Active Directory Newbie

Tech-Archive recommends: Fix windows errors by optimizing your registry

From: bonehead (sendmenospam_at_here.net)
Date: 03/14/05 

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 10:36:24 -0800

Greetings,

I was originally going to post this message to
ms.p.w.s.active-directory, but I am an Active Directory novice, and that
group appears to be primarily for experienced users, so I thought I'd
start here.

I am planning to set up a very small test domain. One purpose is to
start to learn something about Active Directory domain administration.
The other purpose is to have a workstation/server environment which I
can use to start learning .NET development.

I recognize that I could probably create a suitable learning environment
solely for *development*, by merely installing IIS, SQL, and Studio.NET
on the workstation, but I would prefer, if possible, to set up a genuine
Active Directory workstation/server combination, so that I have the
opportunity to learn something about AD administration as well.

I've reviewed a few books on Server2K3 (Sams, Wrox, etc.), but before I
promote my server to a Domain Controller, there are still a few
specifics where I'd appreciate some guidance. In particular, I'd be
grateful for comments from anyone who has experience setting up a
similar test environment.

The following details may be relevant and helpful.

I currently have two PCs connected together through a router. One PC is
running Server2K3 and SQL Server2K, and the other is running XP Pro.
Eventually this may grow to include two additional workstations. The
router receives a dynamic IP from my ISP, and is configured to hand out
static IPs to each of the two currently existing machines.

Ideally, I would prefer to have the Server2K3/SQLServer2K machine
running AD and IIS, acting as a domain controller/application
server/database server. Then, I would install Studio.NET on the XP Pro
workstation. As I work my way through various tutorial books, I would be
using the workstation to build applications, and then uploading the
project files to the server for testing.

Here are some areas where I'd like to get more clarification before I
proceed.

1. Regarding the Domain: I don't need accounts that can log onto the
domain from remote locations. There are only going to be, at most, one
server and three workstations in the domain, and they're all going to be
physically located in my office, all linked together through my router,
which is, in turn, linked to my ISP. It seems that it would make sense
to configure this test domain as a "mydomainname.local". Does this sound
reasonable, or are there reasons why I might want to consider some other
root domain, like .org or .net?

2. Regarding DNS: If I'm setting up a single domain with only one Domain
Controller, is DNS required so that the server and workstation(s) can
see each other within the domain? (I recognize I could probably
accomplish what I want by just bypassing AD altogether and creating a
workgroup, but the purpose of learning something about AD administration
would be defeated).

3. Regarding DHCP: Is it necessary/required to have DHCP turned on? If
so, wouldn't this conflict with my router, which is currently configured
to hand out static IPs to both the server and the workstation?

4. Regarding IIS: I seem to recall reading that I should install IIS
before installing AD, but I don't recall the rationale. Suggestions?

5. The XP Pro workstation already has a local user account with a
customized local profile. Once I've created a domain user account, and
added the computer to the domain, I'd like to copy the local profile to
the domain profile so that I see the same desktop, regardless of whether
I log on using the local account or the domain account, at least to
start. Of course I recognize that any subsequent changes made to one
profile will not be reflected in the other, unless I copy it over again
after any changes are made.

But I do seem to recall hearing that there's a pretty easy way to copy a
local profile to a domain account, although I can't remember seeing
documentation on that. Suggestions?

It may turn out that I actually do need to post this to
ms.p.w.s.active-directory, but thanks in advance to anyone who provides
useful responses here.

Relevant Pages