Installing new HDD on Exchange Server

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Thread: Installing new HDD on Exchange Server

  1. #1
    Reef Shark
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    Installing new HDD on Exchange Server

    Hi everyone, my email server (Exchange 2003) is nearing full capacity on the hard disk. I plan on installing a new hard drive but i'm worried about how am i going to get all the existing files, settings, user accounts, etc. off of the existing hard drive onto the new one.

  2. #2
    Mako Shark kent1146's Avatar
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    Use a cloning tool like Acronis True Image to clone from one disk to another. that should do the trick, without having to tinker with anything else.

    Just be sure to make a backup of your data before you do so.
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  3. #3
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    Will that clone the active directory settings as well?

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    There is no spoon. BloodRed's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CPUmelter
    Will that clone the active directory settings as well?
    What is the disk setup currently like? Are you replacing the existing disk(s) or simply adding a new drive? As for AD, as long as your Exchange server is not also a DC, the AD settings are not stored on the local disk of the Exchange server.
    -BR

    There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

  5. #5
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    I plan on replacing the disk, and this is also a DC computer

  6. #6
    There is no spoon. BloodRed's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CPUmelter
    I plan on replacing the disk, and this is also a DC computer
    In that case, the person above is right. Use a disk cloning utility to make a complete copy of the data on the drive, then image that onto the new drive and you should have few problems.
    Last edited by BloodRed; 03-31-2008 at 09:58 AM.
    -BR

    There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

  7. #7
    Reef Shark
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    i should have a few problems???

  8. #8
    There is no spoon. BloodRed's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CPUmelter
    i should have a few problems???
    Yes, few

    Disk imaging can sometimes cause some issues, but overall works pretty well. I haven't tried it with an Exchange/DC server before though. You do have a safety net in that if anything goes wrong you can slap the old drive back in and boot it back up.
    -BR

    There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

  9. #9
    Mako Shark kent1146's Avatar
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    Hehe... you should have FEW problems, not A FEW problems. Big difference there .

    In any case, be sure to back up your data before you try the clone. Most people don't recommend running both Exchange and a Domain Controller on the same server, because you're putting all of your eggs in 1 basket. If anything goes wrong, you may be stuck trying to repair two mission-critical applications, instead of just 1.
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  10. #10
    Great White Shark vertices's Avatar
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    Ensure that this is the only DC. If you have another DC on the network, then imaging and restoring this one will put you in USN rollback. You don't want to be there.

    You can still image it if you have another DC, but make a backup of the system state with ntbackup beforehand. Then after restoring the image, do not boot normally, instead, boot into AD restore mode and perform a nonauthoritative restore of the system state. Then you can boot normally.

    Otherwise, I've imaged tons of DCs and Exchange servers, amongst lots of other servers with never a problem. We primarily use Acronis True Image.

  11. #11
    Great White Shark vertices's Avatar
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    Alternatively, you could simply add your new drives and make a new array. Then it is relatively easy to simply move the databases files over to the new array.

  12. #12
    Reef Shark
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    Thanks for the advice guys. So i had 2 redundant Sata Drives which were near full. So i added 2 new 500gb sata drives which i wanted to use to replace the existing drives. They are all installed and accessible, but when i use Acronis True Image for the clone option, the existing drives dont show up in the list. Any other options for cloning? This server is a DC, but there is 1 more on the network. Help asap if you can!

  13. #13
    Great White Shark vertices's Avatar
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    Are you using hardware raid controllers?

  14. #14
    Reef Shark
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    Yes i am..

  15. #15
    Great White Shark vertices's Avatar
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    Are both virtual disks using the same controller? Or do you have separate controllers?

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