So my idea of live blogging the setup and configuration of the new server fizzled. Too much to do and not enough time to do it. Between recovering critical user data from a failed hard drive, writing batch scripts to grab PST files and replace Word templates, and importing a whole mess of other stuff there just wasn’t enough weekend.
All in all, it went well. The physical server was setup with Hyper-V and the Symantec Endpoint management apps. The Terminal Server VM was given 8GB RAM and a 125GB VHD, while the Exchange Server (which, until our ISP gives us the go-ahead to actually run a mail server, currently only deals with Mailboxes and Public Folders) was given 6GB of RAM and a 125GB VHD of it’s own. That leaves 2GB of RAM for the physical server.
This morning was go-live, and by mid morning all 25 employees were logged in and active without any serious issues. Best of all, even with all of them in Outlook and running a myriad of apps, everything ran smooth as silk.
Once I’ve made sure everything is working fine, I’ll post a tutorial for backing up VHDs with Windows Server Backup and VSS.
