AD + Network Groups NT4 Migration to 2003 AD enabled Server.

[Josh Davis]

Hi all. Our existing internal network consists of a NT4 PDC and 2 BDC
PC's. 98% of all internal client pc's are a mix of xp/win2k.

The 2k/xp machines are configured to be part of a workgroup and not
of our internal domain. Each local user has full local Administrator
access to their pc. Their user name and pass match their account on
the PDC so that they can access printers, file server that are actual
member servers of the domain.

Browsing the Network you would see something like this.

ENG
SALES
ORDERS
ADMIN
SPECTRE <<< Actual Domain Name


Couple of questions.

1 If the users are part of a 2003 server AD local domain is it
possible that when they browse the network via my network
places they will see the workgroups in the tree. Or will the
tree by default just show all computer names connected to the
network under whatever the new domain name will be.

unlike above

SPECTRE
joe
helan
sam
trish


I noticed in AD there is a provision for adding users to groups.
If users are part of a group called ENG, will that ENG object show
up when users browse the internal network.

I would like users to be part of the domain so they could access the
AD list of users but am trying to keep their browsing experience the
same as it is now with our NT4 DC. Basically preserve the network
groups with each users pc under that group when browsing occurs via my
network places.


2 Our current domain name is called spectre when I configure
the 3K DC will I need to name it as spectre.local for the
domain name, or is this a good idea. Our actual domain name
is a internal name only not a internet domain name.Our dhcp
server simply passes external dns server ip's to clients so
they can surf the web.

3 Currently we use wins for name resolution on the internal
network. Wins seems to generate allot of traffic. We are
not using any sort of caching dns server. Would implementing
a 3K Dns caching server be a better solution for internal
name resolution than wins.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Josh.

 

[Paul Bergson]

See inline comments.

--

Paul Bergson MCT, MCSE, MCSA, CNE, CNA, CCA

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi all. Our existing internal network consists of a NT4 PDC and 2 BDC
PC's. 98% of all internal client pc's are a mix of xp/win2k.

The 2k/xp machines are configured to be part of a workgroup and not
of our internal domain. Each local user has full local Administrator
access to their pc. Their user name and pass match their account on
the PDC so that they can access printers, file server that are actual
member servers of the domain.

Browsing the Network you would see something like this.

ENG
SALES
ORDERS
ADMIN
SPECTRE <<< Actual Domain Name


Couple of questions.

1 If the users are part of a 2003 server AD local domain is it
possible that when they browse the network via my network
places they will see the workgroups in the tree. Or will the
tree by default just show all computer names connected to the
network under whatever the new domain name will be.

They should still be able to see whatever network places they do now.
Machines will be grouped by either workgroups or domains, but they should
all still be seen.

unlike above

SPECTRE
joe
helan
sam
trish


I noticed in AD there is a provision for adding users to groups.
If users are part of a group called ENG, will that ENG object show
up when users browse the internal network.

You will not see the ENG in my network places. That would be in Active
Directory Users and Computers (ADUC).

I would like users to be part of the domain so they could access the
AD list of users but am trying to keep their browsing experience the
same as it is now with our NT4 DC. Basically preserve the network
groups with each users pc under that group when browsing occurs via my
network places.





2 Our current domain name is called spectre when I configure
the 3K DC will I need to name it as spectre.local for the
domain name, or is this a good idea. Our actual domain name
is a internal name only not a internet domain name.Our dhcp
server simply passes external dns server ip's to clients so
they can surf the web.

I don't follow your question??? You already have a domain so there
shouldn;t be a need for another domain name. Are you lookinh to add another
server to your domain or are you looking to create a new forest?

Each server is named differently within a domain. You shouldn't name your
dc the same as your domain.

3 Currently we use wins for name resolution on the internal
network. Wins seems to generate allot of traffic. We are
not using any sort of caching dns server. Would implementing
a 3K Dns caching server be a better solution for internal
name resolution than wins.

DNS and wins are two seperate animals. A 2k3 dns caching server would be of
no value in this circumstance. DNS is name resolution for tcpip names, wins
is name resolution for netbios names. All your browsing refers to netbios.
Hence no value.

 

[Josh Davis]

Paul our current domain is NT4 Based. The users
that log onto that domain are used to working
in a workgroup model.

When you browse the domain via my network places
you can see all the workgroup objects with each
computer listed under a given workgroup.

Can windows server AD be configured to preserve our existing
workgroup or does ad have noting to do with how
the actual computers appear on the network.
while using the ms browsing service

Thanks... Josh.