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Product: Codename "Whistler" Server and Advanced Server Beta 2
Company: Microsoft
Website: http://www.microsoft.com/
Estimated Street Price: N/A
Review By: Stewart Saathoff

Installation of Active Directory

Table Of Contents
1: Introduction
2: Installation (Remote Installation Services)
3: Configuring DNS
4: Configuring Your Server
5: Installation of Active        Directory
6: Setting Up and Configuring IIS 5.1 (or 6.0)
7: Microsoft SharePoint
8: Administrative Enhancements
9: Terminal Services
10: Conclusion

Active Directory is an extremely complex database that is vital for Whistler in the Enterprise.  Active Directory stores all of your user account information, as well as your DNS records, Group Policy objects, Security certificates, and Computer account information.  You can also create COM+ applications that query Active Directory and change information inside of it using a GUI interface.

 

Active Directory is installed using either the Configure Your Server Wizard as described earlier, or you can run dcpromo from a command line or from the run command.  The options are all the same as in Windows 2000 as far as creating forests, trees, new domains, or child domains. There is one page that is different though.  Whistler will actually do a diagnostic check for DNS to ensure that you have a DNS server and it is configured to allow Active Directory access to it.  If your server can access a properly configured DNS server, then it will still show this pane, but it will notify you that DNS is installed correctly.  If your server is not connected to a properly configured DNS server, you will see the window below.

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If you know that you have a DNS server on your network and it supports SRV records and dynamic updates, then check your server’s DNS configuration through the server’s TCP/IP properties.  If you find your problem there, correct it and select the option to perform the DNS diagnostic test again.  If you do not have a DNS server that supports Active Directory on your network, select either the option to Install and configure DNS on this computer, or just try and let the promotion continue.  After DNS has been verified, finish the installation and allow the server to reboot.  You now have Active Directory installed.  If at some later date you decide that you want to remove Active Directory from that server, simply run dcpromo again and select the option to remove Active Directory.

 

 

 « Configuring Your Server Setting Up and Configuring IIS 5.1 (or 6.0) »

 

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