Networking Articles

Article / Updated 11-07-2022

Active Directory is part of a storage structure you design that provides organization of objects — like users, computers, groups, and an assortment of other objects — in your IT environment. Before you can implement Active Directory, you have to do some planning. Be sure to complete the following steps before creating domains and organizational units (OUs): Using the DNS namespace, identify and name the root domain. Determine whether a tree or a forest is appropriate for your organization. Determine whether you need additional domains. Consult your requirements and environment to decide which domain model is best for your needs and to decide whether you need additional child domains. Analyze business models and processes to determine which OU model is best for your needs. Determine who will administer each OU and the administrative rights they'll need. Delegate the administrative privileges that the OU administrators need. Diagram the logical Active Directory structure.

Article / Updated 11-07-2022

Active Directory uses a multiple-master model, and usually, domain controllers (DCs) are equal with each other in reading and writing directory information. However, certain roles cannot be distributed across all the DCs, meaning that changes can't take place on more than one domain controller at a time. Some domain controllers, therefore, do assume a single-master operations role — known as operations masters in Active Directory. The five categories of operations master roles are: Schema master (one per forest): Maintains the master copy of the schema. PDC emulator (one per domain): Emulates a primary domain controller for backward compatibility with Windows NT. Domain naming master (one per forest): Tracks object names throughout a forest to ensure that they're unique. Also tracks cross-references to objects in other directories. Infrastructure master (one per domain): Tracks object references among domains and maintains a list of deleted child objects. Relative identifier (RID) master (one per domain): Tracks the assignment of SIDs (security identifiers) throughout the domain. Usually, the first domain controller that you create in the first domain assumes the operations master roles. You can assign these roles to other domain controllers in the domain or forest, but only one domain controller at a time can hold each operation's master role.

Article / Updated 11-07-2022

A resource record is the basic data component in the Domain Name Service (DNS). DNS resource records define not only names and IP addresses but domains, servers, zone, and services as well. This list shows you the most common types of resource records: Type Purpose A Address resource records match an IP address to a host name. CNAME Canonical name resource records associate a nickname to a host name. MX Mail exchange resource records identify mail servers for the specified domain. NS Name server resource records identify servers (other than the SOA server) that contain zone information files. PTR Pointer resource records match a host name to a given IP address. This is the opposite of an Address record, which matches an IP address to the supplied host name. SOA Start of authority resource records specify which server contains the zone file for a domain. SRV Service resource records identify servers that provide special services to the domain.

Article / Updated 11-07-2022

Before you arrange and use Active Directory, you need to install the operating system Windows Server 2008. Start by making certain the hardware you plan to use as domain controllers is able to run the operating system. This list shows you the minimum and recommended hardware levels for Windows Server 2008: Component Requirement Processor 1 GHz (x86 CPU) or 1.4 GHz (x64 CPU) Memory 512MB required; 2GB or higher recommended. Hard Disk 10 GB required. 40 GB or more recommended. Video Super VGA or higher video card and monitor. Hardware Must be on the Windows 2008 Hardware Compatibility List.

Article / Updated 11-07-2022

The range of Active Directory (AD) has expanded in Windows Server 2008 and has become an essential part of many information technology (IT) environments. Active Directory has become an umbrella for a multitude of technologies surpassing what AD was in Windows Server 2000 and 2003. Check out the new uses for Active Directory: Active Directory Domain Services: An X.500-based directory service that provides integrated authentication and authorization services for a Windows computing environment. Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services: A stripped down version of Active Directory Domain Services that focuses on providing just the directory services functionality. Active Directory Federation Services: A Web Services–based technology for providing Web single sign-on authentication services between different organizations. Active Directory Certificate Services: Provides digital certification enrollment and revocation services in the support of a public key infrastructure (PKI). Active Directory Rights Management Services: Provides a solution for managing how users can use documents that they're authorized to access.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-07-2022

Whether you're new to Active Directory (AD) or just need a refresher, it'll help you enhance your information technology (IT) environment if you understand how Active Directory has expanded in the Windows 2008 Server, the tasks of the domain controllers, necessary steps to design the logical side of Active Directory, the standard resource records used in the Domain Name Service (DNS), and the hardware required to run the Windows 2008 Server.

Step by Step / Updated 09-30-2022

Amazon does provide the means for using many of its Amazon Web Services (AWS) for free. However, as you look through the list of services, you see that the some expire, others don't. In addition, some have limits and others don't. Those that do have limits don't have the same limits, so you need to watch usage carefully. It's really quite confusing.

Article / Updated 09-30-2022

As a network administrator, the Internet is your best friend for networking resources, solutions, news, and guidance. Here are some websites for you to visit often. To register domains: InterNIC Network Solutions register.com To check your TCP/IP configuration: DNSstuff To see if your email server has been blocklisted: DNSBL.info To stay current in the industry, try these standards organizations: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Organization for Standardization Internet Engineering Task Force Internet Society

Article / Updated 08-01-2022

Transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), the protocol on which the Internet is built, is actually not a single protocol but rather an entire suite of related protocols. TCP is even older than Ethernet. It was first conceived in 1969 by the Department of Defense. Currently, the Internet Engineering Task Force, or IETF, manages the TCP/IP protocol suite. The TCP/IP suite is based on a four-layer model of networking that is similar to the seven-layer open systems interconnection (OSI) model. The following illustration shows how the TCP/IP model matches up with the OSI model and where some of the key TCP/IP protocols fit into the model. As you can see, the lowest layer of the model, the Network Interface layer, corresponds to the OSI model’s Physical and Data Link layers. TCP/IP can run over a wide variety of Network Interface layer protocols, including Ethernet, as well as other protocols, such as Token Ring and FDDI (an older standard for fiber-optic networks). The Application layer of the TCP/IP model corresponds to the upper three layers of the OSI model — that is, the Session, Presentation, and Application layers. Many protocols can be used at this level. A few of the most popular are HTTP, FTP, Telnet, SMTP, DNS, and SNMP. IP IP is a network layer protocol that is responsible for delivering packets to network devices. The IP protocol uses logical IP addresses to refer to individual devices rather than physical (MAC) addresses. A protocol called ARP (for address resolution protocol) handles the task of converting IP addresses to MAC addresses. Because IP addresses consist of a network part and a host part, IP is a routable protocol. As a result, IP can forward a packet to another network if the host is not on the current network. (The ability to route packets across networks is where IP gets its name. An Internet is a series of two or more connected TCP/IP networks that can be reached by routing.) TCP TCP is a connection-oriented transport layer protocol. TCP lets a device reliably send a packet to another device on the same network or on a different network. TCP ensures that each packet is delivered if at all possible. It does so by establishing a connection with the receiving device and then sending the packets. If a packet doesn’t arrive, TCP resends the packet. The connection is closed only after the packet has been successfully delivered or an unrecoverable error condition has occurred. One key aspect of TCP is that it’s always used for one-to-one communications. In other words, TCP allows a single network device to exchange data with another single network device. TCP isn’t used to broadcast messages to multiple network recipients. Instead, the user datagram protocol (UDP) is used for that purpose. Many well-known application layer protocols rely on TCP. For example, when a web browser requests a page, the browser uses HTTP to send a request via TCP to the web server. When the web server receives the request, it uses HTTP to fulfill the request, again via TCP. Other Application layer protocols that use TCP include Telnet (for terminal emulation), FTP (for file exchange), and SMTP (for e-mail). UDP The user datagram protocol is a connectionless transport layer protocol that is used when the overhead of a connection isn't required. After UDP has placed a packet on the network (via the IP protocol), it forgets about it. UDP doesn't guarantee that the packet actually arrives at its destination. Most applications that use UDP simply wait for any replies expected as a result of packets sent via UDP. If a reply doesn't arrive within a certain period of time, the application either sends the packet again or gives up. Probably the best-known application layer protocol that uses UDP is the domain name system (DNS). When an application needs to access a domain name such as www.dummies.com, DNS sends a UDP packet to a DNS server to look up the domain. When the server finds the domain, it returns the domain's IP address in another UDP packet.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-20-2022

Amazon Web Services (AWS) started out small, but has become a vast collection of cloud services that businesses can use to support any activity without having to invest in an IT infrastructure.