Migration from Netware 4.11 To Wk2000

You are about to have an interesting life.

Start here:
www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/howtobuy/upgrading/default.asp
This page give you all the information you need to prepare for Windows 2000.

Then go to:
www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/evaluation/business/netware.asp
This describes a CD from Mircosoft that helps Novell users migrate to Windows 2000. Granted it is Netware 5, but it does contain information on file and print services for Netware4.

Then, hit:
www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/techinfo/interop/default.asp
This has a lot of information on interoperability.

Saving the best for last:
www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/techinfo/planning/incremental/netmigrate.asp
This is a great page the lets you download a document that details all the steps you need to take to migrate.

Remember, all URLs are a single line with no spaces.

Hope this helps,
diabetic

Upgrading to the new version of Netware will not cause the blood pressure problems that Win2K will.
The links in the first Ans. are correct, but consider this decision carefully, versus staying with Novell.

I would love to stay on Novell. I am true Red. You know who is making the decision to move ;-O

We are currently going to move to Win 2K on the desktop while maintaining Netware 5 and soon upgrading to Netware 6 on the server side. Perhaps you might like to consider that. There are always issues with any software upgrade.

I have done this upgrade and am sorry that no one has been able to give you better information. The secure copy program from Small Wonders (smallwonders.com, I think) software will help in this process. If you have a lot of users the process can be pretty involved but if you're simply needing to move files and setup a new print server there is no reason that this should be a major headache. For instance, in one system I upgraded I simply copied the files from the old server to the new one and recreated the user accounts and printer queues. The one issue I did find was with relation to old DOS programs and W2K file security. (You can write back if you have old DOS programs.) I have found that many problems are actually created by the migration utilities so make sure that you have enough users to justify that process. If you're new to W2k I highly recommend that you obtain a Windows 2000 server book by Mark Minasi. His practical experience can save you hours. You don't mention you are getting a new server either. Migration across the wire to a new server is really the only way to go. I DON'T recommend attempting an in place upgrade in any shape or form. So.... Setup your new server, download Secure copy, copy some accounts and data across and check it out. Test out your programs and security, etc. It's not the Mt. Fuji of OS upgrades and you may actually like it. Good Luck.

You'd be FAR better off going to Netware 6.

Expect to lose you job in this process. Make REALLY sure it's documented that you've been told repeatedly (so it isn't your view, but the advice you've been given) that this will increase support costsdrastically.

Most of the time, smooth or not, this ends up being far worse than higher-ups expect. Triple the current number of servers, and (from my experience) quadruple the disk space. Also expect performance to drop, as 2K/XP cannot providethe throughput that Netware does. These will add up to a far more expensive project than initially anticipated, and I would not expect the managers to take the blame (even though they ARE responsible).

If moving from netware is inevitable, you might want to suggest SAMBA for everything except the application servers. Performance is better, cost is less, but it another NOS to learn to administer.

I'm not envious of your position, but I've been there myself.

This upgrade is not as painful as everyone has made it out to be. I am consultant and have done 3 major upgrades in the past year and currently I am in the process of upgrading a client with 11 novell servers in 9 locations...THAT IS A CHALLENGE!! But if you read the documents that are linked in the first answer it is not that bad.

We have just successfully completed a Netware 4.11 > Win2k migration of around 1500 users and 800Gb of data. We had successfully tested our migration using the Microsoft tool, MSDSS (~$50), but in the und we used Fastlane NDS Migrator. The concept of the two tools is quite similar, however Fastlane is slightly more robust. Migrating users and groups is the easy bit. Migrating data is harder. A bit of thought has to go into how you want your data to look as NTFS permissions are very different. We performed a thorough data archiving before the migration and then a re-structure after the migration.

Let me know if you want any more information.

I have been leading part of a Novell to W2K migration since this time last year for a Fortune 500 client. 6500 users, 200 servers, 10 locations, etc. The move is complex but by no means impossible. Our migration has gone well so far with only mediumdifficulty problems, most of which were related to Windows 95 and the Netware client.

We used NetIQ's Netware Migrator which has worked very well. As to the comments about performance, capacity, etc, we have achieved 30% server consolidation withmid range Dell 25xx servers and have had no performance issues at all.

As for deciding whether to stick with Novell or go to W2K, our client made the decision based on the their lack of confidence in Novell's committment to the base NOS and the diminishing levels of support they were recieving. Now if a Fortune 500 company can't get good support, there's no way some of you at smaller companies will.

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