Windows Server 2003 Network Administration

1
Chapter 1

• Windows Server 2003 Network Administration

2
Objectives

• List the various tasks of a Windows Server 2003
  Network administrator
• Understand general troubleshooting techniques
• Ease network management with the help of various
  Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools
• Explain Windows Server 2003 Active Directory
  concepts

3
Network Administration Overview

• Some of the tasks of a Windows Server 2003
  Network administrator
• Installing and maintaining the operating system
• Administering Active Directory
• Administering file and print resources
• Administering Internet resources
• Administering the network infrastructure
• Monitoring and troubleshooting Windows Server
  2003
• Administering Routing and Remote Access Services
  (RRAS)

4
Installing and Maintaining the Operating System

• Tasks related to the operating system
• Install the client workstation operating systems
• Install and configure the server environment
• Troubleshoot and resolve installation problems
• Install and manage the required service packs and
  hot fixes

5
Administering Active Directory

• Involves
• Creating and modifying user objects
• Creating and modifying computer objects
• Creating and modifying group objects
• Managing Active Directory container and object
  permissions
• Creating and troubleshooting Group Policy objects
• Group Policy a Windows Server 2003 feature that
  enables you to create policies that affect domain
  users and computers

6
Administering File and Print Resources

• Tasks included in administering file and print
  resources
• Troubleshooting user access to files and printers
• Planning and maintaining the most efficient and
  secure way for users to work with file and print
  resources

7
Administering Internet Resources

• Internet administration
• Needed because of B2B and B2C online commerce
  opportunities
• Requires mastery of the configuration options
  within the Windows Server 2003 IIS, including
• Providing secure access to Internet-accessible
  resources
• Troubleshooting client connectivity problems

8
Administering the Network Infrastructure

• Administering the network infrastructure requires
  maintaining and troubleshooting network services,
  protocols, and hardware
• TCP/IP protocol
• Used by Windows Server 2003 for network
  communications throughout the infrastructure and
  the Internet
• Domain Name System (DNS) service
• Provides name resolution and network service
  location capabilities

9
Administering the Network Infrastructure
(Continued)

• Routers
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
  servers
• WINS servers

10
Monitoring and Troubleshooting Windows Server 2003

• Maintenance
• Monitoring server health
• Monitoring system performance
• Maintenance tools
• System Monitor
• Event Viewer
• Troubleshooting tools
• Recovery Console
• Safe Mode

11
Administering Routing and Remote Access Services

• Windows Server 2003 Routing and Remote Access
  Services (RRAS)
• Access to the company network using dial-up
  modems
• Virtual private networking (VPN)
• Internet connection sharing (ICS)
• Network address translation (NAT)
• A basic firewall
• Remote Desktop for Administration
• Enables administrators to network servers remotely

12
Network Administration Procedures

• Possible reasons for network problems
• Hardware failures
• Security or virus attacks
• File corruption

13
Network Troubleshooting Process

• A systematic approach to troubleshooting helps
• Define the exact problem
• Quickly solve the problem
• Steps of a successful troubleshooting process
• Define the problem
• Gather detailed information about what has
  changed
• Devise a plan to solve the problem
• Implement the plan and observe the results
• Document all changes and results

14
Windows Server 2003 Management Tools

• Features and utilities that assist in daily
  management tasks
• The Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
• The secondary logon feature
• The Task Scheduler
• The netdiag command
• The Shutdown Event Tracker
• Logs each time a server is shut down or restarted

15
Windows Server 2003 Management Tools (Continued)

• The Microsoft Management Console
• A customizable management framework that can host
  a number of management tools
• Saved as a Management Saved Console (MSC) file
  with the .msc extension
• Snap-ins
• Management tools that are added to the MMC
• Can be obtained from Microsoft or third-party
  companies

16
An Empty MMC
17
Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box
18
Customized MMC
19
Windows Server 2003 Management Tools (Continued)

• Taskpad view
• Simplifies administrative procedures
• Provides a graphical representation of the tasks
  that can be performed in an MMC

20
Taskpad view of the Services snap-in
21
The Secondary Logon Feature

• Network administrators should keep two accounts
• One for network management
• One for nonadministrative tasks
• The secondary logon feature allows the
  administrator to
• Log on with the regular user account, then
• Open administrative tools as an administrator
• Administrator account
• A command prompt can be used to start applications

22
Run As dialog box
23
Additional Administrator Utilities

• Several additional utilities are available with
  Windows Server 2003 or the Windows Server 2003
  Resource Kit
• Examples
• Windows Server 2003 Task Scheduler
• netdiag
• net command

24
Introduction to Windows Server 2003 Active
Directory

• Active Directory
• A directory service database
• Services and features
• Central point for storing, organizing, managing,
  and controlling network objects
• Single point of administration of objects and
  Active Directory-published resources
• Logon and authentication services for users
• Delegation of administration

25
Introduction to Windows Server 2003 Active
Directory

• The Active Directory database
• Can be stored on any Windows Server 2003 server
  promoted to domain controller
• Multi-master replication
• Each domain controller throughout the network has
  a writeable copy of directory database
• Provides a form of fault-tolerance
• Active Directory
• Uses DNS to
• Maintain domain-naming structures
• Locate network resources

26
Active Directory Objects

• An object
• Represents network resources, such as
• Users
• Groups
• Computers
• Printers
• Possesses attributes that provide information
  about the object
• Active Directory stores a variety of objects
  within the database

27
The Active Directory Schema

• Active Directory schema
• Defines objects and attributes for entire Active
  Directory structure
• Consists of two main definitions
• Object classes
• Attributes
• Stored in the Active Directory database
• Replicated among all domain controllers within
  the network

28
Active Directory Components

• Logical components of the Active Directory
• Provide a way to design and administer the
  hierarchical, logical structure of the network
• Include
• Domains and organizational units
• Trees and forests
• A global catalog

29
Active Directory Components (Continued)

• Windows Server 2003 domain
• Logically structured organization of objects that
• Are part of a network, and
• Share a common directory database
• Each domain
• Has a unique name
• Is organized in levels
• Is administered as a unit with common rules and
  procedures
• Is defined by an IP address on the Internet

30
Active Directory Components (Continued)

• Domains provide the ability to
• Configure unique security settings
• Decentralize administration
• Control replication traffic
• An organizational unit (OU)
• A logical container used to organize objects
  within a single domain

31
Active Directory Components (Continued)

• Benefits of using OUs
• Easier to locate and manage the Active Directory
  objects
• Define more advanced features by applying Group
  Policy to an OU
• Delegate administrative control over OUs

32
An Active Directory Domain and OU structure
33
Active Directory Components (Continued)

• Trees and forests
• Forest root domain
• First Active Directory domain created in an
  organization
• Tree
• Hierarchical collection of domains that share a
  contiguous DNS namespace

34
Active Directory Components (Continued)

• Whenever a child domain is created, a two-way,
  transitive trust relationship is automatically
  created between the child and parent domains
• Transitive trust
• All other trusted domains implicitly trust one
  another

35
The Dovercorp.net domain tree
36
Active Directory Components (Continued)

• Forest
• Collection of trees that do not share a
  contiguous DNS naming structure
• The trees in a forest share a single Active
  Directory schema
• Enterprise Admins
• Special user group
• Allows members to manage objects throughout the
  entire forest

37
Example of an Active Directory forest
38
Active Directory Components (Continued)

• Global catalog
• Index and partial replica of the objects and
  attributes most frequently used throughout the
  entire Active Directory structure
• Replicated to any server within the forest that
  is configured to be a global catalog server
• The first domain controller in Active Directory
  automatically becomes a global catalog server
• Additional domain controllers can also be
  configured to be global catalog servers

39
Active Directory Communication Standards

• DNS naming standard
• Used by Active Directory for
• IP name resolution
• Providing information on the location of network
  services and resources
• Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
• Used to query or update the Active Directory
  database directly

40
Active Directory Communication Standards
(Continued)

• LDAP naming paths
• Used when referring to objects stored within the
  Active Directory
• Main components
• Distinguished name
• Relative distinguished name

41
Active Directory Physical Structure

• Relates to the actual connectivity of the
  physical network
• Aims regarding replication
• Make sure that any modification to the Active
  Directory database is replicated as quickly as
  possible between domain controllers
• Make sure that replication does not saturate the
  available network bandwidth

42
Active Directory Physical Structure (Continued)

• Sites and site links can be configured to control
• Active Directory replication traffic
• Network logon traffic
• Active Directory site
• Combination of one or more Internet Protocol (IP)
  subnets connected by a high-speed connection

43
Active Directory Physical Structure (Continued)

• A site link
• A configurable object that represents a
  low-bandwidth or unreliable/occasional connection
  between sites
• Can be adjusted for
• Replication availability
• Bandwidth costs
• Replication frequency

44
The site structure of Dovercorp.net
45
Summary

• Tasks of a network administrator include
• Software installation
• Active Directory (AD) administration
• File and print administration
• Internet and remote access administration
• Network performance monitoring
• Troubleshooting
• Network administrator needs to follow a
  systematic approach to troubleshooting network
  problems

46
Summary (Continued)

• Some tools that a network administrator can use
  to help with routine network management include
• The Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
• The secondary logon service
• Command-line utilities, such as netdiag.exe and
  the net command
• Active Directory is a directory service database
  provided with Windows Server 2003 Operating
  Systems

47
Summary (Continued)

• Logical components of an Active Directory
  structure
• Domains and organizational units
• Trees and forests
• Global catalog
• Active Directory uses the DNS naming standard for
• IP name resolution
• Providing information on the location of network
  services
• Active Directory replication traffic and network
  logon traffic can be controlled by configuring
  sites and site links