pmchefalo-spamfree
Mon Jan 24 23:05:03 CST 2005
Ho-hum.
Who's Harry, and why do I care about him? Oh, yeah, he wrote that "chatty
insider" best practices book.
Yes, it is your goal to talk me and every one else into buying a Swing kit.
Why are you denying it? Methinks thou dost protest too much.
I basically consider your response to be FUD. I guess you're saying that
Directory restore doesn't work, so OK, that's the message I getting here. I
saw other advice in the google groups index of this list suggesting it. I
have used the ADMT to successfully migrate a NT domain to a W2K3 domain,
albeit with a name change, so maybe that's what I should explore next.
Supposedly it can be used to reconstruct W2K domains as well as migrate.
And, since I will keep the existing server intact, why do you call the plan
a "slow crash and demolition"? If step five didn't work, I'd re-install the
existing server. See step 8. No harm done, just my time lost.
Perhaps you are addicted to charging per hour spent rather than results
achieved? My customer isn't going to pay me more if it takes longer, 'cause
I'm not going to charge him more. You withholding or giving advice is
somewhat immaterial: you're not going to get the $200, ever. I don't like
your Web site, or your style. I was hoping that you'd get the hint and not
reply to this thread, but ...
Ho-hum.
Hey, here's an idea! I'll do my dumb plan, then things will be broken, and I
can go to the Microsoft Partner break-fix newsgroup and get official help
there ...
Isn't nice to know you can still get flamed on USENET?
"Jeff Middleton [SBS-MVP]" wrote:
> Hello PMC,
>
> It's not my goal to talk you or anyone else into purchasing a Swing It!!
> Kit, not at all, not if it doesn't make sense to both of us. The kit forms a
> contract that ties me to your success, just as much as it ties you
> optimistically to my work plan. It's my goal to see everyone possible stop
> going through the shreader you are walking into. But it's my goal to help a
> lot more people that just a handful here and there, and that's why I'm using
> a business model that requires the kit to cost something reasonable, you get
> certainty of skilled help, but you get something substantial: a permanent
> resellable skill.
>
> In another 45-60 days....buy Harry's book where the chapter I've written on
> Swing Migration will be included. The reason I agreed to publish the
> information in a book with no income to me involved is so that someone like
> you can afford to get that book, get a great value, even if you can't
> justify my support services and tools in the Kit.
>
> So why not give away the Swing Docs if it's going to be in a book I make
> nothing from? Because I owe Harry a favor, and he can make a couple bucks
> per book, and get the word out. I also owe a lot of favors to a bunch of SBS
> MVPs who helped me over the years and with Swing tests, and making that book
> a part of their exposure as authors means I bring attention to their
> chapters, not just mine. That helps them and Harry, and that help all of us
> help the educated community as a whole, and that helps me because I'm part
> of the community. We all win.
>
> My goal, my total goal with Swing It!! Kits goes like this:
>
> + The IT Pro does the job in less time spent, with less confusion involved,
> and without causing a problem. He makes more money per hour, too. You get
> more time off, and better quality work.
> + The Biz owner gets the job done in less total time, probably less total
> cost, with less impact on the business, less frustration to the staff for
> needless changes. The business makes more when it runs with less down time
> and complication. That pays for upgrades.
> + The staff retains all the things they have set the way they like it at
> their workstations. Everything works on the next day, the same way.
>
> If it hasn't become apparent yet, I'm trying to make Swing Migration go big.
> Help everyone. IT Pros worldwide, the biz owners, the SBS MVPs, Harry
> Brelsford, the SBS Community UGs I now get to speak to by going around the
> world, and even my friends in SBS Team (who need more positive experiences
> illustrated by us helping them to see how we help ourselves dealing with
> things they didn't think mattered to us). The difference in price and
> service bundle between the book vs. the Reference Kit vs. the Technician Kit
> will all make perfect sense, but attract different people. I really enjoy
> thinking about the scale at which that can make my professional contribution
> help a lot of people, and it gives me a way to make a living too, at least
> for a while.
>
> I won't have to feel guilty telling anyone that the information in Harry's
> book is out somewhat out of date the day it ships, primarily because I'm
> moving forward with newer, better information. I'll feel really good about
> making the Kit documentation better and better, cover more scenarios, better
> details in what will be available that same day as a Swing It!! Kit. Harry
> realizes the huge audience he has in book sales will still want the book,
> and yet extend to people who wouldn't otherwise hear about the option to buy
> a Swing It!! Kit, including tools, support and troubleshooting tips. At
> least the book will include the correct step order some of us SBS MVPs made
> work last summer on SBS 2000 to 2003 upgrades. It will not be the most
> efficient way to do a Swing, but it will at least be a good plan, and a damn
> good deal.
>
>
> **********
>
> I think if you and your customer were to make a call to me, I could help you
> get that cost covered and make the customer love the idea. I'm not joking. I
> would love to help you out, help your customer out.
>
> You are proposing to do what you probably estimate to be about 12 hrs work,
> but is really going to be about 18, or more, depending upon your skill. A
> Swing Migration could complete that in 10-12 and you would have no
> confusion, and you wouldn't be discovering new issues along the way.
>
> The plan you have isn't going to work, not cleanly, not well, not billable,
> not reliable. At least, you are going to be about 12 hrs into the project
> and find out that you still don't have a working configuration.
>
> You will run in to SFN breaks on the new server as soon as you do the
> restore from backup in DSRM mode. I consider bare metal recovery on SBS 2000
> to be an embarrassing joke to MS because it's so ugly bad. That's what you
> are building into your upgrade.
>
> All the SBS applications will be broken at your Step 5. In Step 6, you
> probably have a good chance that you will need to rip out the TCP/IP
> services to reconfigure them. At Step 7 you will feel a lot like you are
> rally at step 1. You will have to rerun the entire SBS setup, and that's
> going to fix those SFN breaks, but you will still need to do all the same
> configuration work to fix many things. You will have a really dirty,
> probably not much more reliable installation at that point.
>
> If I were your customer, I wouldn't want you doing what you propose to my
> server if it was optional. I mean this in the most kind way. What you
> outlined there isn't an upgrade, it's a slow crash and demolition followed
> by a patched together recovery process that, as yet, I don't think you have
> ever done one of these by this method before? If you want to learn a
> process, don't waste your time on this approach, it's not going to work.
>
>
>
> "PMC" <pmchefalo-spamfree@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:B5AF2B4D-8A3F-4A20-BA2E-8379421B6015@microsoft.com...
> > Hi,
> >
> > This is a popular subject so I will relate what I've learned and just ask
> > for comments / criticism re any oversights I have in my plan.
> >
> > Background: I have a new client with a SBS 2000 installation using ISA,
> > Exchange, OWA, Trend antivirus, file sharing. His business has grown to 18
> > users. No second DC, no RAID, backup inconsistent, current server is an
> > over-burdened AMD desktop PC with a lot of memory but misconfigured hard
> > disks, and is a single point of failure. Running Health Monitor actually
> > crashes server (all red marks!)
> >
> > Prior to my coming on-site, they purchased a new "server" (actually a P4
> > workstation class machine) to upgrade the facility but the previous
> provider
> > couldn't figure out how to migrate. (Being used as print server
> presently!)
> > At this point I am afraid to try to migrate him to SBS 2003 due to license
> > costs, lack of immediate bang-for-buck for problems above. Perhaps the
> next
> > phase after I am established as a consultant to his business.
> >
> > Plan - I will:
> >
> > 1. Configure RAID 1 on the new server. (Preformat with NTFS using WINPE
> > environment?)
> > 2. Install SBS 2000 on the new server. (How far? Use "fake" domain name?)
> > Configure volumes like old server, but with appropriate sizes.
> > 3. Install compatible backup device on old server. Do a full NTbackup of
> the
> > existing SBS domain including file shares, Exchange & sysvol. (Can I
> backup
> > to new "fake" SBS domain volume instead? Permission issues, with no domain
> > trust relationship possible in SBS?)
> > 4. Remove backup device from old server and install in new server (if
> > network backup not possible.)
> > 5. Reboot new server offline (or on isolated subnet?) and do Directory
> > Services Restore Mode using backup of old server. New server now "thinks"
> it
> > is DC for existing network. (Which password do I use for Restore Mode, old
> > server or new?)
> > 6. Configure network IP configurations on new server identical to old
> > server. Shutdown.
> > 7. Physically replace old server with new, network-wise (internal/external
> > connections.) Take old server offline.
> > 8. Reboot new server and test. Restore old server if new one has issues.
> > 9. New server SBS elements work?! Install anti-virus server if OK.
> > 10. Flush old server, upgrade processor and install new Windows 2000
> Server
> > Standard.
> > 11. Add old server to domain as member server, then run DCPromo. Replicate
> AD.
> > 12. Split off anti-virus server duties, add print services to second DC.
> > 13. DFS for file shares?
> >
> > Thanks in advice for comments, any answers to questions you can provide.
> >
> > And Jeff Middleton, TIA for your swing method, but not in budget. As a
> > private consultant, I have to spend time unpaid rather than buy stuff and
> > charge clients. My time is both invaluable and valueless, as long as I
> still
> > sleep once in a while.
>
>
>