Install and Configure Windows 2003 DNS March 26th, 2010
| Domain Name System (DNS) is one of the most important technologies that a windows domain network is built on. A properly configured DNS infrastructure can allow a user to perform all daily tasks completely independent of the size and nature of the network, and allow an admin to concentrate on more important matters other than the numerous help desk calls that will appear as soon as www.hotmail.com becomes an unknown host.
The subject of DNS is vast, there are so many different configurations, techniques and possible domain structures that there is no one definitive method that would fit all. In my opinion, the 2 things to remember when configuring DNS are: redundancy and hierarchy. It is a good idea to draw your network and plan for where there will be heavy network use especially if you have many remote sites, a separate DNS server at each site is preferable but not always cost efficient, to keep things simple an “Active Directory Integrated” DNS zone on every Domain Controller is the easiest way implement DNS. |
I will cover 3 different DNS configurations:
1 – The efficient and secure “Active Directory Integrated” DNS
2 – The standalone Primary DNS Infrastructure and
3 – The network efficient Caching-Only DNS Infrastructure
i will also give an explanation of other useful DNS Information
The Active Directory Integrated Zone Read the rest of this entry »
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Install and Configure Windows 2003 DHCP March 26th, 2010
The following tutorials run consecutively:
- Install DHCP Components
- Configure the First Scope
- Create DHCP Reservation
- DHCP Server Options
- The DHCP Process
- Troubleshooting DHCP
- DHCP Subnetting
- DHCP Supernetting
Open the Windows Components section of Add/Remove programs: Read the rest of this entry »
Install and Configure Windows 2003 Active Directory March 26th, 2010
Active Directory Requirements:
- An NTFS partition with approximately 2Gb free Space
- An Administrator’s username and password and separate Directory Services Restore Mode Password.
- Properly configured TCP/IP network connection, with IP Address , Subnet mask and Default Gateway.
- An operational DNS server (which can be installed on the DC itself)
- A Domain name
Installing Active Directory on the first Domain Controller:
Start the install from the “Configure Your Server” wizard or by typing DCPromo from the Run prompt: Read the rest of this entry »
RIS is Microsoft’s version of 3rd party imaging software such as Symantec’s Ghost. RIS uses various technologies, such as PXE and DHCP to install clean installations, (not upgrade), of several operation systems. The PXE protocol is a combination of DHCP and TFTP, where DHCP is used to locate a boot server or servers, with TFTP used to download the initial bootstrap program and additional files. The bootstrap program can then begin the OS installation.
The process of installing and configuring RIS is described below:
- Step 1 – Install the Remote Installation Service
- Step 2 – Further Configuration for Extended Use
- Step 3 – Using Symantec Ghost with RIS
- Step 4 – Troubleshooting RIS
- Create an Unattended Install Answer File
- Create a Ghost Image Bootable DVD
Step 1 – Install the Remote Installation Service Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in MCSE, Networking, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Installing IIS on Windows XP Pro July 2nd, 2009
If you are running Windows XP Professional on your computer you can install Microsoft’s web server, Internet Information Server 5.1 (IIS) for free from the Windows XP Pro installation CD and configure it to run on your system by following the instructions below: -
1. Place the Windows XP Professional CD-Rom into your CD-Rom Drive.
2. Open ‘Add/Remove Windows Components’ found in ‘Add/Remove Programs’ in the ‘Control Panel’.
3. Place a tick in the check box for ‘Internet Information Services (IIS)’ leaving all the default installation settings intact.
4. Once IIS is installed on your machine you can view your home page in a web browser by typing ‘http://localhost’ (you can substitute ‘localhost’ for the name of your computer) into the address bar of your web browser. If you have not placed your web site into the default directory you should now be looking at the IIS documentation.
5. If you are not sure of the name of your computer right-click on the ‘My Computer’ icon on your desktop, select ‘Properties’ from the shortcut menu, and click on the ‘Computer Name’ tab.
6. Your default web directory to place your web site in is ‘C:\Inetpub\wwwroot’, but if you don’t want to over write the IIS documentation found in this directory you can set up your own virtual directory through the ‘Internet Information Services’ console.
7. The ‘Internet Information Services’ console can be found in the ‘Administration Tools’ in the ‘Control Panel’ under ‘Performance and Maintenance’, if you do not have the control panel in Classic View.

8. Double-click on the ‘Internet Information Services’ icon.
8. Once the ‘Internet Information Services’ console is open you will see any IIS web services you have running on your machine including the SMTP server and FTP server, if you chose to install them with IIS.
9. To add a new virtual directory right click on ‘Default Web Site’ and select ‘New’, followed by ‘Virtual Directory’, from the drop down list.

7. Next you will see the ‘Virtual Directory Creation Wizard’ from the first screen click the ‘next’ button.
9. You will then be asked to type in an ‘Alias’ by which you will access the virtual directory from your web browser (this is the name you will type into your web browser after ‘localhost’ to view any web pages you place in the directory).
10. Next you will see a ‘Browse…’ button, click on this to select the directory your web site pages are in on your computer, after which click on the ‘next’ button to continue.
11. On the final part of the wizard you will see a series of boxes, if you are not worried about security then select them all, if you are and want to run ASP scripts then check the first two, followed by the ‘next’ button.
12. Once the virtual directory is created you can view the web pages in the folder by typing ‘http://localhost/aliasName’ (where ‘aliasName’ is, place the alias you called the virtual directory) into the address bar of your web browser (you can substitute ‘localhost’ for the name of your computer if you wish).

