Adding/Replacing Domain Controller

i trying plan upgrade/change of domain controller in following scenario. have 2 2008 dc’s in our environment (dc01 , dc02, reference sake). primary vm running in core mode. secondary physical running in full gui mode.

what trying bring new domain controller on network physical server , use same name , ip address dc01.

realize can shift master roles dc02 concern lies in fact every host has dc01 primary dns entry not (an unknown amount) have dc02 secondary dns server. inevitably cause resolution issues once dc01 taken off line.

question is, options exist bring replacement domain controller onto network configure use hostname , ip address of existing dc01 - since hundreds of servers statically configured primary dns point dc01.

there no issue demoting existing domain controller (dc01), installing os on the physical platform same name/ip address , promoting the new server to domain controller (simply make sure remove references original dc01 following demotion - might want keep http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216498 handy). long have a maintenance window available (which span can minimize preinstalling os , changing name/ip address before running dcpromo), sounds straightforward task (espectally considering have 2 dcs). should ensure fsmo roles transfered dc02 (and confirm funtionality as dns/gc).

you should, however, address lacks of redundancy in environment (since apparently failure of dc01 have significant negative impact) , assign both primary , secondary dns (pointing respectively dc01 , dc02) on computers...

hth
marcin

Windows Server  >  Directory Services