Lessons Learned Forum at Galleria

In tonight’s class , we discussed Active Directory, Organizational Units (OUs) and, the objects that represent the users and computers in our local and domain environments. In your own words, descibe the differences, as well as the situations which we would use, local and domain user accounts. Why do we have accounts for computers that belong to our domain, and is it nessecary? List and briefly describe 3 ways we can create user and computer objects in our Acitve Directory. Describe some of the conventions we can use to name the OUs in our Active Directory heirarchy. What is the Microsoft recommended depth of ‘layering’ for an OU structure? Do you agree?

In the following link, an admin of sorts is having problems with the syntax for the DSADD command line tool. Can you determine the errors in his terminology? Based upon the information in the link, what would be the exact syntax for the DN (Distinguished Name) the troubled admin should use to get the -memberof switch to work in his DSADD command?  You will find examples of the syntax in your homework and textbook.

http://www.tech-archive.net/Archive/Windows/microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory/2005-08/msg00962.html

In a recent Computertraining.com class, you learned about drivers, expecially printer drivers.  One of your new clients says that she just upgraded to Vista Home, and now her Lexmark Photo P3150 multifunction printer does not work.  You suspect it is a driver issue. You can visit the Lexmark website here; http://support.lexmark.com/perl/support/support.cgi?ccs=229:1:0:402:0:0&docid=ENUS22657.  Can we get a new driver to solve the problem?  Or is there a solution on the Microsoft website?  Maybe you can think of a solution involving Virtual PC?  What will you tell your client?

click image to enlarge and clarify

You are an IT Administrator for a company name Fauxcorp Incorporated. The company network consists of a domain named fauxcorp.com, and an child domain named internal.fauxcorp.com. Plans to expand the network are in the works, but for the time being, you are on a very limited budget and cannot afford any new equipment. The physical network has been setup as depicted in the picture above. Your project manager has assigned you the task of designing a DNS infrastructure that will meet the companies needs now, and in the future. The following conditions must be considered:

• Internet users must not be able to resolve any IP address of computers located inside the company firewall.
• The FQDNs of the 2 company web servers, web1 and web2, must be protected from Internet users, while still providing access to the web pages they are hosting.
• The internal DNS server dns2 must be able to resolve Internet names, as well as the names of the external mail and web servers, for internal clients without causing any recursion traffic to pass through the firewall.
• Client computers must never attempt to resolve names by using the external DNS server.

Use the knowledge you have gained from lecture and labs at Computertraining.com, as well as the network diagram pictured above, to answer the following questions.

1. How many DNS Primary zones would you be required to create, what would they be called, and which computer(s) would host them.
2. Would you configure any Stub or Secondary zones? Why or why not?
3. What type of record would you create to meet the second requirement and why? Show an example.
4. What types of DNS records would you create in each zone? Show an example of each.
5. How would you configure the internal DNS server to meet the third and fourth requirements?
6. Would you make any recommendations to your project manager that would improve the security and/or performance of the network?

You may also use any information you find at Microsoft Technet:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772774.aspx

In your classroom labs at Computertraining.com you worked to install and configure a DHCP server on your network. In your lab scenario, you are the Administrator of a child_domain of the classroom parent_domain. As you know from lecture, a DHCP server must be authorized in Active Directory before it can begin to assign IP addresses. During the lab, in order to authorize your DHCP server, you provided the credentials of an Enterprise Administrator. What purpose does authorization serve? Do you think that your credentials as an Administrator of the child_domain would have been sufficient for authorization? Why or why not? What about the credentials of a parent_domain Administrator? Once your DHCP server was authorized, you were able to hand out IP addresses. As you saw in the lab, a blue exclamation point appears on a scope when it has exhausted is available IP addresses. Is it possible to increase the useable amount of IP addresses in an existing scope? Explain your answer. You may use your class materials as well as the internet to answer.

In class at Computertraining.com, we discussed Active Directory, Organizational Units (OUs) and, the objects that represent the users and computers in our local and domain environments. In your own words, descibe the differences, as well as the situations which we would use, local and domain user accounts. Why do we have accounts for computers that belong to our domain, and is it nessecary? List and briefly describe 3 ways we can create user and computer objects in our Acitve Directory. Describe some of the conventions we can use to name the OUs in our Active Directory heirarchy. What is the Microsoft recommended depth of ‘layering’ for an OU structure? Do you agree?

In the following link, an admin of sorts is having problems with the syntax for the DSADD command line tool. Can you determine the errors in his terminology? Based upon the information in the link, what would be the exact syntax for the DN (Distinguished Name) the troubled admin should use to get the -memberof switch to work in his DSADD command?   

http://www.tech-archive.net/Archive/Windows/microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory/2005-08/msg00962.html

Recently, you have installed Server 2003 onto your Computertraining.com classroom computers. Describe the differences in usage between a workstation/client OS and a Server OS. What is the primary difference between the Server 2003 and Vista installation environments? You have learned that the system requirements for Vista are far greater than those required for installing Server 2003. What are the reasons for this? What do you think could be the cause of repeated 2003 OS clean install failure on a computer that you know meets all of the minimum hardware requirements? What can be done to troubleshoot this problem?

If the above image appears distorted, click on it to view in a seperate window.

In recent lessons at Computertraining.com, you have learned about Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop technologies. What ports and protocols do they use? In what situations would you choose one over the other? In the exhibit pictured above, you are at work on an XP machine and want to connect to your Vista machine at home using Remote Desktop. Assuming all configurations have been made on your Work network to allow this, describe everything you would have to configure on your home computer for this scenario to work. Would any configurations need to be made to the router? What IP address would you use when initiating the Remote Desktop Connection?

 You are on your own to research these questions using your class materials as well as the internet.

You have learned in class at Computertraining.com about the Encrypting File System (EFS) and BitLocker encryption technologies. In today’s post 9/11 business culture, the proper protection of user and customer data on company computers is paramount to a business’ success. What are the limitations of each, and which do you think is the better method for a business to encrypt data. Can EFS and BitLocker be used together? Are there any significant differences between the EFS included with Vista and the EFS of previous versions of Windows? If your computer is stolen or ‘hacked’, is there a situation where an unauthorized user might be able to view EFS encrypted files in plain text?

The following link may help to answer these questions.

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6162949.html

In a recent class at Computertraining.com, you learned about “Static” versus “Dynamic” IP addresses.  Considering the capabilities and convenience of DHCP, are there any good reasons that a device should have a static address?  Static or dynamic, are there any rules that must be followed every time when choosing an address for a device on a particular subnet?  You learned that Vista is capable of using IPV6 addresses.  If your company still has plenty of public addresses assigned to it, is there any reason to switch?  The link  below may shed some light on the topic.

 http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2007/03/IPv6.ars