Issue: You have an existing SBS 2008 environment and you need to migrate to Windows 2012. In addition, you may be migrating the built-in Exchange 2007 instance to Exchange 2013 or to Office 365.
Purpose: I will provide a high level overview of the options and process and then link to more granular steps for the solutions. I will continue to update this as I have time including additional steps.
Key questions that determine decisions:
How many end users do you have?
Do you want to:
A) keep the same SBS domain, upgrading it to 2012 and optionally introducing Exchange 2013 *or*
B) do you want to create a new environment with Win 2012 AD and optionally Exchange 2013? There are pro’s and con’s to both approaches.
High Level steps – keeping existing AD domain and upgrading AD to 2012:
– Perform forest and domain prep on the SBS domain
– Join Windows 2012 Server to SBS domain
– Promote Windows 2012 to DC
– Transfer FSMO roles
High level steps – migrating to new 2012 AD:
– You can use ADMT to migrate accounts or manually create new user accounts with the same usernames and passwords as those on the SBS domain.
– Add AD as a role on your first Windows 2012 server and choose a name for your new domain, don’t use the same name as the SBS domain. I suggest you choose a subdomain of a internet domain that you own. For example office.companyinternetdomain.com.
High Level migrating from SBS 2008 built-in Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013:
This process will follow the standard process for installing Exchange 2013. I’ll continue to flesh out any SBS 2008 specifics and develop additional articles around that. Post your questions in the comments so I know what to write about.