spectrum48k

What get's replicated from the primary domain controller to the backup domain controller ?

eg. our domain controller handles:

active directory
shared user folders
dns
dhcp

Just wondering what gets replicated and what I need to setup manually on the backup domain controller ?

I'm just planning for the introduction of the backup domain controller I'm building at the moment.

David_Wallis

Are you running windows 2000 or above?

If so you dont have a BDC, every DC holds a writeable copy.

DHCP isnt replicated in AD as far as I can remember - Its kind of set up and forget

DNS is replicated to servers based on how its installed and configured, It could replicate to all DC's in the domain, or it could replicate to all DC's in the forrest. AD will replicate.

Folders / Shares dont replicate, unless you are Using FRS.

Generally anything in SYSVOL is replicated, including GPO's etc.

spectrum48k

Thanks David

We have a Win2k Server, 192.168.0.1, using AD which is very old and is starting to exhibit problems - hence my reason for wanting to replace it with another (new) server.

So you're saying these days with Win2k Server and above, you just create a second domain controller, say 192.168.0.2, which gets fed active directory info replicated from the existing DC ?

This existing server is the primary DNS server for the LAN

So I need to get both domain controllers running together on the LAN, each with their own separate DHCP scopes (eg. 50-100 on one, and 101 - 150 on another) and change DHCP so primary DNS will be pointed to the new server.

Once I get to that stage, I should be able to turn the old server off and retire it. As you state, I'll need to manually recreate the shared folders onto the new server.

Sound OK ?

David_Wallis

yeah, migrating wont be too much of a problem, just create the server and dc promo it, however if licences permit, I would take the opportunity to upgrade to 2003. Best bet is SP then run the prep tools.. Ive covered this before and Im off for a pint..

Theres a number of ways you can do dhcp, but as a start I would drop the lease on the current scope to 1 day.

Migrating shares and data is easy if you use something like robocopy, then you can just take the permissions, there are gui based products which will do the same, but let me know if you need some input.

David