Drive Snapshot on a 2003 Domain Controller?

I have a old HP dual-processor with Win2003 Server which is the sole DC and also has Exchange on it. There's only a C: drive and apps/data etc are all on it. I bought a new Intel S5000vsa server and want to replace the old box with it. I took Drive Snapshot, did a full image over the network, shutdown the server and hooked up the new box, and used BartPE to restore the image. I then had to run a "repair" with the Win install disk to load the new RAID drivers. So far so good.

When the new box starts, it hangs for hours on "Preparing Network Connections" and also the other startup messages. From what I've googled, it looks like the only way to replace a DC is using ASR and not 3rd party backup utilities. Does anyone know of the best/easiest/surest way to rebuild a DC box? What's the point of doing a backup if you can't restore to new hardware when it fails?

 

Although I have heard of some people who have successfully cloned a W2003 config to new hardware using drive imaging/restore, hardware variations can make that impossible in many cases.

Why not do it properly? Head over to http://www.sbsmigration.com and buy a copy of Jeff Middleton's Swing Migration Kit.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but whew... just reading through the website and licensing plan made me a bit dizzy! Plus there's another $200 added to the project. This doesn't look very simple to me.

I've used the Snapshot technique successfully on other W2003 servers but they weren't running AD and Exchange so this is where the hangup must be. The MS site says the best way to ensure recovery from a disaster with backup/restore is to use their ASR feature. I'm about to give that a try but I'm not sure how it's any better than Drive Snapshot technique since I'd still have to load the new drivers after I restore.

 

Why not contact Drive Snapshot's tech-support and see what they suggest? ...and then let us know!

 

So you think $200 is a lot? Just compare it to the work you're having to do. Also consider how much downtime you'll have with the swing method: practically none. Think about what that will mean to the users.