Win2k set up as DC, yet users connect to it as workgroup

[malaize2]

I am confused about the way my company's win2k server is setup. It is a file server that also runs as a domain controller. However, all of the users on our network connect to the server as members of a workgroup. The workgroup name is the name of the domain. I was not working here when this server was set up so I don't know why such a setup would be done.

Is there some benefit to setting up a server and users this way? Shouldn't the network users have connected to the file server via a domain?

thanks for any help,

 

[Koonan]

Only if you want to make your life more difficult . I assume your users have Domain accounts and that they are not logging in locally to their workstations. Personally I would join the workstations to the domain and make sure your users are logging into the domain. I'd start with a test to make sure there isn't something else setup oddly.

 

[malaize2]

Hello Koonan,

The users all have accounts set up in Active Directory and log in locally.

 

[58sniper]

To me, that's wrong. Why they log in locally is beyond me. I can't see any benefit to doing that. There's no cost savings, since you have their AD accounts added, there would need to be CALs for them.

I agree with Koonan - migrate them to domain accounts.

Pat Richard, MCSE MCSA:Messaging CNA
Want to know how email works? Read for yourself -

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt

 

[malaize2]

Hi 58sniper,

Thanks for the info. I was able to get ahold of the guy who set up this server. He said that he tried to set up the server as a domain but had problems getting the users to connect to it as a domain so he had to use workgroups. Is connecting to a domain a lot more complicated than to a workgroup?

Thanks,

 

[Seaspray0]

There can be issues. Most notably are DNS issues. The DHCP server should only hand out addresses to your local DNS server. The clients should only use this local DNS server. This is probably why your precessor had problems.

Note: For internet resolution, you must delete the "." root zone from your primary DNS server and create a forward to your internet ISP's DNS server.

One issue you'll find when users use their domain login, "My desktop is all messed up." So, after they have logged into the domain once to generate the profile, do the following: log them off and log on with a local admin account; start>right click My computer>properties, advanced tab, user profiles settings button, copy the local user profile to the domain user profile. Have them log on with the domain acct again.

Sharing resources is much simpler in a domain. All computers that are members of the domain can assign domain users and groups to the NTFS and share permissions on their local files and folders. A common practice is to remove the "everyone" group from the share permissions and replace it with the "domain users" group to prevent unathorized access from non-domain people.

Start, Help. You'll be surprised what's there. A+/MCP/MCSE/MCDBA

 

[malaize2]

Hi Seaspray0,

Thanks for the great info.

On the new Windows 2003 server the only roles I plan on this server fulfilling is File Server, and Domain. To set the server up as a Domain do I have to also set it up as a DHCP server? Right now our router handles the DHCP requests.

Thanks,