CraigJConrad
IS-IT--Management
Hi All,
I am very experienced in many things technical, but am not very savvy on DC and AD. I have had a Windows 2003 Server in my home for many years and I had stumbled through its installation, including it being a DC and an AD. I even had the home PCs logging into the domain (each of my 5 children had their own LAN PC, as well as a couple others). However, over time I realized that logging into the domain complicated things, and the individual PCs could just as easily be setup on a workgroup, and connect to the server's shared drives, use the mail server, etc -- no apparent loss of function. So, none of them log in that way any longer, though the server still is a DC and has AD.
Now I am setting up a new server with Windows 2008R2. I only have one child left at home, so the number of "desktop clients" has shrunk dramatically. Thus far, the new server now has all of the shared user and media files, as well as the media servers (Plex, PlayOn/PlayLater), while the old server is still running the IIS, mail server, etc. I have NOT set the new server to be a DC nor does it have AD on it. I want to complete the unhooking of the old server, which means that I have to move the IIS and mail services over. Before I do that, I need to know if I *should* setup the new server as DC/AD.
Other info that may or may not be relevant:
A. On the old server, all the userids were in the "Domain Users" group in AD, and one was additionally in the "Domain Admins" and "Remote Desktop Users" groups.
B. I sometimes enable Remote Desktop, but only using the single admin session (ie, I don't have Terminal Services role)
C. There are four internet domains that all route to my home IP address. Currently, all of the applicable ports are then forwarded to my old server (which will be changed to my new server when ready, of course)
===================
Questions:
1. What are the advantages of doing so, versus just setting up IIS (web, FTP) and the mail server (MDaemon)?
2. If I do it now, will I have loss anything done thus far (users' shares/data, applications, etc)?
3-1. When setting up my old server years ago, I couldn't figure out what name to give, and ended up with the following (assume that my internet domain name is "MyHome.net":
a. the AD domain name is "MyHome.net" (that was what I had entered in the wizard, though the later "New Domain Name" screen had "Conrad.MyHome.net" in it
b. the NETBIOS Domain name is "MYHOME"
c. in the Configuration Panel in the wizard, the "Full Domain Name" was "MyHome.net"
3-2. Is that what one should do, or is there otherwise any advantage to one name (or naming convention) over another?
4. If I should be using the same names as used in the old server, is there some process I must follow to "decommission" the old one first?
5. I see that I had DNS setup on the old server, but in thinking about it, I can't see that it would have been used, as I would expect the router/ISP should be doing all of this. Is there any value to having this setup on the new one? If so, should it point to the router or directly to the ISP?
I don't know why I'm a bit reluctant to setup DC/AD, but I'd like some expert guidance before I take that step! Many, many thanks in advance for any advice.
Craig
I am very experienced in many things technical, but am not very savvy on DC and AD. I have had a Windows 2003 Server in my home for many years and I had stumbled through its installation, including it being a DC and an AD. I even had the home PCs logging into the domain (each of my 5 children had their own LAN PC, as well as a couple others). However, over time I realized that logging into the domain complicated things, and the individual PCs could just as easily be setup on a workgroup, and connect to the server's shared drives, use the mail server, etc -- no apparent loss of function. So, none of them log in that way any longer, though the server still is a DC and has AD.
Now I am setting up a new server with Windows 2008R2. I only have one child left at home, so the number of "desktop clients" has shrunk dramatically. Thus far, the new server now has all of the shared user and media files, as well as the media servers (Plex, PlayOn/PlayLater), while the old server is still running the IIS, mail server, etc. I have NOT set the new server to be a DC nor does it have AD on it. I want to complete the unhooking of the old server, which means that I have to move the IIS and mail services over. Before I do that, I need to know if I *should* setup the new server as DC/AD.
Other info that may or may not be relevant:
A. On the old server, all the userids were in the "Domain Users" group in AD, and one was additionally in the "Domain Admins" and "Remote Desktop Users" groups.
B. I sometimes enable Remote Desktop, but only using the single admin session (ie, I don't have Terminal Services role)
C. There are four internet domains that all route to my home IP address. Currently, all of the applicable ports are then forwarded to my old server (which will be changed to my new server when ready, of course)
===================
Questions:
1. What are the advantages of doing so, versus just setting up IIS (web, FTP) and the mail server (MDaemon)?
2. If I do it now, will I have loss anything done thus far (users' shares/data, applications, etc)?
3-1. When setting up my old server years ago, I couldn't figure out what name to give, and ended up with the following (assume that my internet domain name is "MyHome.net":
a. the AD domain name is "MyHome.net" (that was what I had entered in the wizard, though the later "New Domain Name" screen had "Conrad.MyHome.net" in it
b. the NETBIOS Domain name is "MYHOME"
c. in the Configuration Panel in the wizard, the "Full Domain Name" was "MyHome.net"
3-2. Is that what one should do, or is there otherwise any advantage to one name (or naming convention) over another?
4. If I should be using the same names as used in the old server, is there some process I must follow to "decommission" the old one first?
5. I see that I had DNS setup on the old server, but in thinking about it, I can't see that it would have been used, as I would expect the router/ISP should be doing all of this. Is there any value to having this setup on the new one? If so, should it point to the router or directly to the ISP?
I don't know why I'm a bit reluctant to setup DC/AD, but I'd like some expert guidance before I take that step! Many, many thanks in advance for any advice.
Craig