Server 2008 Help!

[NoCodeMonkey]

Ok so in my class we just installed microsoft server 2008 for the first lab which was easy, The second lab I managed to do but I dont fully understad it, so if you can tell me in a easy way it would be good.

So in the second lab we did Server Promotion to a Domain Controller, what are both of those?, do i need it? and what does it do?

Second im not sure but does Server Promotion to a Domain Controller also set up your server as a DNS and if so do i need to do that? and if i dont add it what can be the draw back of not having it?

[JorgeM]

When you promote the first server to the role of domain controller, what you are doing is creating an instance of an Active Directory (AD) Forest with the first Domain. AD centralizes and secures the management of your domain objects such as users, computers, groups, etc.

On a network greater than 10 computers, AD generally makes it easier to manage because without an AD domain, your accounts are stored locally on your computers, providing no centralized management.

On the first DCPROMO, you can set up DNS but you can also set it up seperately.

I am sure you have a lot of questions, as this is a broad topic. I'll be more than happy to continue the discussion.

[NoCodeMonkey]

ok thank you, so what do u mean you can set up DNS but you can also set it up seperately, and do u need DNS?

[JorgeM]

Yes, you can establish DNS first or during the promotion. DNS is required for AD to function. You generally use Windows DNS, but other flavore of DNS such as BIND is supported as well. Most AD implementations will do with Windows DNS.

[NoCodeMonkey]

With DNS enables on the server will u for example be able to ping a computer in your domain by its name instead of the ip address?

[JorgeM]

yes, one of the main purposes of DNS is to resolve HOST names to IP addresses. Not only manual processes such as PING depend on DNS, but applications and services as well. In a domain environment computers, services, apps, users, etc.. will leverage DNS to find resources by name rather than by IP.

For example, when you boot a computer that is a member of the domain, the computer will query DNS to find a domain controller in its domain. So when you log in, your computer already knows where to send the login information to.

When you open a browser and type in a URL, your browser starts the process of getting that name resolved to an IP.

so, on and so forth..

[NoCodeMonkey]

ok thanks! if i have anymore questions on server 2008 ill post them here

[NoCodeMonkey]

When I do a server promotion to a domain controller that will allow me to log into any computer in that domain through the server computer right?

[JorgeM]

Yes. When you bring up the logon prompt on a computer that is member of the domain, you can log into the domain by using your domain credentials. These credentials can be used on any computer that is a member of the domain.

As you can imagine, this is one of the main benefits of setting up a domain. If you had a network of 10,000 computers, which really isnt too large... without some type of domain or repository to store accounts in a central manner, you would have to maintain the accounts on each computer separately. It becomes very difficult and inefficient to maintain after about a dozen computers on the network without a domain model.