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2x Windows 2019 Server Essentials servers?

Hi

I'm just speccing a system for about 8 users. It needs to be ultra reliable. I'm aiming for 2 servers (single processor 8-core) each with RAID5, one as the domain server & with shared file storage & the 2nd server for a vertical market SQL application. This app currently runs fine with SQL Express. I'm aiming however to run the SQL on the 2nd server. 

My question:
Can the 2 servers both run Essentials 2019, with server 1 being the domain server & server 2 being the SQL server & a member of the domain?

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• Essentials Experience Role

asked02/22/2019 15:20

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Personally I would be looking at virtualization to accomplish this. One server running vmware and load to virtual machines to run your applications but it sounds like you can get away with one vm if your running SQL Express. Virtualization of your hardware provides so many more options for disaster recovery and hardware upgrades down the road. Make sure you have a good backup solutions like Veeam and store your backups in the cloud. Again this provides you with more options if a disaster hits you.

You can not run two version of Essentials on the same network. Essentials must be at the root of the domain and contain all the FSMO roles. You can add any other server as a member server. (Server 2008 R2, 2012, 2016, and 2019)

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  Hello Nick,

  I am not sure you can do this with the Essentials SKU. Back in the days with 2012/2016 Essentials you can not deploy 2 Essentials servers and have one as a member server because the Essentials SKU must be configured as Domain Controller and they must hold all FSMO roles.

  With 2019 it is confusing. From here Windows Server 2019 Essentials update - Windows Server Blog

  Windows Server 2019 Essentials has the same licensing and technical characteristics as its predecessor, Windows Server 2016 Essentials. If configured as a Domain Controller, Windows Server 2019 Essentials must be the only Domain Controller, must run all Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) roles, and cannot have two-way trusts with other Active Directory domains.

  The second sentence above makes me wonder. 'If configured as a Domain Controller'.... on 2016 you must have the Essentials Server configured as a DC but this sentence makes me believe 2019 does not have this limitation... but but but. I don't know.

  If I read this then you should not be able to do what you want to do. As a matter of fact I would not do what you suggest, I would go for Standard and virtualize the two workloads as Viirtual Machines on the Hyper-V Host. The two VM's will be Windows Server 2019 Standard and one them is the DC and the other one holds the SQL server.

  Hope this helped.

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  answered 02/22/2019 15:32

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  Thanks for your quick reply. I think that I may have found that another Essentials Server could join as a non-domain controller.

  EDIT: I'm thinking perhaps of using Essentials 2016 so that I can use remote desktop.

  I've just found this info: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server-essentials/install/add-windows-server-essentials-as-a-member-server

  _{Adding Windows Server Essentials as a member server}

  _{To add Windows Server Essentials as a member server to a primary server running Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server Essentials in an existing Active Directory environment, you must complete the following steps:}

  1. _{Join the server running Windows Server Essentials to a workgroup.}

  2. _{Join the server running Windows Server Essentials to the domain of a primary Windows Server Essentials server.}

  3. _{Configure the Windows Server Essentials Experience from Server Manager.}

  _{To join Windows Server Essentials to a workgroup or domain}

  1. _{After you complete the installation of Windows Server Essentials on your second server, close the Configure Windows Server Essentials Wizard.}

  2. _{In the Search box, type System Settings, and in the search results, click View advanced system settings.}

  3. _{In System Properties, click the Computer Name tab.}

  4. _{In Computer Name, in the Domain section, click Change.}

  5. _{In Computer Name/Domain Changes, in the Member section, choose if you want to join the server running Windows Server Essentials to a Workgroup or to a Domain.}

     • _{To add the server to a workgroup, type workgroup, and then click OK.}

     • _{To join this server to an existing Active Directory domain, type the name of the domain, and then click OK.}

  6. _{Restart the server to apply the changes.}

     _{After you have joined the server to your primary server ��s domain, you can continue to configure Windows Server Essentials by running the Configure Windows Server Essentials Wizard from Server Manager.}

  

  Pls, read it again. This is NOT for the Windows Server Essentials SKU (25/50 limit) but ONLY for Windows Server Standard + Essentials Experience role

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  replied 02/22/2019 16:53

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  replied 02/22/2019 16:14

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  Agreed, I saw this bit " Applies To: Windows Server 2016 Essentials, Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, Windows Server 2012 Essentials " & got confused.

  It's a confusing situation for me. Would I be better joining the SQL server to the domain running on Windows 10 Pro perhaps?

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  answered 02/22/2019 16:58

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