I have just installed a brand new Win 2003 Server in office A. Branch office B’s network is currently a mess comprised of Win Home Ed. PCs and laptops with no domain server, one device firewall and an Internet link. There is no domain set up for site B.
The plan is to unify management of both offices centrally. A VPN is planned between the two offices.
I would also like to use the two sites as data replication centers for one another to provide some data loss protection. It is also important that I can manage domain account access rights for users in departments with sensitive information on their PCs at both sites A and B.
Question 1: Should I install a second domain server at site B that would sync account credentials with site A’s domain server?
Question 2: Could I get site B’s computers to log onto the domain server at site A across the VPN link to save me the cost of buying an extra server, OS software, and CALs for site B? If the VPN fails for some reason wouldn’t this adversely affect users at site B?
Question 3: What would the Pros and Cons be for having two domain servers as opposed to only one, if any?
Thnx for your input.
Mike