Hi We 2 x domain 2003 server on our network but running out of storage space, instead of getting an extra storage cage with a raid controller card to take SAS HD we decided to get another server with 8 empty HD slots which was about the same price as the external cage, the new 2008 server is basically for storage, we will also move the backup tape and all data across to the new 2008 server. The question is do I need to download grade 2008 server to 2003 so they are all running 2003, also do I need to join it as a domain controller or do I just use it as a local 2008 server, I want to be able to use the AD and set folder permission also so the client map their folders to their home drive. thanks

You should be able to join a 2008 server to the existing domain as a member server thus allowing it to be part of the AD structure. I don't believe you could make it a DC though. I may be wrong on that because as it stands, I have yet to play with 2008 server so can't say for sure one way or the other. If it's just extra storage you need, you may want to look at a SAN or a NAS. This may be a more cost effective long term solution than buying another server. If you buy the right one, you'll have plenty of space for HDD's and will be able to use SAS drives and it will be RAID capable. I do hope your present server's not only have RAID's in them, but are also being backed up properly regularly. Oh, you may want to post 2008 related questions in the 2008 forum on this site.

Curt, you are correct. (Hi again by the way) You can easily join a 2008 server to a 2003 domain. You can not make it a DC unless you do domain prep and extend the schema. That however is beyond the scope of this question. I agree with the NAS and SAN idea but both can be pretty expensive. To answer the question directly - yes you can add it to the domain. No, you probably don't want to make it a DC and you can use AD account to assign permissions to file. 2008 does have some differences so be aware of them. Firewall is on by default for example. 2008 is cool, just a bit different. Good luck with it.

Yes, SAN is very expensive, like 3-4 times as much as a 8 slot server, NAS have been told that I can't set permission in sub-folders but it's cheap using SATA HD. Was told to seperate th DC and the files just incase the DC failes, I have 2 2003 DC and 1 member, so I can make this 2008 a member also. Looks like maybe best to do this rather than extra 13 slot storage cage with raid card on the main DC.