I will have two servers running Small Business Server 2003. If one is currently running as a domain controller with DNS/Active Directory, can I setup the other SBS 2003 server to replicate DNS and Active Directory and not run into any limitations? What if I decide to get a Server 2008 (or Windows Server 8) server later on and promote it to a domain controller? Would I run into issues replicating from the SBS servers? Thanks!

Yes, You cannot have multiple SBS domain controllers in the same domain however you can have another Windows 2003/2008 server as an ADC with following constraints - The SBS server should hold all the FSMO roles and it should be the GC andWindows Small Business Server 2003 must be the root of the Active Directory forest.Windows Small Business Server 2003 cannot trust any other domains.A Windows Small Business Server 2003 domain cannot have any child domains. Read this from technet link -http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc672103%28v=ws.10%29.aspx One of the most common misconceptions is that customers cannot run another member server or domain controller in a Windows SBS domain. This is not true! You can add additional member servers that are running Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server to a Windows SBS domain. You can even promote a member server that is running Windows Server 2003 to be a domain controller, in order to improve authentication services at remote offices. For complete list of SBS server FAQ see this link - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sbs/cc817589 HTH Sachin Gadhave (MCP, MCTS)

This post was what triggered me to ask: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-GB/winservergen/thread/dc01b091-fc34-4992-bb3d-553117032e59 So as long as one of the SBS 2003 servers is the GC server and holds all the FSMO roles, it should be good to go? And in the future, if I add a Server 2008 server and want to promote to a domain controller, possibly retiring the old server?

Yes as long as there is only one SBS server in the domain you have no problems. You can promote additional 2003 DC. You can also switch to Windows 2003 domain with this setup in future by removing the SBS server. Please refer to this articles: How to upgrade Small Business Server Domain Environment to regular Windows 2003 Domain http://support.microsoft.com/?id=555073 HTH Sachin Gadhave (MCP, MCTS)

Hello, as SBS servers MUST be the FSMO roles holder you cannot have 2 of them running, no problem to have additional regular versions as additional DC. Depending on the used OS version the schema has to be upgraded before adding new OS DCs.Best regards Meinolf Weber MVP, MCP, MCTS Microsoft MVP - Directory Services My Blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/mweber/ Disclaimer: This posting is provided AS IS with no warranties or guarantees and confers no rights.