JKsysAdmin

Leaping into the unknown! Hi Guys, after a lot of head scratching and slow progress I just wanted to see if I could get some advice and guidance. I work for a company with About 150 users. There are 2 separate domains/forests in 1 office. Soon to be adding a satellite office within the next month or so. The plan so far is to create 1 new domain/forest that will replace the old ones. However, I have never created a server from scratch before let alone all the bells and whistles that go with it. I have an IT consultancy working on some possible solutions at the moment but just wanted to understand a little more about what's involved ... As far as I'm aware, the following need to be in place after the change; DC with AD DS, DNS, DHCP, file and print services Exchange server SQL server And at the remote site I'm thinking of having an RODC as there will only be about 6 people there, They will need access to emails but will be working on there own set of files and data so no need for DFS or the like. Any suggestions about how I would set this up would be great? *Thinking out loud* *Do I need more than one DC? *Do I need to take into account any special considerations with using Exchange *Do I keep file and print services on a DC (or even together) *Are there any advantages to having a separate domain for the satellite office *Any links to any tutorials? walkthroughs? Cost isn't so much an issue but having a smooth transition between systems is! JK

Hi there, I have an old XLS spreadsheet, the workbook itself is not protected, you can open it up and view the data, but the individual sheets are protected. That means I cant view the formulas. I have stumbled across various software that claims to remove excel passwords but they old seam to apply to protected workbooks NOT sheets. Does anyone know of a way to remove this protection without knowing the password? JK

RDP could potentially be very slow and if either connection suffers any problems then all those at the branch office would be stranded... It would be secure tho, ill give you that. We currently have a 10 meg leased line about 100 users and it quite often gets slow (lunch times / football matches / sports etc...) I don't see how 150 on 8 meg adsl could be possible, unless you have some really stringent internet access policies.

I guess with DFS you can select which shares are replicated between sites? In our main office we have a large ongoing project that generates masses of data but this would not need to be replicated between the sites. There would be about 20 or so people at our main office and the six and the new office working on a variety of smaller projects (producing less data) but now you mention it, all the decent adsl providers have been taken over by the large dictatorships such as talk talk and pipex.. In the main office we have a Cisco asa 5510 so I thought perhaps an asa 5505 would be suitable for the new office. In a permanent site to site VPN is ALL traffic sent through the tunnel or are internet requests sent directly to the WAN ??

We have a 10 meg leased line in the main office, turns out the new office will have 6 users initially, Im not sure if I could use a decent adsl2+ service to begin with.would be nice to pop the exchange into the cloud but Ive a feeling this would be unneeded expense at present. At the moment I think it would be best to use a RODC with DFS

I like the idea of a RODC as i dont want anyone doing much IT stuff at the branch office. DFS sounds like a good idea as it would allow normal routine tape backups here at the main office without asking of anything to be done at the branch office. Would I need to change anything like network masks or things like that ?? :-s

How would it work security wise if we were to have DFS between the 2 site, our main office is physically secured but I am unsure what the building is like at the new location. We currently use Exchange but I thought the emails could only be directed to 1 server (obviously the main office) so how would branch office staff be able to get theirs if the link were down?

Will be expanding the company and will be adding a new office (out of town) with about 20 users. Would I need a server there (eg, backup domain controller or RODC server 20008r2) or will a VPN router suffice? I understand if the connection was down anything hosted at our main (hub) office would be unaccessible. What would I need at the new office to ensure they could still use their company emails ? Cheers Guys.

Hey guys, Might have the chance to start with a clean slate and just wanted some possible suggestions you guys may have. Basically were and engineering company with about 150 users in 1 office hopefully soon adding another satellite office with perhaps 20 users Just wondering what recommendations anyone has regarding servers DC's Exchange servers, virtualisation, virtual applications (save time on updates and fixes..) basically an all rounder solution. Hardware/Software costs isn't too much of an issue just now, just after a reliable solution than can be scaled easily. All suggestions welcome.

Server B has 2007 R2 A has 2003 Cant risk messing anything up with the parent group (abroad) but it is the intention to break the links (just the ones connecting our servers...) So how come Exchange inst recommended on a DC? (I remember my primary school days, 5 inch floppies, seems a joke now...) Thanks for the responses guys.

Wondering if you could give me a few pointers. At present the company have 2 domains. The old one (A) is linked to a company abroad and is not the 'main' DC in the forest, it holds AD DNS Exchange etc etc. The new system (B) Has a Fantastic spec but basically sits on its arse handing out a few files now n then. From what a colleague has told me we cannot create a 2way trust between them without linking B to abroad. Not gonna happen. Basically i want to establish a new Domain, completely independent of any other company/system. My first thoughts were to transfer files from B to A and create appropriate shares, login scripts and the like and switch everyones machines from domain B to A, allowing everyone to carry on as normal (Would it be possible to keep everyones desktop profiles/settings the same even tho they would be switching domains??) This would free up B, which i would like to wipe and do a fresh install of Server2008 R2 (call this C), creating a new AD, Exchange, file/print services etc etc, Once setup, tested and running, transfer the data to C, create shares and the like and switch everyone to the new domain, with new user accounts and passwords. Eventually deleting A.