Hi all I want to setup a domain (dns) for my office where I work, presently the network is on workigroup but now we want to switch over the DNS for better conttrol over the internet & file sharing. At present our network is connected to more than 12 computers with XP as OS. How can I setup this domain on win 2003 server. At present we are managing the network on both XP & 2003 so I don't think there should be any problems while setting it as domain. The Configuration is mentioned above. Any help will be highly appreciated Regards, Naman Naman Jandial A-5 Sports Complex, Delhi Road, Meerut - 250002 INDIA Website: http://www.newjandial.com OS: Win98SE CPU: Intel Celeron Compatible P4 1.70 GHz. RAM: 128MB RAM S

There is a good ammount that comes into play when creating a domain, how much do you know about installing and setting up Windows 2003 server? From reading what you wrote (not to offend) you might be slightly over your head. You might want to pickup a book or class about Windows 2003 and Active Directory before attempting to touch a server. It might be a good investiment to hire outside help to guide you along. Holy Wow.

Hi Jestible Thanks for the help, you are right this is my first time that I'm going to setup a server on any NT based system. However I know that win 2003 server is based on Active directory which helps us to manage domains but I have never tried for as there was no need for, but now things have changed & our org. needs a domain controller to handle the network. So reading about win2003 might help & what about reading online, however I'll try to setup the server myself I won't mind to format the system in case it doesn't works properly. but could you please tell me where to start from to setup a server or domain in win2003. Thanks for all the help Regards, Naman Naman Jandial A-5 Sports Complex, Delhi Road, Meerut - 250002 INDIA Website: http://www.newjandial.com OS: Win98SE CPU: Intel Celeron Compatible P4 1.70 GHz. RAM: 128MB RAM S

There are tons of write-ups on the internet that can help point you in the right direction. I'll reference a few here, one being http://www.visualwin.com/ -- this site makes it extremely easy to do this. 1) Creating the Server Well first things first, you'd need to install Windows 2003 server on the machine that will become your server. Do you have any experience installing Windows 2000/XP/2003/etc? While installing, the only real thing of question that would arise would be the partioning of the hard drive(s). Typically, you want to make a smaller partion that will be set aside just for the files required by Windows, then having a larger cut of the drive separated for file storage, hosting applications, etc. Typically, this is on an entire drive completely, but I'm unaware of what equipment this server contains so I'll leave that up to you to discover. 2) Creating the Domain Next, after everything is installed you need to create the domain! I typically do this first because while creating a domain, it requires you to have DNS server in your network, and if it doesn't find one, it makes that server a DNS server. Here is a step by step for this: http://www.visualwin.com/AD-Controller/ In order for a domain to be created the server will need to have a statically (not changing) assigned IP address. At this time, your machines are already communicating and you've already declared a scope, or range and network, of IP's to use for each host/machine/etc. These are all things you'll have to lookup. This is where I will stop due to lack of time to fully explain myself. There are still a lot of things left unmentioned such as what will be your DHCP (a service allowing the machines to automatically be assigned IP address, and having them automatically point to the server for name resolution), getting the clients on the domain, creation of user accounts, setting up file shares and permissions, security aspects.. Shoot me a private message, if you’re not too far you can pay for my gas to come help you for a day. Thanks, Miles Evelyn MCSA A+, Security+, Network+ Certified Novell Administrator NW5 (CNA) Holy Wow.

Ookkk, you're located in India. Scratch that idea. Holy Wow.

This is sort of like saying I have a headache - can anyone give me some pointers on where to start cutting to perform brain surgery. There are way too many things to consider to get a quick answer here. Anyone that even attempts to tell you otherwise just doesn't understand it. You need to either start small on a test network, take some classes or better yet, as Jestible suggests, hire some help and watch.

Hi all Thanks for the reply & your help I tyried it and was sucessful it is basically right we cannot understand until we try it with our own hands. Next i'll try to make XP computers a part of the domain I created Regards, Naman Naman Jandial WebMaster of: www.newjandial.com