Windows Server machine SWAP

[Bloodshed_x3d]

Hey,

 

I have two servers, one with Windows Server 2012 R1 on a consumer motherboard with an i3-3220 and a Gigabyte motherboard. The other is running Windows Small Business Server 2011, with a Xeon E3-1220 V2.

 

I want to swap the OS with the hardware.

 

My end goal is to have the Win Server 2012 on the Xeon and have the Win Small Business server on the i3. I want to use the Xeon for VM's and I want to reformat the Win Small business server and use pfSense on the i3.

 

Before I can do that though I have some things I need to do with programs and what not.

 

In the mean time, if I was to just swap all the drives from the i3 server to the Xeon server and likewise for the other drives, would this cause any issues?

 

I only ask as I know Linus has an SSD he has Windows on and he swaps it between test benches.

[Electronics Wizardy]

you can just move the hdd and boot from the other system. should work fie. make sure you have backups though

 

[ProjectBox153]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

you can just move the hdd and boot from the other system. should work fie. make sure you have backups though

 

Agreed. It SHOULD work, but there may be driver incompatibilities. Windows Server 2012 R2 seems to do just fine with switching hardware for me, with my install going from 1 machine to 4 others (of completely different hardware, hell one was a laptop) to a final machine it's running on now. Make sure the network drivers are installed though. 

[Bloodshed_x3d]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

you can just move the hdd and boot from the other system. should work fie. make sure you have backups though

 

Okay thank you. Do you think I'm doing the right thing, in terms of using the Xeon for VM's and the i3 for pfSense?

 

Link to Ark comparison: https://ark.intel.com/compare/65693,65734

 

Link to Xeon server Motherboard: http://manuals.ts.fujitsu.com/file/10327/tx100s3-d3009-tm-en.pdf

 

The reason I want to swap them is because I want to be able to remotely manage the VM server if the host goes down (which I think that motherboard supports?).

 

Though, saying this, I might be better off being able to have full management of the pfSense router (I'll have failover inplace)?

 

Sorry for all the questions  

[Electronics Wizardy]

4 minutes ago, Benb96 said:

Okay thank you. Do you think I'm doing the right thing, in terms of using the Xeon for VM's and the i3 for pfSense?

 

Link to Ark comparison: https://ark.intel.com/compare/65693,65734

 

Link to Xeon server Motherboard: http://manuals.ts.fujitsu.com/file/10327/tx100s3-d3009-tm-en.pdf

 

The reason I want to swap them is because I want to be able to remotely manage the VM server if the host goes down (which I think that motherboard supports?).

 

Though, saying this, I might be better off being able to have full management of the pfSense router (I'll have failover inplace)?

 

Sorry for all the questions  

that idea sound fine. Id put the faster system for the windows server

 

Don't rely too much on the impi on boards, it won't really help you . If uptime is a major problem look ata clustering.

[Bloodshed_x3d]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

that idea sound fine. Id put the faster system for the windows server

 

Don't rely too much on the impi on boards, it won't really help you . If uptime is a major problem look ata clustering.

Okay. Thanks a lot for the help. I assume 4 physical cores (with no hyper threading) are (generally) better than a dual core with hyper threading?

[brwainer]

Are either of your operating systems OEM? (i.e. the license came with the server, from the manufacturer, the same way that a normal consumer device comes with Windows) (the answer is yes even if the OS wasn't preinstalled - all that matters is if the license came with the server from the manufacturer)

 

If the answer is yes, then you technically can't move that license to another machine unless you purchase Software Assurance from Microsoft. If you run into any issues with the OEM OS not activating on the other machine, there is 't much you can do. The effects that running the server unactivated depend on the version - I know that Server 2012R2 doesn't really do anything other than putting messages into your logs and text in the corner of the screen, but older versions would do things like reboot every hour. I don't know which way SBS2011 and Server 2012 lean.

[CptCarbonat]

11 minutes ago, Benb96 said:

I assume 4 physical cores (with no hyper threading) are (generally) better than a dual core with hyper threading?

Yeah, a quadcore will most likely be faster than a dualcore and comparing these two the Xeon sure is better. Here is a comparison of the two on Passmark http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=1188&cmp[]=1472

[Bloodshed_x3d]

1 minute ago, brwainer said:

Are either of your operating systems OEM? (i.e. the license came with the server, from the manufacturer, the same way that a normal consumer device comes with Windows) (the answer is yes even if the OS wasn't preinstalled - all that matters is if the license came with the server from the manufacturer)

 

If the answer is yes, then you technically can't move that license to another machine unless you purchase Software Assurance from Microsoft. If you run into any issues with the OEM OS not activating on the other machine, there is 't much you can do. The effects that running the server unactivated depend on the version - I know that Server 2012R2 doesn't really do anything other than putting messages into your logs and text in the corner of the screen, but older versions would do things like reboot every hour. I don't know which way SBS2011 and Server 2012 lean.

Win Server 2012 was a product key I found in the depths of my universities product licencing and support section, (we get 1 free licence of any Microsoft software  ).

 

I'm not to bothered about SBS2011 as thats the one I'm putting pfSense on

[Bloodshed_x3d]

1 minute ago, CptCarbonat said:

Yeah, a quadcore will most likely be faster than a dualcore and comparing these two the Xeon sure is better. Here is a comparison of the two on Passmark http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=1188&cmp[]=1472

Wow, thanks. It really would be a waste using the Xeon for pfSense then.

[CptCarbonat]

Just now, Benb96 said:

It really would be a waste using the Xeon for pfSense then.

You are right, the i3 you got is fine for pfsense and using the Xeon sure would be overkill. Even if you do some crazier stuff like antivirus on the pfsense machine the i3 should be able to handle it.

[Bloodshed_x3d]

Just now, CptCarbonat said:

You are right, the i3 you got is fine for pfsense and using the Xeon sure would be overkill. Even if you do some crazier stuff like antivirus on the pfsense machine the i3 should be able to handle it.

Thanks alot. Also all the features of the server board would be wasted too, as the i3's motherboard only has 2 PCIe slots and 5 SATA connectors  

[KenjiUmino]

i see on the ark page that both CPUs are socket 1155 - if you don't need specific features only present on one of your two 1155 mainboards i'd just switch CPUs around and call it a day - no re-install of windows, no driver problems and stuff

[Bloodshed_x3d]

I've decided I'm going to totally wipe both of them.

[samiscool51]

On 3/28/2017 at 1:08 AM, Electronics Wizardy said:

you can just move the hdd and boot from the other system. should work fie. make sure you have backups though

do that and you will lose the product key

read up on how windows product keys work

https://www.howtogeek.com/182847/htg-explains-how-does-windows-activation-work/

this explains it realy well and is a good read

[brwainer]

12 minutes ago, samiscool51 said:

do that and you will lose the product key

read up on how windows product keys work

https://www.howtogeek.com/182847/htg-explains-how-does-windows-activation-work/

this explains it realy well and is a good read

only OEM keys are tied to the hardware and can't be reused on another motherboard (the metrics used to determine if you have moved to a different machine keep track of more than just the motherboard, but the motherboard is the only component that if changed requires reactivation 100% of the time). Retail keys, including any from student software services like the OP said he used, can be moved to a new machine and re-activated once every 180 days.

[samiscool51]

3 minutes ago, brwainer said:

only OEM keys are tied to the hardware and can't be reused on another motherboard

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-10-license-hardware-configuration

Quote

In my opinion, the Motherboard ID is associated with your Windows 10 installation and that is why when you make minor hardware changes, your status is not changed.

very simply

the key is set to the motherboard's id and won't work on any other system AT ALL

it's not just OEM keys that can't be used on other systems

normal windows keys work the EXACT SAME WAY, except that the user has to input the key themselves

(enterprise and education work differently, they contact the organizations server if their product key is valid, and when a new system is activated within the organization, the server finds a spare key and sets it to that machine, in fact admins and change what system has what key)

[brwainer]

45 minutes ago, samiscool51 said:

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-10-license-hardware-configuration

very simply

the key is set to the motherboard's id and won't work on any other system AT ALL

it's not just OEM keys that can't be used on other systems

normal windows keys work the EXACT SAME WAY, except that the user has to input the key themselves

(enterprise and education work differently, they contact the organizations server if their product key is valid, and when a new system is activated within the organization, the server finds a spare key and sets it to that machine, in fact admins and change what system has what key)

You do not seem to be speaking from experience, I am. Pre-Windows 10 Retail keys can be re-activated on a new machine every 180 days, I have done it many times with Windows 7, 8, 8.1, Server 2012, and Server 2012R2. Also, since you brought up How To Geek, here's an article that supports me:
https://www.howtogeek.com/261053/when-can-you-move-a-windows-license-to-a-new-pc/

Quote

Never Allowed: Moving a Preinstalled License to a New PC

This is what I referred to as an OEM key, although it should be noted there is a difference between a key from a big manufacturer like Dell or HP, and an "OEM key" bought from a site like Newegg.

Quote

Always Allowed: Moving a “Full Version” or “Retail” License to a New PC

If you buy a “retail” “full version” license–this is generally only something you do if you’re building your own PC, installing Windows on a Mac, or using a virtual machine–you can move always move it to a new PC.

After you move your license several times, Windows may give you an activation error and ask you to call Microsoft to activate your computer. Microsoft’s representatives will allow it. They just want to make sure you aren’t installing the same license on multiple PCs at a time. As long as you only have the product key installed on one PC at a time, you’re good.

This is how things worked before Windows 10 - and it should be noted that the OP's two operating systems are based on Windows 7 (SBS 2011) and Windows 8 (Server 2012), so what you quoted in your last post about Windwos 10 DOES NOT APPLY. Sure, it might be how things work mvoing forward, but it doesn't change how things worked for older OS's. Also, with Windows 10, you can choose to have you license key tied to your Microsoft Account, instead of to the system, which means that if you move computers or reinstall it from scratch, you can activate the new install. This is also something that I have done myself and have experience with - but again, only applies to Retail license keys.