Upgrading File Server - Moving VMDK

[NYTECJ]

Scenario:

Upgrading Windows 2003 File Server to a 2012 Server.

Both on the same VM server.

Setup:

Windows 2003 Server VM instance name FILESERV

FILESERV01.VMDK - C:\ Drive

FILESERV02.VMDK - D:\ Drive where all the files are stored.

Windows 2012 Server VM instance name FILE

One VMDK for the C drive.

Resolution on migrating the files?

Old fashion days you would use xcopy or robocopy to copy/move files while keeping the data info the same.

Being this is a VM environment with one server, could I just detach the FILESERV02.VMDK from the FILESERV instance and then attach it to the FILE instance?  I am expecting some modifications to Windows and permissions but would this work? 

[a_nut_in]

If the D drive is just user data with no applications installed, it will work. This behaves just like a second HDD of a physical machine.

[a_p_]

I am expecting some modifications to Windows and permissions but would this work?

With both servers in the same domain and assuming you only used the well-known local groups (Administrators, Users, System, ...) as well as Domain Local (or global) groups you shouldn't have any issues with permissions. Only the shares have to be recreated.

With that said, consider to align the partition if not already done. With Windows 2003, partitions start at 63 blocks (31.5 kB), which causes overhead in disk access. With Windows 2008 this changed any partitions are aligned to 1MB. You may use either a tool like UberAlign or do it the old fashion way, create a new virtual disk and use robocopy.

André