Hello, I am planning a network structure for our school to be networked. I have everything configured as far as workstations, wireing, switches, etc. I'm having a problem with the server though. There will be approx 95 workstations overall so Windows SBS 2003 is out of questions. I'm wondering if 1 Windows 2003 Server will be enough to handle 95 clients. The clients are very restricted and only allowed access to Internet explorer, and office and for teachers 1 extra program - remark. Will i need more than one server ? If so how can two servers be linked together ? Oh the basic server specs are: 3.6GHZ INTEL 2GIG RAM 36GIG 10,000RPM SCSI Drive I think thats it. Thank you! -Matt

It would be best to have to domain controllers for redundancy and better performance. Just join the second one to the domain, promote the second one to a DC, and they'll synchronize and configure to run correctly together. As far as physical connectivity, just connect it to the switch just like any other computer. You'll be in fine shape. I don't know if you need that high of spec of a server if it's only gonna be a dc. Spread the budget over two servers. When all the land is in ruin, and burnination has forsaken the countryside, only one guy will remain. My money is on.... TROOOOOOGDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!

One thing you may want to consider on the redundancy point....if you don't have your operating system installed on a RAID 1 array on the server(s) you're asking for trouble. Spend the extra and get dual disk's for each server and a RAID controller capable of RAID 1 and use them.

Naw, live dangerously - do RAID0! (I'm just kidding.) I don't know if RAID1 is necessary if you have two domain controllers, but if you have only one, that would be an exceptionally good idea. MCSE, MCSA Messaging, baby!

Hey guys! Thanks for your responses! Questions though, how would i connect two servers together ? I get the physical part .. linking them together, but do i need some type of software so they work together ? Maybe a better approach would be having 3 servers Server1) Handles the login proceess, as well as print managment Server2) Acts as a file server. Whenever a program needs to be run, it pulls it off this server. Server3) Backup server - This will hold backups for server 1 and 2. So server1 will be a more high end computer, while server2 will be a basic computer with a few large harddrives. Now would i run Server 2003 on all 3 or them, or do i run Server 2003 on server1 and server2 ? How wll server1 and server2 work together ? Like what software is involved. Thanks! Matt

Simply promoting a server to a domain controller once it's joined to a domain allows it to handle log in requests. You don't need any additional software. Sounds like you need to read up on Active Directory... MCSE, MCSA Messaging, baby!