Combining 3 sites

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ben Saren
  • Start date Start date
B

Ben Saren

Hello Friends,

A client of ours has an active directory domain that has functioned on it's
own for nearly 3 years just perfectly. We'll call this domain OldDomain.com.

This particular client just acquired two companies at remote locations. We
are in the midst of establishing a hardware based VPN between all three
locations and that is going just fine. However, the other two offices (we'll
call them RemoteSite1 and RemoteSite2) do not have Active Directory just
yet.

My plan was/is this:

Recreate an active directory domain at the home office. So eliminate
OldDomain.com and create NewDomain.com. Have the RemoteSite1 and RemoteSite2
become remotesite1.newdomain.com and remotesite2.newdomain.com.

Make sense? I see this only being complex in one or two ways. The first
complexity is that at the home office I'd have to build a new Domain
Controller and make that baby sych'd up with the existing DC. Then demote
the existing DC, rename it, create the NewDomain.com. THEN migrate all the
users and the OldDomain.com directory structure to the NewDomain.com. Yes?
Does this make sense?

My second complexity then is this: If the remote sites are in the midst of
building their servers now, how can they join NewDomain.com as sub-domains
(ie RemoteSiteX.NewDomain.com) if OldDomain.com hasn't been migrated yet?

Follow what Im saying?

I suppose, to put it simply, I need to meet this moderately complex
objective, stated simply: Get all 3 sites talking on the same Active
Directory domain, replicating and all that fun stuff. But it needs to
operate under the new domain name. Whats the most effecient way of doing
this with the least amount of interuption?

The other sites are building new AD servers next week, so how complex does
this become? Providing they name their servers and domains appropriately,
will this work?

Anyway... to the chalk board!

Any help would be great. Thanks!!!

B
 
for the time being you need a server to create the new domain. After you
have that up then the other sites can join that domain as child domains.
You can have both new and old domains up to give you time to migrate the
home office the the new domain. Before the other offices build their server
you need to have the new domain up so they can be in the same forest.

HTH

Paul McGuire
 
Great tips. Thanks.

So my process makes sense then?

What do you think about the final migration? Moving all users from the
OldDomain.com to NewDomain.com? Use the Active Directory Migration Tool for
it?
 
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