DELETED_3139

I would build a fresh OS on the new server, then transfer the data across.
The chipset, NIC, etc changes just aren't worth the effort and may cause you issues later.

> Download, burn and run the Firmware CD appropriate for this server (It won't be the latest as they have a rolling set of the latest servers that are supported).
> Download, burn and boot with the smartstart CD (again, won't be the latest release)
> Do a fresh install of windows

This way you'll have everything up to date with the latest available firmware, drivers, and fresh install to boot.
 
SBS 2003 is going end of support, it would probably be a good time to migrate to something newer.

Perhaps Office 365/Hosted exchange + Micro Server running 2012 Foundation/Essentials
 
Have a look here. You could potentially restore SBS2003 to different hardware, but the process is also PITA (install SBS2003 fresh and bring it up to the same SP level, then apply the backup) and there is no guarantee that it will work (drivers etc.).

Also watch out if the original SBS2003 install is OEM.

As suggested in that post if you could do an image based backup on the original server with Acronis or similar, you could restore that backup to the new hardware - but AFAIK, Acronis and similar products are expensive and probably not worth shelling out just for this.

I'd be inclined to get off SBS2003 as well - I have one client left on this and I'm planning to move them to NAS and offsite email (they are a three person company) when their funds allow.
 
Drive Snapshot will do this for you - it's a life save for easily moving servers around independent of hardware. You can download a trial copy of it that lasts 30 days, but has no restrictions on functionality.

http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/

1. Download the exe (300kb or something).
2. Run it on the current server - it'll take about 20-30 mins to image a 70gb server. Save the image to an external HD.
3. Connect the external HD to the new server - keep snapshot.exe on it also.
4. Boot the new server with an XP boot disk (http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd)
5. Run snapshot on the new server, and restore to its new location (tip: on the windows where you select the disk to restore to - right click the disk and do "mirror partition layout" and "restore MBR" before you hit restore).

That should be it - boot the new server and it should be golden.

Occasionally, the new server may BSOD on boot, usually because it needs a controller driver. If that happens, it's fairly simple to fix:

6. Download the HDD controller drivers for the new server and run snapshot from cmd on the xp boot disk (snapshot --AddDriver) - it'll bring up a window to browse to the sys/ inf files so that you can add them to the restored disk.
 
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nightmare99 said:
SBS 2003 is going end of support, it would probably be a good time to migrate to something newer.

Perhaps Office 365/Hosted exchange + Micro Server running 2012 Foundation/Essentials
Click to expand...

end of support not end of working... (your suggestion is reasonable but expensive)

I recently use acronis true image universal restore to move a sbs2003 install from a broken scsi server to a new hp mini server (the 99£ ones)...

software was about £70 including the plus back that gives the universal restore..

though a better option if they are not too attached to outlook calendars is a free google apps account and a w7 nas for files...
 
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For such a small environment, would esxi not come in handy here? Run the single server as a single vm so no need to go through this hassle for next hardware swap! Should anything happen it can quickly be moved to something else from backup
 
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