NT 4 Workgroup Upgrade to Domain

Hi,
You specifically mention that you wish to upgrade your existing platform. This will cause you some grief, unfortunately, if you wish to upgrade the 98 workstations to NT. At present, Microsoft does not support this upgrade, the architecture is too different. This means that each WS will have to be re-installed, o\s and apps, not upgraded, (no settings will be kept).
There are plenty of benefits to going to a Win2 environment, as long as your hardware is supported.
From the sound of things, you can pretty much choose either NT4 or Win2k for your domain. I have found it considerably easier to roll out NT4 domains than Win2k if you have to keep the legacy o\s the way they are; if the 98 stations are to stay 98. Also, a migration from NT4 to Win2k later when hardware support is a little more together is very easy. I recommend that you download Microsoft's Win2k readiness checkers (hardware and software) before deciding on Win2k. You may be a little suprised at the results, I certainly have been.
Win2k compatibility checkers are at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/upgrade/compat/

A Win2k upgrade checklist can be found at:
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/win2000/srvchk.asp
Tips and tricks for a Win2k upgrade:
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/events/fall00/tnq20103.asp
A general page on upgrading to a Win2k network is at:
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/win2000/upgradin.asp

Hope this helps,

Ian

Hi,

The one thing that you don't identify in you question is your objective for moving to a domain. I will assume that your company is growing and you want to establish a centralized user control and security. Possibly centralize access to company files and applications? The answer to your question lies in two areas; 1 What are your goals, and 2 How deep are your pockets?

These are factors for your decisions;
HARDWARE: Cost of a server will be greater to comply with the greater demands of a Windows 2000 installation. A solid server that can handle NT 4.0 can be acquired for about $1500. I would not recommend using a workstation for a server. Remember, this machine will be the core of your business! Don't forget to factor in fault-tolerent disk storage and tape backup. How much you spend on those is directly proportional to how much money your business would loose should the disk or server fail.
SOFTWARE: NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 server are remarkably close in price. Shop discount houses like CDW.com for deals. Remember that you need a client access lisence (CAL) for each computer connected to your server. Figure $100 per CAL but you might find a deal on a package of 25.
MIGRATION: All computer and user accounts can be created in the domain in advance of any migration. Each user/computer can be moved into the domain individually working around your 24/7 environment.
RECOMENDATION: Start simple and solid. NT 4.0 with a good network plan for security and file access. In the future (even the near future) if business warrants a migration to Windows 2000 Active Directory, the hardware and software can be used for network services such as a dedicated file-server.
DOCUMENTATION: Microsoft has an extensive library of White papers on network design and implemtation. All of the NT 4.0 information is still available.

Hope this helps,

Ray

I would most certainly recommend going with Win2k. I know NT 4.0 pretty well and I would say that it is more basic but Win2k is not hard to use. Many of the finer details will need to be and can be explored. Do you play with Win2k Pro? If so Win2k Server is stable enough to play games on, in fact I have it on my PC. Install it on your machine and you can learn it that way. You don't have to go all 2K all at once either. I would install it on a machine then start a small domain at first, and don't go to dynamic disk. If you do you can't dual boot. I would install several servers on that machine and leave them as member servers. That will give you three practice runs each time you format. Unless you know NT pretty well I would go to Win2K. Win2K has only one flaver of Domain Controller that automatically compensates for a multi DC enviroment. It's easy to get into trouble when promoting BDC's. Many quirky features of NT 4.0 are very fixed in Win2K. Finally, the Win2K Pro boxes will like the Win2K Server better.

This question was closed by the author