We currently have a 3 node windows 2003 NLB cluster running in Multicast mode, for a IIS web cluster. We want to upgrade to 2012 R2. About 15 sites/IP addresses total.
- Can you run 2012 R2 nodes in the same cluster as 2003 nodes (6 nodes total)? Based on my searches this probably isn't possible.
- Is it a better idea (at least for testing purposes) to just build a separate NLB cluster, with separate nodes and IP addresses then flip connections over via a DNS change?
- We might need to keep some sites on windows 2003 till they are rebuilt, so a separate cluster may be required since its unsupported to run different windows versions in the same NLB cluster for a length of time.
- I want to avoid setting up a mid point windows version such as a 2008/R2 web cluster.
- All the web servers nodes will be connecting to the same database and app servers.
Trying to plan out the best why to migrate and transition from old to new.
Thank you.