Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Server2003

DHCP giving clients addresses with prior DNS record

jmd82 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:47:26 -0800

DHCP giving out IP address leases with pre-existing DNS entries for the wrong machine causing network chaos on a mixed windows & mac environment, and it's the macs who are having the problems. We have DHCP & DNS on a Windows 2003 server. Apple laptops (leopard) are bound to AD. The clients get a DHCP lease easily enough, but then at some point in the future (usually a few weeks, maybe less), they cannot log in or won't get settings from the server.

Have Apple support, and their response is the machine account is not authenticating with AD, so no log in. OK, so...

Upon investigation into DNS, it turns out that these client's DNS entry is actually tied to another PC's IP address. For instance, maclaptop.mydomain.com gets 192.168.1.1. However, the DNS record for 192.168.1.1 on the network is actually pc.mydomain.com. This is causing maclaptop.mydomain.com to try authenticating as pc.mydomain.com, which they are not and getting rejected. I am led to believe this from Console messages stating pc@mydomain.com cannot authenticate with kerberos.

Any thoughts or ideas on how to prevent this from happening? I can delete those individual DNS records and the clients can log in then properly, but at some point in the future, it'll loose its lease and get the address with a wrong DNS entry at some point.

Push it. Push it real good.

orville sash — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:01:03 -0800

Is there a way to push the installation of browser plug-ins on a network where users don't have workstation admin rights (windows network)? We are running windows server 2003, and have a network of maybe 19 Windows XP workstations. We have our network policy set up so that domain users are not workstation admins, so they can't install malware.

Problem is, they also can't install things like java updates or flash player updates. Group Policy allows us to send them Windows updates automatically, but I was wondering if it was possible to push updates for these browser plug-ins to all machines using an admin command of some kind? It would certainly be a pain in the ass to have to walk around and install this individually on each machine for the client.

What are the implications of duplicate SID's on a Windows Server 2003 network?

tracert — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:30:58 -0800

What are the implications of having duplicate SID numbers on a Windows Server 2003 network? I have just recently discovered that we have a number of virtual machines running on our network that have duplicate SID numbers, because they were cloned from the same master images which were not prepared with sysprep. Geh. Linux-specialist-coworker-who-also-reads-AskMe, I curse at thee!

There are three "sets" of matched SID's each containing several machines running XP, Server 2003 and Server 2000. Most terrifyingly, the Server 2003 group contains all of our domain controllers. All the images are running on Xen.

Alright, so I gather this is not a great situation. What I would like to do is to just run NewSID on each machine in turn and then do some rolling restarts. However, I'm not sure if there are any further problems that I need to address. So, prevalent questions:

1) What are the implications of having this set up. What are the implications of using NewSID?

2) Will file or system permissions be affected somehow by changing the SID? The Windows 2000 machines are hosting a legacy application that is called by one of our websites. Some of the XP machines are hosting SQL Server 2005 Express instances. The 2003 group machines are all DC's, including all the FSMO roles and global catalog. They are all pretty important machines and need to keep running as normal.

3) How bad is this? Can I afford to space out my changes or is it important that I push to get this done quickly? Since these are production machines, slow and lots of research is my preferred plan when making changes like this.

Thanks, your advice is appreciated.

Server 2003/2008 home/small business

bsexton — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:59:57 -0800

IT/Networking student here and I have access to the msdn-academic alliance program. I have an extra computer and would like to mess around with Server 2003 or 2008. Both are available. I have an extra box sitting around at work and this would be for a small business think 7 computers at the max. What are some of the things I can do with Server 2003 or 2008? I've already checked the specs and I should be able to install both.

I also have access to Exchange 2003/2008 and would like to get this working as well.

I can also get the Sharepoint server software.

I'm guessing I can get on the DreamSpark program as well

What are some of the things I can do or should do?

You down with S-M-T-P? Yeah, you know me!

ThFullEffect — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 19:48:14 -0800

How do I set up an outbound SMTP server on MS Server 2003? My team at work has been given the task of getting our MS Server 2003 box to send out emails. I have no idea how to do this.

All of my googling gives me instructions on how to set up SMTP with exchange, or some variance thereof. I don't need to receive emails, just send them. We're intending to use python and smtplib to create and send the email using variables from a database that we are creating. We toyed with the idea of using godaddy's SMTP relay, but it only gives you 250 relays per day for obvious reasons.

The question is how does a non-spammer send out between 250-700 emails per day using what I have at my disposal?

Note: Every email sent is opt-in and offers the recipient a coupon targeted towards an item that they have expressed interest in.

Software RAID Dies: Which disk is dead?

SlyBevel — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:06:22 -0800

A disk in your Server2003 software RAID fails: How do you know which physical disk to pull? I'm adding another RAID5 array to my server, and I'm thinking ahead about disaster management.

The whole point of having a RAID is that if a disk fails, I pop in a new one, the RAID gets rebuilt, and it's no big deal. But which disk to remove?

If they're all identical, and they're all on a PCI SATA card, then you can't just pop into the BIOS and see which port has a dead drive, because the BIOS won't be aware of the SATA card.

And the BIOS probably wouldn't be aware of a partial failure anyway. If the drive registers on the port but doesn't handle data anymore, the BIOS won't know.

Is this something that should be thought of as the drives are added to the system. Maybe add each drive one at a time and mark each with its ID as reported by the Disk Management snap in? (There doesn't seem to actually be an ID for each drive here, other than the label, ie: Disc 0, Disc 1, CD-ROM 0).

Promotion

chuckdarwin — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:05:30 -0800

Networking: What are some things to bear in mind when promoting a Windows workgroup to a small domain? Server 2003, five XP Pro boxes... one IIS server (XPP as well). I was planning to use Files and settings transfer wizard on each XP box before promoting the server. Should be really straightforward... but I could use some advice if you have any.

Users always want to fight The Man

tracert — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:30:03 -0800

How do you prevent terminal services users from disabling the Firewall Client for ISA in Server 2003? This is probably an easy one, but I don't have a lot of time to google around for the answer today. How do I prevent Server 2003 terminal services users from disabling the ISA firewall client? Currently the best solution I can find is to disable the taskbar icon, but for troubleshooting purposes I'd rather just leave that alone. This seems pretty ridiculous, there's got to be a way, right?

What can I do with Windows 2K3 and old hardware?

Ziggy Zaga — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:40:24 -0800

I've got a copy of Windows Server 2003 and a bunch of old computers. What are some things I can do with it? I've got a copy of Windows Server 2003 and a bunch of old computers. I am also taking some courses in Server 2K3 administration, but I'm not really getting a feel for what I can *do* with 2K3 besides setting up Active Directory, DNS and DHCP. I can get a client to join a domain, but as it stands it's pointless since the domain provides no additional functionality to the client-- just slows down logging in.

What are some ways in which 2K3 is deployed in an enterprise environment? I'd appreciate some example setups, projects or scenarios to try to emulate so I can get a feel for what I might expect if I did this for a living.

Thanks!

Im the new IT guy, help me learn server 2003

tradeer33 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:43:25 -0800

2 different business, same building, lets call them business 1 and business 2 1 Internet connection 2 servers, server 2003 small business and server 2003 rc2 Server 1 has dual core & 4gigs ram, server 2 is an old p4 with 512 megs ram and 80g drive 2 domains www.domain1.com & www.domain2.com Business 1 is using Server 2003 small business & is hosting domain1.com's website, and is setup with exchange and active directory and is working fine, for the current users of that business. I can send and receive email from lets say bob@domain1.com

Business 2 is currently just accessing a network share on the other server, server 2003 rc2 and is not setup with exchange or active directory. There are 7 users currently at Business 2 that need to be setup with email at domain2.com

Is this possible and if so how would I go about doing this?

advice on making old laptop into home server

penciltopper — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 10:56:21 -0800

Converting an old laptop into my first home server - what should I know? I've acquired an old thinkpad with a bad integrated graphics card - getting video out only works by going in via RDP. So I figure I'll turn it into a headless home server for media, sharing, something to control from work when I realize I need to start a torrent so it'll be ready when I get home, etc.

I've done some reading, but this is all pretty new to me.

I'll do something with DYNDNS, etc. to get at it from outside. The other computers at home are Macs and an Ubuntu desktop, so I imagine it's only a matter of setting up the shared files on it in a format and sharing scheme that OSX and Ubuntu can read.

Three questions I'm querying the hive mind for experience/advice on:

1) Security: Since I'll be opening it up so I can access it remotely, what should I think about for securing it? I'm not so worried about anyone getting access to the contents of this PC, but I want to isolate it from the other computers at home in such a way that it doesn't make them more vulnerable to badness.

2) OS: I'd like to use a GUI to work with it. I've got the choice of using MS Server2003, XP Pro or Ubuntu. Do I really need to use server software, or can I just use a desktop/workstation install on it if I'm just going to treat it like the one computer I can remotely administer, that happens to have an external HD with shared music, etc on it? Meaning it doesn't have to be a "server" per se as far as I know. I'm new to DYNDNS, but I don't think that I'm required to set the laptop up as a domain controller, etc. What's my least-hassle option?

3) Hardware: It's a laptop, meaning it wasn't designed to be running 24/7 like a server. What, if anything, should/can I do to keep it from burning out? Do I need to mod the case or even remove the guts from the case and put them in some other kind of enclosure? It's a ThinkPad, which have a reputation for durablility, but the person I got it from thinks that the graphics problems came about because it got overheated and this burned out the graphics components on the MB. I bet there's more than one meFite who's turned an old laptop into an always-on device. What did you learn?

Thanks all for your knowledge.

Make my WinServer 2k3 do the cool stuff that WinHome Server will do!

SlyBevel — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 22:42:17 -0800

Make my WinServer 2k3 do the cool stuff that WinHome Server will do! So I've had my in-house server running for a couple of years now. I have an Academic Windows Server 2003 Standard license.

I only use the server for media file sharing to the house. I do have some advanced permissions in place for each household member's personal folders and backup areas. I've also run a FileZilla FTP server from it.

But now I want to do the cool stuff that WinHomeServ will do, like automatic remote backups of client machines and image rollout.

And, basically, any other kick-ass things that I'm missing out on. Free and open-source solutions are strongly favored.

Please don't try to sell me on converting it to a Linux server, it's just not going to happen.

Pimp My Server!

Oh, tech details:

Server 2003 Standard (NOT R2)
5-seat CAL (not that it really matters)
1TB RAID 5 array (software, Windows dynamic disks)
One small mirrored volume (~60GB)
Independant OS disk.
1.8 Ghz Celeron
768MB RAM (I could probably up this if needed)
Triple 10/100 NICs
Headless (all management via RDP)

Help me improve my laptop speed

cholly — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 01:53:02 -0800

What are some simple ways that I can improve the speed of my laptop? I have a Dell Latitude X200 that is 3 years old. It is on, well let's say 'unofficial permanent loan' from a company I have affiliations with. Basically, it is a tech guy's old laptop that wasn't being used and I have unofficial permission to be using it for personal stuff.

It has a Pentium 3 933MHz processor and 633MB RAM. It is running Windows 2003 Server and has a variety of performance taxing programs installed (Microsoft SQL Server, Achestra, RSLogix) and from my understanding I am not allowed to uninstall them or change the OS.

I use it primarily for uni work and internet surfing, but the response rate of the computer leaves a lot to be desired. I don't use it for graphics or games. I know that adding more RAM will improve my system performance, but I'm not really keen on spending much money on it for a number of reasons. 1. I don't have it and 2. There's a possibility of me aquiring a newer laptop at the beginning of next year from the same source.

Basically, I'm looking for some short term solutions that don't require too much tech know-how. Any suggestions appreciated. :)

Make three NICs share the traffic in Server 2003

SlyBevel — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 08:59:36 -0800

Server 2003 Filter: How do I make three NICs share the load? I have an in-home media server running WinServer 2003. It serves video and music to the entire house, which has ten users with their own PCs pulling files down and streaming all the time.

The server has three NICs, one onboard and two PCI. In the Networking tab in Task Manager, all three NICs show that they're Operational and working fine. But when the server gets traffic, only the onboard NIC shows a spike.

The other two NICs occaisionally show a little traffic on the order of 0.5% or so. This is maybe every five or ten minutes.

I've tried monkeying around with the Network Load Balancing (NLB) component, but that seems to be for balancing traffic between multiple servers, not multiple NICs.

I've got the Windows Server 2003 Inside Out book, and I've searched pretty thoroughly there and Googled rather extensively, but I just get a lot of hits for using NLB. Anyone know what I'm looking for?