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Microtest CD Server

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by curlergirl 2 views

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I have a CD Server box on my network as part of my NT 4.0 domain, which I am going to be migrating to a Win2K domain. The main component of this box is a Microtest DiskZerver that has, as far as I can tell, an embedded NT 4.0 OS of some kind. It works fine with my existing network and shows up as a "Windows NT 4.2 Server" in Server Manager. Unfortunately, Microtest has stopped manufacturing these components, the original co. that built the box (Smart & Friendly) is long out of business, and the company that has taken over the DiskZerver products does not support these older models. *%!$*#!

I'm trying to figure out whether this component will work within a Win2K AD domain and if so, whether I'd actually have to run the domain permanently in mixed mode at that point. Does anybody here have any ideas or experience with these components? The best I've come up with at this point is to just try it and see, but any help or ideas would be appreciated.

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by timwalsh

Don't have any experience with those particular components, but I can answer your question reference AD. The Mixed-mode/Native-mode decision is totally based on domain controllers. If an NT box is a domain controller (PDC/BDC), it will list as either NT 4 Primary (PDC) or NT 4 Secondary (BDC) in Server Manager. In AD, you must remain in mixed mode ONLY if you have pre-Win2k BDCs active in the domain. You are allowed to have NT4 member servers in a native-mode domain.
As to the question of whether this box will work within your Win2K domain, I don't see any reason why not. The box will continue to use the same OS with which it was built. I'm assuming that the OS function is basically to make whatever CDs are placed in the box appear as a shared drive in whatever network it is attached to. Therefore the users on a Win2K network should continue to see these shared CDs just as they do on your NT4 network.

Hope this answers your question.

by curlergirl

Thanks for your response - it worked out fine, since the box is basically a member server and not a DC.

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