Creating a Windows 2000 network 5

[JCruz063]

Hi All,
I currently have a peer-to-peer network in my workplace with 7 computers. There's no client-server model or anything; the computers just share files and printers and each user sets its own security policy for the files or printers it wants to share with others.

I have a Visual Basic program running on one computer and all other computers access such program through an icon on their desktops that points to the .EXE program in the, let's say, server computer. Please don't think the worse of me, but that server PC is running Windows XP Home Edition. Yes, I know, my network is a mess.

Every day, there comes a time when I won't be able to connect to the server computer and it says "No more connections can be made to //ServerPC because it already has as many connections as it could accept." Less frequently (but often enough to make me upset), I would go to network neighborhood and some of the computers in the network won't be listed. Many times I have to restart more than one computer to get the network working properly again.

Ok, enough humiliation already! What I want to do is setup a true client-server network with the copy of Windows 2000 server that I have. Unfortunately, I don't know how to set it up and what I need is for you guys to point me in the right direction as to what are the steps I would take into getting it done. I would appreciate if you could direct me to some material I could read to quickly get started or if you could just tell me the necessary steps to get the client-server network going (setting user permissions, and all that).

I've tried reading the documentation that comes with Windows 2000 but found it too off the "this-is-how-you-do-it" area. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

JC

Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly...

 

[ChicagoTechNet]

first of all, the XP Home edition limites 5 access sessions.

Setup w2k server is easy. the keys features are DNS, DHCP, AC and security. You may want to post a question at one subject, and we would like to help you.

Robert Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Windows, Network, Internet, VPN, Routing and How to at

http://www.ms-mvps.com

 

[Davetoo]

And don't forget to purchase enough CAL's to cover all the system connecting to your server.

I'm Certifiable, not certified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.

 

[JCruz063]

Thanks for the replies guys!

ChicagoTechNet,

You may want to post a question at one subject, and we would like to help you.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Can you explain? I am aware of the fact that XP Home has a limit of 5 connections, but that's not my problem. What I want to do is setup the client-server network implement DNS, DHCP, AC and security. Thanks in advance!

lander215,
I have XP machines and Microsoft told me that each XP system is licensed (by default) to access Windows 2000 Server and thus I wouldn't need CAL's for them, so I should be OK. Thanks!

JC


Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly...

 

[Davetoo]

Whomever told you that is wrong, sorry. A server CAL is required either on a per seat or per system basis. The only "built-in" licenses included with XP are to access a Windows 2000 Terminal Server.

The simplest method for the IT department is to obtain a CAL for every system in your network.

I'm Certifiable, not certified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.

 

[dkediger]

Are they XP Pro would be licensed, but I doubt the XP Home would have a server CAL - technically, they can't join an AD domain in order to participate in GP.

 

[JCruz063]

lander215,
Thanks for your reply.
I dialed 411 and asked for Microsoft Sales. They gave me an 800 number which I dialed and spoke to a Microsoft Sales representative. I asked what type of licenses I would need to access Windows 2000 Server from XP machines and he clearly said I would need Client Access Licenses for Windows 9x machines only, not for XP ones because the licenses for XP include CALs for Windows 2000 Server.

In any case, I will call them again - maybe they misuderstood what I asked or I misunderstood what they said. I don't have a problem buying the CALs; after all, each CAL is only about 35 dollars anyways and I only need 6 of them.

But then, again, this is not my main issue. My problem is that I don't know how to set up a Windows 2000 network. I wouldn't need any CAL's if my Windows 2000 Server is used as a regular machine which simply participates in the peer-to-peer network I have. I first need to know how to set up the network. Can you please tell me, or direct me to a source where I could find out how it's done?

Thanks in advance!

JC

Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly...

 

[JCruz063]

Anybody?

JC

Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly...

 

[FredWagner]

JC -
Microsoft is real good about having Wizards to show you the way. Just get your Advanced Server install CD, make sure you have the yellow sticker with the license number code, and start installing. Have an idea what you want to call your Domain (keep it short) and what you want to use for an IP address structure, subnet mask, etc. You'll get asked during installation if you want to use DHCP, if you want to be a DNS, use Active Directory, etc. Take a shot at it, see what happens, and then your questions will be more specific. If it doesn't work, you can reformat the drive and start over! Give it a go - you're doing too much worrying and too little doing. You'll learn more by doing!
(I used to work with Titan II ICBMs - we did a LOT of worrying before doing there - did not want suprises. Advanced Server has no toxic fuel, nuclear warheads, high voltages, etc. It won't hurt you if you make a mistake!)
One thing I forgot to add - wisdom from years of servers of many flavors - have separate volumes, if not physical drives, for the Server OS and for the data and applications. That way if an application fills up its volume, the server OS still has room to run, and you're not locked up, you can clear up the disk space problem without having a locked-up OS. And do NOT enable compression on any volume, and do not use the Indexing service on any volume unless you have strong reason to.

Fred Wagner
frwagne@longbeach.gov

 

[JCruz063]

Thanks Fred,

I don't have Advance Server; I just have the regular Server (without the Advance preceeding it), but I guess you're right - I'm doing too much worrying and little doing. My problem is that I don't know what terms like DNS, Active Directory, DHCP, etc, mean and I was hoping some of you would direct me to some time of tutorial or article that would tell me what those terms mean at the same time it shows me how to set them up. I'll try by myself. Thanks again!

JC

Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly...

 

[Davetoo]

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/books/windows/windows2000/it/server.asp

I'm Certifiable, not certified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.

 

[bitsurfer0001]

Jcruz
Well I have gone through microsoft licensing before and it is very confusing. Maybe my post here will clear things up(heck maybe it'll make it muddier) As I understand you have to have 2 sides of the equation for CALs. That is the server side and the client side.
In other words the server has to have enough CAL's to support the clients connecting to it. And each of the clients need a CAL to connect to the server.

So for example to have 5 clients connected to 1 server the server needs 5 CAL's and each client needs the corresponding CAL.
Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but I think that's how it goes.

Bitsurfer0001
-Its a great day to be alive-

BTW as i further understand 2000 server comes with 5 CAL's. On the client side I think as mentioned above only W2k pro and XP pro come with the client side CAL built in.

 

[JCruz063]

Bitsurfer0001,
Thanks for your post!

Licensing is the least of my worries, though. Right now, I'm enhancing my knowledge with regards to the Windows 2000 OS and its networking capabilities. I'm learning about Active Directory, Domains, Organizational Units, DNS, and so on and so forth. It's all very interesting, and I'm using the Windows 2000 SDK itself, which I had underestimated before. I'll probably be setting my network this coming week and then I'll take care of the licensing business. Thanks again!

JC

Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly...

 

[Zelandakh]

JC,
Server is right for you, Advanced Server is WRONG FOR YOU. Check the server box. It may say "includes 5 CALs". Great. You only need 1 more (but get 5, management have a habit of getting more staff as soon as you get legal).

Stick the CD in. Create a partition for C at 8000MB. Format as NTFS. Leave the rest of the disk intact for later storage of data. Name the server something easy like Server1. No underscores, spaces or stuff outside of A to Z and numbers.

Set the IP address of the server to 192.168.0.1, netmask 255.255.255.0 and leave the gateway blank.

Use the wizards for DNS, DHCP.

On another PC, go to downloads.com and get windows 2000 SP4 and put it on a CD. When the install finishes, install that file (it is 120MB or so).

If you get errors, post what was being installed at the time and specific problems.

Installing 2K server should take about 1 hour to install plus 1 hour to configure. For someone who has done it before.

 

[JCruz063]

Thanks for the info Zelandakh!

JC

Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly...

 

[alpha88]

JCruz063 imo you should hire a consultant in your area. Even though you only have 7 computers a consultant is going to more rounded in setting up a 2000 network. Everyone and there grandmother thank they can set up a win2k network because it has a pretty user interface. It takes know how to properly setup a win2k network. We had a client with a 10 member office that thought his son could set up a 2000 server because he was good on xp pro. Well when it was all said in done he ended up spending double because a real consultant had to fix what was screwed up before he could even start on his work.

 

[YTL]

JCruze063,
The main feature of W2K server is its Active Directory which uses TCP/IP. To understand that you have to know DNS and DHCP. To have a handle of the whole network, you need to know subnettig. You may want to visit the following web site to learn about it. As a prevoius poster said, don't worry too much, just install it and learn while you go. It wont't hurt. Any thing goes wrong, reformat and redo again.
Good Luck.
Gary

http://www.learntosubnet.com/

 

[JCruz063]

Thanks for your replies guys!

alpha88
I didn't understand the grandmother part of the email , but I guess you're right. The best for me, as my networking knowledge is limited, would be to hire a consultant. Yes, I did think I could set it up myself. I didn't think it was a big deal. I'm still reading about it - We'll see how it goes! Thanks!

Gary!
Thanks for the info!

JC


Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly...

 

[alpha88]

JCruz063 I've just seen time and time again where people set up ms networks and we have to fix them at normally twice the cost. Basically it would have been cheaper if we would have set it up from the start. I always ask people if this was open bsd or linux would you have tried 99 percent of them say know.

 

[SGTRawlins]

alpha88 comment appreciated,

However, even if a professional such as cruz does not have an extensive knowledge of domin networking his back ground in IT and the windows desktop environment will give a firm footing, i fail to really see the comparison between windows and other OS environments as most IT user dont use these on a regular basis.

+ With extensive online rescources such as TT i believe that cruz, a monkey or even an action figure of captain oats would be able to sort somthing out!

Has cruze perhaps considered upgading to 2k3 as this is more 'user friendly' environment for beginners, lots of wizards and things like that, i hear the DCPROMO wizard is particularly good.

Cheers, Robo