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This is a newbie question...

I have a client with a Dell R5400 machine. They are seeking additional services from us to upgrade their machine from Windows 2003 to Windows Server 2008R2 and also increasing RAM from 4 GB to 20 GB.

Is is possible to do this? How long do you think this process will take?

Thanks

user1034912
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    Your question is subjective to the client's requirements, and also requires further research. Wiping the system and reinstalling the operating system will take about 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on how many patches and firmware updates are required. You need to check with Dell and see if 2008R2 is a supported OS for that hardware, otherwise you might run into issues finding drivers. All that aside, if there is a requirement to preserve some kind of existing functionality, data, or services, then you need to scope that out appropriately and that's your job to do. – SpacemanSpiff Jun 20 '12 at 02:17
  • Thanks but contacting Dell... urghh.. good luck with that.. they have the worst product support – user1034912 Jun 20 '12 at 02:23
  • I'm pretty sure the information you need is readily available on their support site. – SpacemanSpiff Jun 20 '12 at 03:52

1 Answers1

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The machine can fit up to 32 GB in 4 DIMMs, so yes, you can upgrade the RAM. That should take you about 5 minutes, once you have the new RAM in-hand.

It looks like that's an x64 machine, so the OS install will work. Installing Windows 2008 R2 should take <1-2 hours, depending on disk speed and install media (LAN vs DVD.)

You can't do an in-place upgrade from Win2k3-> Win2k8, so you'll have to add in the time to back any data up and reinstall any applications after the OS is laid down.

mfinni
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  • Thanks, but I guess the bigger question would be wether Dell Drivers support Windows Server 2008 R2 – user1034912 Jun 20 '12 at 02:35
  • There's also that - but the drivers depend on the hardware you have in the specific workstation, so that's something that we can't answer for you. Get an inventory and check each one out - or just contact Dell. – mfinni Jun 20 '12 at 13:31