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I have an SBS 2011 server in an office running a domain and I want to add an additional server running SBS 2003 that would only be used to run and serve accounting software.

I have learned that two SBS servers cannot co-exist on the same network. Despite this, I would like to find a way to make this work.

I was advised to shut down all services on the SBS 2003 server, but I would like to get more opinions before implementing a solution.

Thanks.

I say Reinstate Monica
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John
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    Why not just use normal Server 2003 (Leaving aside arguments about how old 2003 is...) on your second server? – Dan Oct 03 '13 at 12:37
  • @Dan probably cost. That's the main reason I see people trying to do ugly things like this - to save a buck. – MDMarra Oct 03 '13 at 12:48
  • @Dan sbs2003 was the first server that was upgraded with sbs2011. So instead of buying new windows server license, paying for new acc. software installation I wanted to use the old server as accounting server. Is there a way to make this happen inside one domain. If not what are the alternative (move box outside office and use DNS fowarding, stop services and set in inside same domain). Solutions please for existing situation – John Oct 03 '13 at 13:12
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    @MDMarra i explained my reasoning to Dan – John Oct 03 '13 at 13:12

2 Answers2

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You cannot have more than one SBS on a domain. If you need an additional server you should purchase a full Windows Server SKU.

How should you decide if SBS is the right choice? You can have only one SBS server and only one domain

Source

MDMarra
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    we all know that, but I need to find the alternative solution. You are not really helping – John Oct 03 '13 at 13:13
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    If you know that you cannot have more than one SBS server per network, why are you asking how you can have more than one SBS server per network? In this case, the answer is clearly "You don't. Buy a full version of Windows Server." – MDMarra Oct 03 '13 at 13:16
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    Let's clarify - you can have the second SBS server on the same physical LAN, just not in the same domain. – mfinni Oct 03 '13 at 13:31
  • @mfinni correct. My use of "network" was a little lax here, but I assume that this software requires the existing AD to function. – MDMarra Oct 03 '13 at 13:35
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    "You are not really helping" - I'd say that telling someone that they're asking for the impossible is helping and it's a little ungrateful of you to say otherwise. Would it honestly be more help to you to be lied to, and only find out after you'd spent money on a 'solution' that wasn't going to work? – Rob Moir Oct 03 '13 at 13:38
  • @mfinni thank you mfinni. I guest you are the only one here that is thinking instead of being a smart***. Actually no, software does not need an existing AD to work. It just has to be on the same "network". Now my question is how to have two SBS on the same network? – John Oct 03 '13 at 13:45
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    You install them as different Active Directories. – MDMarra Oct 03 '13 at 13:45
  • @MDMarra could you elaborate some more on that idea? – John Oct 03 '13 at 13:46
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    You configure them so that they are not on the same Active Directory domain. I don't know how to say it any more clearly. – MDMarra Oct 03 '13 at 13:55
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    And all your users will have two logins, one for each domain, and their passwords aren't guaranteed to be the same. It will be ugly and will take you double the amount of effort to administer. In the long run, you may find it cheaper to simply do this the correct way. – mfinni Oct 03 '13 at 14:10
  • @mfinni I understand. But I have only 2 users connecting to sbs2003 via RDP, and all i want to do is have sbs2003 connection to internet and not to mess sbs2011 domain. – John Oct 03 '13 at 14:15
  • OK then - so build/rebuild the 2003 SBS as a new AD domain in your existing LAN. Done. – mfinni Oct 03 '13 at 14:16
  • @mfinni I was hoping that SBS2011 would recognize domainname.local oposite to just domainname.com used in SBS2003. But it appears that domain names are same on both servers and that is causing mixup. In order to change domain name on sbs2003 re-installation is needed? – John Oct 03 '13 at 14:20
  • Yes. "Same domain name" means "same domain", which you know you can't have, – mfinni Oct 03 '13 at 14:37
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You can have the second SBS server on the same physical LAN, just not in the same domain. So build/rebuild the 2003 SBS as a new AD domain in your existing LAN.

Don't confuse "network" with "AD domain". It's a great idea if they're the same/overlapping, but in this situation, this is what will work best for you if you don't have the money to do this correctly.

mfinni
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  • Certainly there's more to be considered than this. For example, placing two default-build SBS servers of any version on the same LAN will result in two DHCP servers in the environment. IMHO, there's no difference between not having the money to install a proper network and not having the money to *fix* an improperly installed network. – I say Reinstate Monica Oct 18 '14 at 14:05