W2K VM only domain, upgrade to 2003 domain?

[Tommer Catlin]

I have a Unity 4.2.1 VM only, failover, Exchange 2k domain. I want to add another Unity 4.2.1 server in the domain. Should I stick with W2K domain or upgrade the next GC to 2003 domain?

If I do the upgrade to the domain, will this change Unity or will Unity and Exchange care if the DC/GC is now a 2003 domain?

Thanks

[Brandon Buffin]

I recently upgraded the domain used by a UM deployment to 2003 without a problem. In general, Unity does not care if the DC/GC is 2000 or 2003. One thing to keep in mind is that Exchange 2K will not run on Windows 2003, but Exchange 2003 will run on Windows 2000, so if you want to upgrade the server that Exchange is on, you will need to upgrade Exchange first.

Hope this helps.

Brandon

[Tommer Catlin]

My current domain has:

Unity VM Primary

Unity VM Failover

Unity Message Server (Exchange 2k, W2k Domain G/C)

Planned new servers (new site)

Unity VM Primary Exchange 2k W2k DC

Windows 2003 DC

Can I run in the mixed this way?

[Brandon Buffin · Accepted solution]

Yes, you will have to leave the domain in mixed mode which allows for Windows 2000 and 2003 DCs.

Brandon

[Tommer Catlin]

yeah, just remembered. I would have to install the second DC as 2000, then move the FSMO roles to that server, then upgrade to 2003, then it should be good to go.

thanks!