Hey guys,

I've been googling for a while but thought I'd ask here for some personal experience:

I am wondering if you can Ghost a Windows Small business Server 2008 so that we can effectively migrate it from one server to another? If so what would be the best option to do so and what licenses are there to consider?

Can we make a base template? One with a basic set of roles installed where we can update the required drivers, names etc.?

Thanks in advance, any help would be appreciated.

I'd say yes but haven't done it before. How about creating an image with ShadowProtect or Acronis and then converting that image to a Virtual machine (or go to another Physical machine) and see how that goes?

bit hard with sbs, as the sbs install integrates everything based on the domain name and domain etc, which would be different from server to server.

so something like sysprep wouldn't fix the domain name issues?

You could certainly use it for a server migration (as long as the hardware was similar enough). Otherwise, if you used Shadowprotect, it'll work perfectly as long as you do a Hardware Independent Restore.

As far as building a base image goes, it'll be too complicated given the degree of customisation that goes on during the install. The issue wouldn't be with licensing, as you can pre-install and have about 30 days before you HAVE to activate.

what exactly are you trying to achieve? move the existing SBS install to new hardware or deploy additional functionality.

I use shadowprotect a lot to migrate customer systems to new hardware without having to rebuild/reconfigure etc. Works very well. Then again I use IT edition for bare metal migrations.

IT edition rocks.

Wouldn't be useful for adding a new server as you can only have a single SBS install running in a domain.

Your best bet with 08 is too ghost it right at the setup point before you enter the domain info in.
still requires you too set it up obviously but man if you tried to rename the domain on each one, what a cluster f*** you would have on your hands.

Well for a specific case we're hoping to move the existing SBS install as it is, but in the long run we are hoping to be able to create a basic installation image of SBS with a preconfigured template of roles and then customize it for new projects depending on the needs of a client.

The end game would be an installation with the basic configuration of telnet, hyper-v exchnage... then we can just add users and configure exchange.

for a once off.. just ask for a 30 day trial of it edition. its fully functional so you can use it to do the migration :)

Don't even think about going the base install option for SBS... It would be a clusterf*** of gargantuan proportions. You'd spend more time ironing out the kinks than you save by having the base install. Seriously, we tested it as a time-kill exercise a while back.

hyper-v

HUH, you dont run hyper-v on an SBS server.

And yeah use shadow protect IT edition, do a HIR.

Don't even think about going the base install option for SBS

yeah thats what I was thinking, cause its SBS and all the details will change from server to server, then you just might aswell run through the install, its not that much less work.

If it was server 2008 standard or enterprise then a base install is handy cause you would then add or remove roles, but with SBS its a different ball game.

HUH, you dont run hyper-v on an SBS server.

really? Where do you run it? I was referring to the hyper-v manager role and I use this to create virtual machines in Hyper-V???

really? Where do you run it? I was referring to the hyper-v manager role and I use this to create virtual machines in Hyper-V???

So you want to use the sbs as the hyper-v host, or just the management console to manager another hyper-v host? You cant run a hyper-v host on sbs, you do it the other way around, hyper-v host with sbs inside.

I have used Clonezilla in the past with great success. Never with a server edition of Windows though. Sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

As others have said shadow protect it ed - sorted