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Active Directory setup….

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I am in the process of migrating our current NT4.0 domain to Win2k. I have heard so much with respect to Active Directory being the key issue when migrating.

I have installed Win2k DC in a test environment with Active Directory. Seemed pretty easy, the wizard setup everything. Am I missing something, or is the issue of Active Directory being difficult only with respect to large companies? Anyone think that setting up a new domain went easy?

We are a small company with 20 desktops, and end-users. I am not only moving to Win2k but starting a new domain as well.

Just concerned that since I heard Active Directory was so difficult to plan for. That installing a new Win2K DC with Active Directory in the test environment went too smooth because I am not grasping the Active Directory concept or something…

Topic

AD

In reply to Active Directory setup….

Active Directory can be as complex as you make it!
In regards to creating domains, OUs, GPOs. If you are installing a new domain with that small amount of client PCs I imagine it will go fairly smoothly.
I am about to roll out an AD upgrade myselfand while my company is fairly small, 2 domains, 15 servers, 250 client PCs. I did do a fair amount of design and planning.
Take a look on Technet at the migration cook book, while a majority of it will not be pertinent, it will be good to get a grasp of the upgrade procedure.
Good luck with the upgrade!

Migration to AD

In reply to Active Directory setup….

AD CAN be difficult to plan for if you have a complex environment.

If you look at the migration scenarios in the majority of reference material available on AD, they usually involve multiple domains at multiple locations, large numbers of servers providing various services, large numbers of users, and complex security and management requirements.

I have yet to see any reference material (online or printed) that goes throug the things you really need to worry about in a small-scale migration such as yours.

The truth is that a single-forest, single-domain AD migration usually IS very easy to accomplish. At this level, usually the only way to get into trouble is if you don’t understand the proper process for migrating NT4 to Win2Kand AD (there are rules that have to be followed).

As long as you’ve done enough homework (and planning) to understand the migration concept and proper migration process and requirements, very rarely will you run into a problem.

One thing I have run into that causes confusion or catches administrators unaware is the subject of domain names and their effect on migration (and migration’s effect on the domain names).

In an AD domain, you effectively have 2 domain names: the AD domain name and the NetBIOS domain name. NetBIOS domain names are shown in the domain list on the log-on screen. NetBIOS domain names are shown in Network Neighborhood. The NetBIOS domain name must be used to join a pre-Win2K client (specifically WinNT) toan AD domain. Here’s the catch – these two names may or may not have any relation to each other depending on your situation.

When creating a “virgin” AD domain, the NetBIOS domain name defaults to the portion of the AD domain name in front of the TLD extension (.com, .org, etc.). It can be changed to whatever you want (but only at the time you create the AD domain name).
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Migration to AD (part II)

In reply to Migration to AD

When migrating from NT4 to Win2K, the NetBIOS domain name defaults to the previous NT domain name and CAN’T be changed. This might have ramifications if your company is undergoing a name change or cause user confusion if you are just wanting to change domain names.

The bottom line here is that in a simple domain environment, the planning process is more an education process on the proper procedures and any ramifications, rather than the network architecture design process that may be necessary in a larger organization.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Active Directory and DNS

In reply to Migration to AD (part II)

The main thing to remember is that Active Directory needs DNS to be set up correctly, even on a test LAN with no outside lines to the internet. The problem with that is when you first install DNS, it automatically thinks it is a root DNS server andthat can prevent Active Directory from working anywhere else except on the server. You will need to delete from DNS the entire “.” that accompanies your doname name. And be sure to set the workstations with the IP address of the DNS machine

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