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New Setup Reccomendations...

By MMerchant ·
Hello all, I am setting up a new system yay! So I thought I'd ask people here for some feedback/suggestions.

I would like to have Terminal Services, VPN, Application, and of course Active Directory avialable. Now for these tasks I have decided on two seperate servers. My question to you all is how should I group them?

Server 1
Terminal Server
Application Server

Server 2
Active Directory
VPN

that's what I was thinking, more over because Server 1 is a Duel Processor server.

The reason why I am setting this up is for two reasons, just so I can experiment and learn from pratcial experience.

Currently I have just one server that has Application Server, Terminal Server, and Active Directory all together. However I botched it up pretty bad and now no new comps can join my domain (Network path can not be found), so this time around since I've built a new system (duel processor) I can hopefully make it properly and not have to worry about it too much except for the updates, and such.

By the way, if it's clear yet I am using Windows Server 2003.

I appreciate you taking the time to read and hopefully answer my question.

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by MMerchant In reply to New Setup Reccomendations ...

BTW the reason why I am assigning a higher point value is because I would like an indepth answer as opposed to rephrasing my question. =)

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by drsysadmin In reply to New Setup Reccomendations ...

OK... Make your dual CPU box your PDC, with Active Directory and Terminal Server on it. Set up Server #2 as a BDC with the VPN and Application Server on it. Or you can move the VPN to the Terminal Server. Either way. (VPN's usually do not take alot of horsepower in relation to other things) Active Directory will be on both machines, BUT it will be replicating from the PDC to the BDC. Keeping the single CPU Server#2 from bogging down.

Splitting the Terminal Server and Application Server will give you the best performance. Having failover DC ability keeps redundency in place without taking a hit on other processes running. Remember, a BDC only responds when a PDC doesn't.

Lastly, look at other options to do the things you need accomplished. Terminal Server for example. Is this needed, or can other, existing and present tools work? For example - alot of Terminal Services can be dispensed with if you use the virtual desktop (remote desktop) feature in XP.

Always examine the tools you have and how best to use them. That keeps performance high and headaches low.

Luck.
Dr. Sys

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by TechKid In reply to New Setup Reccomendations ...

Number one, there is no such thing as a BDC in Active Directory.

Number two, it's never a good idea to put a server that has active directory installed directly on the internet.

Number three, since this is a test server, the whole purpose is to screw it up so you can learn. So forget about redundacy and expect to reinstall as many times as it takes you to learn what you want to learn.

So, set this up as you would in the corporate environment. Your VPN server (single cpu) is out front on the internet with nothing else running on it. Join it to the domain but do not make it a DC. This server will authenticate remote users but will not expose your AD infrastructure. If the people can't provide authentication they get denied access to your internal network.

Install everything else on your dual box.

For testing purposes, I highly recommend Virtual PC or VMware. Makes testing SO much easier!

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