Re: AD between sites, but no local DC

In news:4C99E385-B426-4A3A-96A8-FF5A216D68BF@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Rossi <Rossi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> stated, which I commented on below:
> Hi all,
>
> We have 5 branch offices and 1 main office.
> The main office has a AD running just fine.
>
> My question is, is it possible to connect users from the branch
> offices to the main office without running a local DC at each office ?
>
> We can run simple PPTP router to router to vpn the networks, but
> doesn't AD require some sort of broadcast ?
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks !

Yes you can do that, but it depends on how many users are at each location.
Not knowing anything about your network, what I can say is if there are more
than 10 at each location (a nominal figure), it's recommended to place a DC
and enable those DCs as GCs at that location and setup Sites for each
location in AD to control logon traffic to only go to their respective DCs,
as well as controlling replication traffic between the DCs.

Download details Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Branch Office Guide:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9353A4F6-A8A8-40BB-9FA7-3A95C9540112&displaylang=en

As far as broadcasts, no, AD does not use broadcasts, (I'm assuming you mean
NetBIOS broadcasts), not like NT4. However, other functionality uses
broadcasts that will not go across a router (VPNs are WAN links thru your
routers), such as Network Neighborhood or My Network Places, whatever you
like to call it. If you have Exchange running (any version), that requires
NetBIOS resolution as well.

In any case, anytime we setup interconnected sites, we usually use WINS to
provide this inter-subnet NetBIOS name resolution to insure services that
require NetBIOS resolution to work.

--
Ace

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
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Ace Fekay, MCSE 2003 & 2000, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSE+I, MCT, MVP
Microsoft MVP - Windows Server Directory Services
Microsoft Certified Trainer
Assimilation Imminent. Resistance is Futile.
Infinite Diversities in Infinite Combinations.
=================================


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