Environment: Windows 2003 Server R2 Service Pack 2 (32 Bits) DC Controller, one single domain, 35 users One Single NIC Card: 192.168.0.3 It has been working fine for 4 years, No DNS Errors WinXP and Win2000 Workstations Windows 2008 Standard (32 bits) Two NIC Cards 1. 192.168.0.10 2. 192.168.0.11 This is what I did: Join the Win2008 to the domain. Win2003: Raised the Functional Level to 2003 Win2003: Prepared the Active Directory by running the adprep (No Errors) On the Win2008 setup it up as a Domain Controller (No Errors), it has been working like that for a week. Move all Folders and Files to the Win2008, No Errors, everything works fine. This is what I am planning to do (I need your advice here) Win2008: Change the settings on the NIC Cards to point to itself: 192.168.0.10 (It is pointing to the win2003 (192.168.0.3) I am going to select .10 , remember this server has 2 NICs Disconnect all Workstations Win2003: Stop and remove the DHCP Server Win2008: Setup a DHCP Role with the following settings: Gateway: 192.168.0.2 (ISP Router) DNS Server: 192.168.0.10 Win2003: On the NIC Card change the DNS Server to 192.168.0.10 Reconnect al Workstations again Wait for a week. Demote the Win2003 I would really appreciate all the advice. Than you all

Hello Is there any reason why you decide to go with a multi-homed Domain controller? Sometime this might cause some issues. What I will recommend,is that, follow your outlined plan, but before you demote the w2k3 domain controller, completely turn it off as you plan for atleast a week and see what happens. Some helpful discussions regarding multi-homed dc http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverDS/thread/a1583d7f-fa59-4497-89de-666d683e53a0Isaac Oben MCITP:EA, MCSE

Hi Isaac, Thanks for answering my post. The reason is that on this company we have people working 24/7, We can not affort down time. I have a backup of everything, system states, system drives, etc, etc (Both servers - before and after). So far everything is working fine, no dns errors and users dont know what I did nor have reports any problems. I will follow your advice and I will not demode the win2003 just turn it off for a week, Thanks!!!! What I am not sure about is how to properly (and actually why having to NIC cards) configure, and use, the two NIC cars right now they are as follow IP: 192.168.0.10 Gateway: 192.168.0.2 DNS: 192.168.0.3 IP: 192.168.0.11 Gateway: 192.168.0.2 DNS: 192.168.0.3 When I configure the new DHCP what NIC should I use (both?) what about the DNS what ip should I use? or both? how does this works? Again Thanks!!!! Bre-x

Hi, Although multihomed domain controller is supported, it’s not recommended as numerous issues can occur in such an environment, such as name resolving (DNS, WINS). Though some general configuration change can be performed to avoid the issues, considering the different network environments (default gateway, route table and reason for multihome) and different application usage, you may need to perform some additional operation and troubleshooting to make it work. If it is possible, we suggest that you do not configure domain controller as multihomed. For more information, you can refer to the following support articles: Active Directory communication fails on multihomed domain controllers http://support.microsoft.com/kb/272294 Name resolution and connectivity issues occur on Windows 2000 domain controllers that have the Routing and Remote Access service and DNS installed http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830063 Delay in NetBIOS connections from a multi-homed computer http://support.microsoft.com/kb/166159 In the meantime, you are connecting two NICs to the same network. This is not simply multihome. Please note that it is not beneficial and not recommended, we should not configure the server like this. More information, please refer to: Expected Behavior of Multiple Adapters on Same Network http://support.microsoft.com/kb/175767 In addition, for DHCP migration, you can refer to the following links: How to move a DHCP database from a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/962355 DHCP Server Migration Guide http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd379535(WS.10).aspx Thanks. Nina This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.