Hi. I'm building a new 2012 R2 file server to replace my current 2012 file server and will be connecting the current share drive to the new server via VMware.  The drive that holds the shares is currently using Windows 2012 Dedupe.  Will the new 2012R2 server be able to read that drive or do I have to run an unoptimization job before connecting it to the new server?

Below is a link from TechNet that states of items to look at when thinking of migrating from one server to another. Other than that I think conducting a backup of the data depduplication information and configuring your 2012 R2 to do it should work.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831454.aspx

Hi,

I did a test several weeks ago by connect a dedupped VHD file from one VM to another. The dedupped TXT files cannot be accessed in new VM (but will back to work when I connect it back to original VM).