running the adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep commands on the SBS box, will they require a restart?

I'm sure this is an easy question and probably a stupid one, but I would rather not run the commands and have to take down the box during the day if at all possible.

Regards,
Brian

[teiger]

Better still - don't add a backup DC. IMHO it wont give you very much. You will have to reconfigure DNS, split DHCP, you probably won't have file & print services duplicated on both, no Exchange, you will have to reboot the workstations once SBS comes back up to make sure thay are pointing at it again. Get the idea? Better spend your time and effort making sure the SBS doesn't go down, except for scheduled maintenance.
Just my 0.02 (add your currency here) worth.

As to your question, even if the server doesn;t request a restart, it is better to do one at the appropriate moment, IMHO. After all you have just added a whole string of new fields to an active running database.

[Bkneeland]

Teiger,

Thank you for your opinion I appreciate the input. Is your reasoning that having a BDC is just a hassle to setup, or that it is unnecessary? I suppose I just want to know what are we supposed to do if our SBS 2003 goes down, how are we supposed to get our users logged on and authenticated?

Any and all thoughts are appreciated. We will be putting this off until next week most likely so hopefully there can be some discussion about this topic to inform our decision before we move ahead.

Regards,
Brian

[teiger]

Originally Posted by Bkneeland

Teiger,

I just want to know what are we supposed to do if our SBS 2003 goes down, how are we supposed to get our users logged on and authenticated?

Get it back up! No, seriously! If it goes down, then you would need to spend time reconfiguring your workstations and all the items I listed above (especially Exchange) would not be available to you.
I have been working with SBS for over 10 years, and I've "lost" about 3 or 4 servers in that time - the worst one took 5 days because of lack of available hardware. But generally, most were back up and running (fully!) the same day, or the next morning. Just keep monitoring the server and make sure it is up to scratch, and that you have a suitable disk subsystem that can protect you in the event of failure. Practice your DR plan - that's what virtual machines are for and be ready to implement it at any given moment.
Finally, do a cost/benefit analysis of any solution you propose. How much down-time can the business afford? How can that be minimised and at what cost?