We have an interesting scenario, and have been busting our brains about it. Currently we have one SCCM07 SP2 server. The server is old, and we want to upgrade the OS to Server 2008 R2 64bit. We cannot do an in place upgrade because the old server is 32-bit. As such, we want to be able to create a new VM, install SQL server on it, and put SCCM07 R3 there. Here are our questions: Can we do a child parent scenario with this configuration even if the SQL servers are not common between them? (We think not) Can we set up the second SCCM server on the same domain and slowly move clients to the new one? (I assume by installing desktop clients from the new SCCM server?) If so, how does this affect the old SCCM server? Can they both work together on the same domain without breaking one another? If none of these options seem quite right, how should we do this? Keep in mind, there will be two SQL servers with two separate databases since the old database will go away once we decommission the old server. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

First of all not only can you not upgrade the OS because you are going from x86 to x64 but also because SCCM will break if you in-place upgrade an OS. Don't try that at home. ;-) Yes you can do a parent child with unlike SQL versions but that's not what I would do. You can do that but be careful about your boundaries and client assignment. Why not take the easy way out? Assuming you didn't take the default install path for SCCM (I hope you didn't) just install the new server with the same name and drive letters as the old server, install SQL and SCCM, restore an SCCM backup onto the new box, go home and drink a cold one and wait for your bonus check to arrive in the mail. John Marcum | http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/jmarcum/|