How to migrate a File Server to another server with the latest operating system.

March 2, 2023 at 9:19 am Leave a comment

In this article I am going to explain about a recent project that we took over to migrate a Windows 2003 File Server to Windows 2022 Server.

In the past , we use to perform these kind of migration via manual file transfer , or backup and restore methods. However , Microsoft has released a new feature call Storage Migration Service that could be enabled via Windows Admin Center Web Console(WADC). This tool can be installed in any of the machine or you can install it on the destination file server. The storage migration service will take care of the share and security permission on the destination file server as per the original settings.

After installing the WADC you need to enable the Storage Migration Service extension and reload the interface.

Thereafter , you can configure a migration job by mapping the source and destination file servers. The other benefit is that you can sync the differences to cover the delta or changes after the initial migration. During , the cutover (using the same wizard ) the source file server can be assigned with a different IP and the original IP can be assigned to the new server

For a detailed walk through of the procedure please refer the https://4sysops.com/archives/windows-server-2019-storage-migration-service/.

Good Luck.