I'm going to be purchasing a new Windows server very soon, currently I run my AD in mixed mode with 2003server R2 and 2000 server. My question is, would there be any reason to stick with 2003 server? My enviorment consist of about 50 workstations mostly XP, but Windows 7 is already coming into play. Server roles are File server, print server, AD, DHCP, DNS, SQL 2005, roaming profiles and hope to soon implement DFS. My only hesitation of course is I have yet to work with 2008 server and all my certifications are in 2003 server. I'm assuming it would be best to go with 2008 and move on with new technology, I'm certainly very willing to learn 2008 but wanted some opinions on the move

I'd recommend going for 2008 unless you have an application that is incompatible with 2008. As the AD transition to 2008 is likely to be the most complicated out of the services that you listed, I would start with this: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731188%28WS.10%29.aspx -- Mike Burr

There's no technical reason why you couldnt introduce a 2008 DC although you wouldn't be able to raise the domain and forest levels to 2008 until you got rid of the lower DCs. I wouldn't install something into production though without first having some knowledge or experience. Either setup a test environment or look to upgrade your certs before taking the 2008 step would be my advice. Best regards Joe Dunn MBCS, MCITP:EA, MCSE, CCNA

From an AD perspective, you shouldn't encounter any issues bringing in a new 2008 DC. Its definately supported. Its also a good idea to move forward as their are new features in AD once you upgrade the domain/forest functional levels. What's New with Active Directory 2008 R2 http://www.anitkb.com/2010/03/whats-new-with-active-directory-2008-r2.html However, as with any new implementation, you should attempt to reproduce this in a lab environment so you can mitigate any issues that may arise. Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.

For Microsoft Windows Server 2003, it will soon be obsolete. For Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, it is now the most efficient, robust, secure and ensuring high-performance Microsoft Windows Server 2008 operating system. It is for that I recommand to you to use the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2. You should look for the different editions because here you will find some differences.

Thanks for the responses, it's about what I expected and I'll move forward with reading up on the migration