Replacing an old server at work.

[Buickbeast]

Hey guys, I work at a small company that uses a ~10 year old invoice/database program on a old server with a P3 450MHz with 4GB SCSI. The new server is a Dual Core Dell with 160GB drives in RAID. I am needing to swap in the new server with minimal down time and effort.

Let me start by saying I'm very good with hardware and software but this type of networking I haven't done so I don't know much about it. What I do know is the current system isn't really a "server" since people don't have to log into it to access the database. There is the terminal side of the software which is on 16 Dells for the employees' and the server side of the software on the server with the one shared database that all of the terminals have access to. In network settings, they are all on the same workgroup labeled "workgroup".

My main question on seting this up is the allocation or setting up of ip addresses so that the terminal program just "sees" the server database. Do I have to manually link each computer somehow? Or do I just setup the new server on the same workgroup? I know how to use ipconfig, change network settings, etc...

The boss is too cheap to hire someone out on this and I know I can do it, I'm just trying to get a mental grasp on what changes need to done on the new server and the terminals.

Many thanks in advance!
Jason

 

[Nothinman]

It depends on how they connect to the database, if it's using Access then they probably just need to have the correct drive letter mapped. If you're really unlucky it'll have a UNC path configured on each client with the old server name in it and you'll have to find some way to change them all or just do them one by one by hand.

 

[spidey07]

So many questions, so little answers without more information.

What is the database?
What is the OS of the "server" and workstations?
IP addressing doesn't matter, DHCP should be handling the client addresses.
How are the clients configured to connect to the server? My guess is you're using netbeui for the protocol.
Are the clients and the server on the same IP subnet? My guess is yes.

You're gonna have to figure out how the clients are connecting, what protocol they are using and how name resolution is being handled.

Eitherway, you will spend a large amount of time and effort on this. If you don't, it will be a disaster.

 

[Madwand1]

The details really depend upon the application you're using. You should probably consult support for that application. There might be additional application issues -- e.g. because of a change to the OS.

You might be able to simplify the process by renaming the old server to something else, and renaming the new server just like the old server, but be careful with that application and cached connections / IPs -- take the old server offline to be sure that everything's connecting to the new server and you're not getting a mis-mash of old & new.

 

[Buickbeast]

Originally posted by: spidey07
So many questions, so little answers without more information.

What is the database?
What is the OS of the "server" and workstations?
IP addressing doesn't matter, DHCP should be handling the client addresses.
How are the clients configured to connect to the server? My guess is you're using netbeui for the protocol.
Are the clients and the server on the same IP subnet? My guess is yes.

You're gonna have to figure out how the clients are connecting, what protocol they are using and how name resolution is being handled.

Eitherway, you will spend a large amount of time and effort on this. If you don't, it will be a disaster.

Thanks for the great reply! I know I don't have enough info yet, I plan on just gathering infomation tomorrow and maybe loading the software on the new server to test it with some spare terminals.

What is the database? I don't know what the file name is yet, it's a very old software piece.
What is the OS of the "server" and workstations? Server is Windows server 2003 R2 / Workstations are XP Pro
IP addressing doesn't matter, DHCP should be handling the client addresses.
How are the clients configured to connect to the server? My guess is you're using netbeui for the protocol. I will check on that tomorrow
Are the clients and the server on the same IP subnet? My guess is yes. Yes they are

 

[SoulAssassin]

Originally posted by: Buickbeast

Originally posted by: spidey07
So many questions, so little answers without more information.

What is the database?
What is the OS of the "server" and workstations?
IP addressing doesn't matter, DHCP should be handling the client addresses.
How are the clients configured to connect to the server? My guess is you're using netbeui for the protocol.
Are the clients and the server on the same IP subnet? My guess is yes.

You're gonna have to figure out how the clients are connecting, what protocol they are using and how name resolution is being handled.

Eitherway, you will spend a large amount of time and effort on this. If you don't, it will be a disaster.

Thanks for the great reply! I know I don't have enough info yet, I plan on just gathering infomation tomorrow and maybe loading the software on the new server to test it with some spare terminals.

What is the database? I don't know what the file name is yet, it's a very old software piece.
What is the OS of the "server" and workstations? Server is Windows server 2003 R2 / Workstations are XP Pro
IP addressing doesn't matter, DHCP should be handling the client addresses.
How are the clients configured to connect to the server? My guess is you're using netbeui for the protocol. I will check on that tomorrow
Are the clients and the server on the same IP subnet? My guess is yes. Yes they are

I have to ask...who was the person that installed Windows 2003R2 on a P3/450 and what kind of blunt instrument will you beat them with? Obviously this was a recent thing...why would they use such old hardware?

Easiest solution? Buy new hardware, get Vmware GSX and P2V the old server. Turn it into a virtual machine on the new one. This doesn't necessarily give you the most bang for your buck but it's probably one of the easiest way to do it.

 

[Nothinman]

I have to ask...who was the person that installed Windows 2003R2 on a P3/450 and what kind of blunt instrument will you beat them with? Obviously this was a recent thing...why would they use such old hardware?

Because the speed of the CPU is largely irrelevant? Obviously if it's a mission-critical machine you probably want hardware support and thus wouldn't use something that old, but the speed of the machine is probably fine.