We are running DHCP services on two Windows Server 2008 R2 systems with split (50% - 50%) scope configuration. They are member servers but not domain controllers. I am looking at migrating the DHCP servers to Windows Server 2012 R2 to be able to take advantage of the DHCP failover configuration.
Reading this article it appears to be a very straight forward procedure but I have a few questions. Reading between the lines it looks like the answers are apparent but I don’t want to assume anything.
We are designing a new addressing and vlan scheme for the network so we would not migrate the existing DHCP configuration to the new DHCP servers. Instead, we would be creating new scopes on the new servers and point the new vlans to the new DHCP servers. As we continued this process it would move all of the DHCP clients from the old servers to the new ones. I anticipate it will require a few weeks to complete the transition because of the vlan changes.
This brings me to the questions I have.
Does anyone know of any issues in joining a Windows Server 2012 R2 system to an Active Directory 2008 R2 functional level domain?
Assuming the IP address ranges of new and old scopes don’t overlap and DHCP helpers are properly configured in each vlan, are there any issues I should anticipate in running a “parallel” configuration for a few weeks?
At the conclusion of the migration can I simply remove the old servers from the domain and power them off or is there something else I need to do to remove the old DHCP servers from the domain?
TIA to anybody for any insight you have.