Final year of my Foundation Degree

[Little-Miss]

Hey guys, so...i've somehow made it into the final year of my FD in IT and Support.

 

When i saw the names of the modules i got really excited as i've learnt that networking isn't my thing at all and the first 2 years really focused on it. This year was about setting up servers and administering them. 'Woo hoo!' I thought as i've certainly administered servers (all self taught) but never set one up from scratch so thought some guidance would be great. Unfortunately, being year 3, it is pretty much an 'over to you' type affair, so i'm on my own.

 

This module is all about creating a training type manual for a team of IT Technicians.

 

So first off, i need to get a 2008 server up and running. (Can i point out, when i say server, its a not exactly server hardware, just a bog standard PC box)

 

I need to install AD, DHCP, DNS and Exchange having them chugging along happily and demonstrate that *gulp*.

 

So is there a best practise for setting up a server? Is there an order to installing roles etc? Everything needs rationale too..

 

I've had a google, but none seem to be 'THIS is how it should be done'.

 

any help, links to good documents would be very much gratefully recieved.

[bushby]

Hiya,

 

first off setting up the server is a doddle 2k8 is an identical install to windows 7 it just looks diffrent in the end.

now the ad, dhcp and dns. i still have not done yet ( i realy need to so i know the workings of it)

exchange is another whole bag of worms but that is simple as microsoft are very helpfull for us lazy people as there are power shell scripts that will set up all the roles and features required for the exchange ill pm you a link for exchange. on setting up as it can look a bit daunting.

 

bushby

[witch]

There are a couple of links in this thread that might be useful?

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows-server-2008-r2/111038-newbie-server-2008-build.html

[DSapseid]

DHCP and DNS then AD, i think you have to do it in that order otherwise it moans at you! The wizards for installing these 3 are pretty straight forward and you cant really go wrong with them.

[john]

Assume the bog-standard PC has a bit of grunt behind it given all that your asking or you are running Virtualisation on it to spit it into a few machines?

[Little-Miss]

Thanks guys, when shortly after i posted this i had a bit of a drama so havent got back till now.

 

Assume the bog-standard PC has a bit of grunt behind it given all that your asking or you are running Virtualisation on it to spit it into a few machines?

 

Nope. Couple of gig etc. I think they appreciate the fact that we shouldnt be lumping all these roles onto one server but for the course they're just gonna let it happen.

[Oaktech]

DHCP and DNS then AD, i think you have to do it in that order otherwise it moans at you! The wizards for installing these 3 are pretty straight forward and you cant really go wrong with them.

 

We've just done this...

 

DNS, AD then DHCP. otherwise there has to be jiggery pokeryto get it to authorize.

 

This may also help Windows Server 2008 Foundation Network Guide

Edited October 1, 2013 by Oaktech

[Little-Miss]

Well, thanks everyone for the help with this. In the end i followed the Foundation Network Guide mentioned above and it all seemed to go well, AD, DNS and DHPC seem to be setup. i managed to get one client attached too! Woo hoo! haha!

 

We also need to choose a role to install. The choices are:

Windows Server Update Services

Windows Deployment Services

Streaming media server

Web Server (IIS)

Remote Desktop Services

Print and Document Services

Network Policy and Access Services

File Services

 

As you can see, some of these are just clicking through a wizard. It needs to be a beefy role, otherwise we have to choose 2. It also has to be something we'd consider implementing at work. I was looking at Remote Desktop Services as i've have been looking at technologies to allow remote access from home. Lecture still didn't think it was a beefy role! I asked if i could add HAP+ but it has to be a MS Technology. Has anyone setup RDS successfully and got it doing quite a bit of work?

 

The other biggy is WDS, but i think my friend/fellow student is doing that and i don't want to be seen as copying her.

[glennda]

Try and setup Network and access protection - You can enable PPTP VPN via this and will also give you a heads up as to how Radius works which I beleive you had an issue with last week for your wireless did you not?

 

RDS can be fairly straight forward but also it can be very complex.

 

Streaming Media Services is a pita - so avoid.

 

The only other thing you could do is IIS and Sharepoint installation?

[Linfit]

Out of those I would go with WSUS - its not that complex to install, easy to test and a useful thing to be able to implement.

[Oaktech]

I've found printer services to be really easy to set up, wsus has also gone on without any difficulty. WDS has been a pain. streaming media has been pretty easy, but not very usefull. I personally hate IIS with a passion, I find it nonsensical.

[Little-Miss]

RDS is just TS renamed isnt it?

 

Was just looking at TS/RDS Gateway...that needs IIS and NAP...but it does look very complex.

 

I need something to demonstrate and say "ok, here it is on the server, and here it is working"...

[glennda]

RDS is just TS renamed isnt it?

 

Was just looking at TS/RDS Gateway...that needs IIS and NAP...but it does look very complex.

 

I need something to demonstrate and say "ok, here it is on the server, and here it is working"...

 

Yes - but it is modified and can provide a certain amount of load balancing.

 

It does require IIS - but it configures most of it for you - Along with parts of the NPS element.