Why Swing Migration
Why Swing Migration
A common question I get is "Why do a Swing Migration" now that Microsoft has defined their own Migration Mode and path for setup that can preserve the Active Directory as part of the installation?
One answer might be: Ask the people trying the LIVE DOMAIN MIGRATION procedure defined by Microsoft and think about the agony of getting half-way through and stuck, or worse, the upgrade dies during setup but YOU have to undo everything it did to try again. Swing Migration is safe, it's sane, it's predictable and it's done without modifying the production domain or server. Relax...Swing Migration solves the headaches.
If you are familiar with Swing Migration, you likely have valued the following benefits:
- Same domain name and Active Directory preserved
- Same server name and IP preserved
- Work "construction offline" for parallel testing and an open timeline to deploy
- Existing production server remains online and unchanged during construction
- Nothing to Undo if your migration plan is delayed or construction becomes blocked
- Transparent replacement of the OriginalDC with a new FinalDC
- Option to put the OriginalDC back online if needed...unchanged by the migration path
- Convenient and optimized work to build offsite, offline, and minimize transition time
- Schedule the server transition, and the data transfer, obtaining minimized downtime
- Little if nothing to do at the workstations, no change to profiles or UNC paths
- Predictable project construction path
- Clean install server that "looks the same" to the domain computers and users
A larger view of the benefits of Swing Migration using the new Swing It!! Kit solution (once it is completed) is that the tools and updates available will make it much easier to keep up with changes and new information. Rather than trying to keep all the new concerns in your head, updates to the migration tools will make it feasible to limit the amount of documentation and supplements necessary to have a "current project path" solution month after month, year after year.
SBS 2011 Support...Now!
2003 to SBS 2011 Scenario is Released!
SBSmigration.com provides the SBS 2011 scenario specifically for migration to Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2011 as a step by step detailed project kit for any Windows 2003 Server, Exchange 2003 Server or SBS 2003 existing domain to be migrated. Yet, this same project Kit is also a "core reference" for a much wider range of migration solutions.
Migrations and upgrade for non-SBS versions of Windows 2008 or Exchange 2007 or SBS 2008 will be addresses very soon with a separate project scenario from SBSmigration.com.
SBS 2011 Swing Migration: 2003 Source Platform Supported
The SBS 2011 from 2003 Scenario is flexible to address most pre-existing source domains on "tangent" platform versions for Active Directory and infrastructure upgrades. The standard scenario documentation outline addresses migration from these platforms:
- SBS 2003
- SBS 2003 R2
- Windows 2003 (all platforms)
- Windows 2003 R2 (all platforms)
- Exchange 2003
SBS 2011 Swing Migration: Legacy Platform Variations Supported
SBSmigration.com will very soon support and document migration from all products between SBS 2000 to SBS 2008, as well as from all the following platforms provided you have access for construction of the TempDC using SBS 2003 media, or equivalent 2003 version media for Windows and Exchange:
- SBS 2000
- Windows 2000
- BackOffice 2000
- Exchange 2000
- Windows NT4
- SBS 4.0, SBS 4.5
- Exchange 5.5
To work a project from these existing platforms please contact us to request instruction on completing your purchase and starting the project immediately!