So I have set the date for the upgrade of Great Plains / Dynamics from Verizon 7.5 to 9.0. I must say this is no easy thing to do, and this upgrade is going to require a lot of reading & planning on my part.
The date is the weekend of November 10 to November 12. Yes I know that is 3 days, and that is how long it takes to do this upgrade (provided everything goes according to plan). I will start by kicking everyone out of the system at noon on Friday to start the backup's and migrate the most current data to the backup server. My backups have to be on 3 different media, DDS-4 Tape, DVD, and on the physical disk (want to talk about being just a little paranoid?).
So if you want to know why I am so freaking paranoid about all of this, well its simple. Great Plains / Dynamics is the company. With out it, we don't work. Everything is controled by this software (Payroll, Billing, Dispacting, ect) and I joke that part of my job is to take a bullet for the server. So I protect the data that same way. Plus, if this thing just happens to go belly up in the middle of an install then I have to rebuild (which I have done before).
So right now I have about 200+ pages of stuff to read just to get ready, and then I start working on my test servers. I have two older computers in my office that I use as my test servers. They are not the best computers, but they get the job done. Anyway, I have to start out by putting a fresh install of Windows Server 2003 on, then loading SQL Server 2000 on. Then I have to get a current version of GP 7.5 running, and then migrate our data into that version. This is where I plan on cheating if I can. I am going to ghost the server at that point so I can just restore the ghost image if I fuck anything up. In the long run it will save me lots of time.
Once I get a stable GP 7.5 image with current data on it, thats when the fun starts. Then I get to try and install 9.0 and just wait for it to fuck up, so I can start all over again. LOL. I did this before when I was going to upgrade to GP 8.0, but never did. 8.0 went half way well, but we shall see if 9.0 is the same way. I do really hope it is, as that would be nice and make my life really nice.
Anyway, I got to run to CompUSA now and buy some stuff for the upgrade, then lunch, and then off to starbucks or the like and do lots of reading. O joy.
The date is the weekend of November 10 to November 12. Yes I know that is 3 days, and that is how long it takes to do this upgrade (provided everything goes according to plan). I will start by kicking everyone out of the system at noon on Friday to start the backup's and migrate the most current data to the backup server. My backups have to be on 3 different media, DDS-4 Tape, DVD, and on the physical disk (want to talk about being just a little paranoid?).
So if you want to know why I am so freaking paranoid about all of this, well its simple. Great Plains / Dynamics is the company. With out it, we don't work. Everything is controled by this software (Payroll, Billing, Dispacting, ect) and I joke that part of my job is to take a bullet for the server. So I protect the data that same way. Plus, if this thing just happens to go belly up in the middle of an install then I have to rebuild (which I have done before).
So right now I have about 200+ pages of stuff to read just to get ready, and then I start working on my test servers. I have two older computers in my office that I use as my test servers. They are not the best computers, but they get the job done. Anyway, I have to start out by putting a fresh install of Windows Server 2003 on, then loading SQL Server 2000 on. Then I have to get a current version of GP 7.5 running, and then migrate our data into that version. This is where I plan on cheating if I can. I am going to ghost the server at that point so I can just restore the ghost image if I fuck anything up. In the long run it will save me lots of time.
Once I get a stable GP 7.5 image with current data on it, thats when the fun starts. Then I get to try and install 9.0 and just wait for it to fuck up, so I can start all over again. LOL. I did this before when I was going to upgrade to GP 8.0, but never did. 8.0 went half way well, but we shall see if 9.0 is the same way. I do really hope it is, as that would be nice and make my life really nice.
Anyway, I got to run to CompUSA now and buy some stuff for the upgrade, then lunch, and then off to starbucks or the like and do lots of reading. O joy.
- Current Location:Work - Albuquerque, NM 87107
- Current Mood:
busy - Current Music:Garbage - Queer :: Matchbox Twenty - Push
Comments
We have used virtual servers for may developement and upgrade efforts. Their ideal for situations where you don't have the real hardware avaliable and performance is not a requirement. Add a few pages to your reading and check them out!
If you want to help get me started (who ever you are), and at least point me in the right direction (like a URL to download the software), then that would help me out a lot.
In other news, if all goes the way Microsoft says it should, then I do not have to worry about blowing crap away anway. I just have to copy back in my database files, and rename a directory (with old software), and I am back in biz with the old version.
But maybe once I get this upgrade over I can talk to my boss about getting something halfway good to be a test server. Right now its an really freaking old Dell Optiplex GX150, that has I think a 1ghz chip inside and I have upgraded a few things on (like HD's and memory).
But ya, long story short, if you could point me in the right direction that would be freaking great!