Playing it safe with test DC

[Mark N.]

I'm setting up a test Win2003 server and want to experiment with it without
messing up the rest of my network. I am guessing that this should start its
life as a standalone server and then I should run the AD wizard? If I give
it a nice test namespace, can I rest assured that it won't tangle with my
production domain?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Laura E. Hunter \(MVP\)]

For perfect isolation, you should install the test server in its own domain
AND in its own forest. W2K/3 forests use a single schema and configuration
container for the entire forest (regardless of how many domains and/or trees
are involved), so any steps you take to extend the schema will affect the
entire forest.

The truly paranoid among us will even place our test networks on their own
network switch so that they don't even have physical connectivity with our
production networks.

 

[Mark N.]

For perfect isolation, you should install the test server in its own
domain

AND in its own forest. W2K/3 forests use a single schema and configuration
container for the entire forest (regardless of how many domains and/or trees
are involved), so any steps you take to extend the schema will affect the
entire forest.

The truly paranoid among us will even place our test networks on their own
network switch so that they don't even have physical connectivity with our
production networks.

Gulp... :-(

I like the isolation-by-hardware idea, but I don't think I can pull that off
here...

So, if my internal domain is an NT4 one named "entire_company" and I name my
new AD domain newdomain.com at the screen requesting the full DNS name, will
I be safe?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Laura E. Hunter \(MVP\)]

The only way to affect an NT4 domain is to upgrade the PDC - what you're
describing is the creation of a brand-separate, new 2003 forest. From the
sounds of it, you should be fine.

 

[Mark N.]

The only way to affect an NT4 domain is to upgrade the PDC - what you're

describing is the creation of a brand-separate, new 2003 forest. From the
sounds of it, you should be fine.

Thanks!!!
Mark