Maintaining a Mixed Environment

During an upgrade you can have a mixed environment of Windows NT 4.0 backup domain controllers and member servers operating with Windows 2000 domain controllers. However, because Windows 2000 Server does not support LMRepl, maintaining LMRepl services in a mixed environment can be an issue. To provide this support, you need to create a bridge between LMRepl and FRS so that both services can operate autonomously. Do this by selecting one Windows 2000 domain controller to copy the files that you want replicated to the Windows NT 4.0 export directory. The copying can be accomplished by a regularly scheduled script.

Note

The term mixed environment is not to be confused with mixed mode , which refers to Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 domain controllers existing within a domain. A mixed environment is a looser term that describes Windows NT 4.0 backup domain controllers (BDCs) and member servers operating with Windows 2000 domain controllers.

To maintain availability of LMRepl during an upgrade, make sure that the server hosting the export directory is upgraded only after all the other servers hosting import directories have been upgraded. If the server hosting the export directory is the primary domain controller (PDC), you should select a new server to host the export directory and then reconfigure LMRepl.