Re: Domain Controller, What do I need?

From: Mrpush (Mrpush_at_discussions.microsoft.com)
Date: 03/04/05 

Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2005 09:23:02 -0800

Chris,

Thanks for the reply.

Ok, so runing DC with DHCP and DNS is OK with only my 30-35 users. Great.

I'll have a look at the article on restore to new hardware, thanks. I just
read that its not worth the hassle.

If I were to put a second DC in another branch, does it need to be backed up
separtely or will backing up the PRIMARY DC, keep me safe? (don't they just
mirror each other with info?) I don't want to have to manage backups in 2
branches.

 Also, would putting a DC in another branch sap a lot of my DSL bandwith?
Do they constantly update each other (over my DSL WAN) and use a lot of
bandwith?

You mention RAID in the DC, but with 2 DC's do I really need RAID disks?
Don't the 2 DC's act like a "raid" thenselves? If one DC's drive fails (and
that server crashes), the other keeps the network running, then I just get a
new drive and re-install OS etc, and then re-add the FIXED DC to the network?
 Would this work? Or is there a primary DC and secondary DC issue?

I can see RAID saving a lot of time and not having to spend time re-building
the DC, but I need something to do! =)

LEt me know,

Thanks!

"Chriss3 [MVP]" wrote:

> Hello,
> See answers inline please.
>
> --
> Regards
> Christoffer Andersson
> Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
>
> No email replies please - reply in the newsgroup
> ------------------------------------------------
> http://www.chrisse.se - Active Directory Tips
>
> "Mrpush" <Mrpush@discussions.microsoft.com> skrev i meddelandet
> news:2D99C286-ED68-443C-AB24-83BFF5462073@microsoft.com...
> > Merging from Netware to Microsoft 2003 Server. I need some help making
> > decisions on my network structure. New network to be as follows:
> >
> > General:
> > -Five total offices (4 branches and 1 Corporate) to use centralized SQL
> > database.
> > -Wan connections via DSL-VPN from branches to Corp office.
> > -Terminal server(s) to be used to run sessions of SQL based software
> > package.
> > -About 30-35 total users company wide
> > -SQL Database size about 1.5 to 3 GB.
> > -Exchange server to be added in future to centralize e-mail, share company
> > calendars etc.
> >
> > My data will now be critical. Target Restore is about 4 hours.
> > Availability now becomes very important.
> >
> > I need to determine my server needs and configuration (how many of each).
> >
> > Domain Controller(s): Based on my scenario, # users, do I need to have
> > more
> > that one DC?
> [Christoffer Andersson]:
> I always recommend you to have at least two domain controllers for reduncy
> porpose, you are always up and running with one domain controller.
> Based on the connection speed to your branches it may can be nesscery to
> have local domain controllers there as well, but it dosen't seems like you
> have that amount of users for putting DCs in branches.
>
> >
> > I have read that I should not mix my Domain Controller with ANY other
> > services (DNS, DHCP) or software like SQL etc. However, my number of
> > users
> > is very small (30-35), so is it ok to have one DC with DNS and DHCP roles
> > setup on it?
> [Christoffer Andersson]: It's only a recommendation in enterprises and it
> also the "Best Praticies" but there is no technical issues to running DNS
> and DHCP at Domain Controllers.
> >
> > I have also read that in the event of DC hardware failure that requires a
> > new server, that it is nearly impossible to RESTORE the DC (and active
> > directory) on different hardware. Is this true?
> [Christoffer Andersson]: This is not true, but it's esaierly to perform a
> restore at same hardware.
>
> How to perform a disaster recovery restoration of Active Directory on a
> computer with a different hardware configuration
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263532
>
>
> >
> > If I have only one DC, then basically a DC backup (system state) is
> > useless
> > in this case and I would have to start from scratch, re-add my users,
> > re-create profiles, re-create policies, groups and all the like. My
> > backup
> > would only server to restore user files and data.
> >
> > For availability, I understand that 2 DC's would keep things running in
> > the
> > event of hardware failure in one, but in a fire etc, I would lose BOTH of
> > them anyway. So do I go with 2 DC's and just pray that I never lose both
> > of
> > them in fire or catastrophe?
>
> [Chrstioffer Andersson]
> Yes, or put one of them in your branches :)
> Keep the System Sate backup off building as wel.l
>
> >
> > I need to make the best decision on my number of DC's. Is it better to
> > spend the money and get the second DC or can I RESTORE a failed DC from
> > backup with little difficulty?
> [Chrstioffer Andersson]
> Both is importent, you should have both a system backup and redundancy.
> there are cases when you have to restart your domain controllers, for
> security patching etc. Then its nice to have another on that serves
> requests.
>
> >
> > I know you can ADD a new DC to an existing domain from a restored backup
> > to
> > new hardware. If you can do this, then how can restoring a single DC to
> > new
> > hardware be so difficult?
> >
> > Will a DC based on my users (30-35) run ok on a 733 MHz, 256 MB RAM,
> > single
> > IDE HD box?
> I would add 256MB to that so i have 512MB as well select a RAID
> configuration for my disk drives. IDE, SATA or SCSI dosen't matter here i
> think.
>
>
> >
> > Thanks much,
> >
> > Mark
> >
>
>
>

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