Redundant DC/fileserver

[RLM]

For one of our offices I need to replace their aging
DC/file/print/dns/dhcp server.

This is one machine and I want to replace it with 2 identical machines,
so that they have some redundancy.

I did some research on clustering but I don't think that's the way we
want to go, because that requires an additional storage server for their
data. I'm on a tight budget..

Is it possible to use Windows server 2003 R2 for this scenario ? I read
about DFS replication, but is this suitable for a fileserver where
sometimes lots of small files are being stored in a short period ? (I'm
thinking about replication frequency, speed, etc)

The big question is: how can I always point the users to DC1, and fall
back to DC2 in case of problems, without using clustering.

Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Dick
--

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

RLM <redlob@gmail.com> wrote:
> For one of our offices I need to replace their aging
> DC/file/print/dns/dhcp server.
>
> This is one machine and I want to replace it with 2 identical
> machines, so that they have some redundancy.
>
> I did some research on clustering but I don't think that's the way we
> want to go, because that requires an additional storage server for
> their data. I'm on a tight budget..
>
> Is it possible to use Windows server 2003 R2 for this scenario ? I
> read about DFS replication, but is this suitable for a fileserver
> where sometimes lots of small files are being stored in a short
> period ? (I'm thinking about replication frequency, speed, etc)
>
> The big question is: how can I always point the users to DC1, and fall
> back to DC2 in case of problems, without using clustering.
>
> Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Dick

As far as the DC is concerned, no big deal. Whomever answers first will take
care of your client authentication.
DNS - both DCs will have AD-integrated DNS, so they should match.
For printers, you could set up all your printers/shares on one box, and then
migrate them to the other (I personally use printmig for this) - you can
switch users over to the other print server via a script as needed. I'm not
sure how DFS works with print services, honestly.
For DHCP, just set up non-overlapping scopes.
I think DFS would be fine for your purposes....but check out
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/storage/dfs/default.mspx
for an overview.

 

[RLM]

On 2007-07-29, Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]
<lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatyahoo.com> wrote:
> RLM <redlob@gmail.com> wrote:
>> For one of our offices I need to replace their aging
>> DC/file/print/dns/dhcp server.

>> This is one machine and I want to replace it with 2 identical
>> machines, so that they have some redundancy.

>> I did some research on clustering but I don't think that's the way we
>> want to go, because that requires an additional storage server for
>> their data. I'm on a tight budget..

>> Is it possible to use Windows server 2003 R2 for this scenario ? I
>> read about DFS replication, but is this suitable for a fileserver
>> where sometimes lots of small files are being stored in a short
>> period ? (I'm thinking about replication frequency, speed, etc)

>> The big question is: how can I always point the users to DC1, and
>> fall back to DC2 in case of problems, without using clustering.

>> Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated.

> As far as the DC is concerned, no big deal. Whomever answers first
> will take care of your client authentication. DNS - both DCs will
> have AD-integrated DNS, so they should match. For printers, you could
> set up all your printers/shares on one box, and then migrate them to
> the other (I personally use printmig for this) - you can switch users
> over to the other print server via a script as needed. I'm not sure
> how DFS works with print services, honestly. For DHCP, just set up
> non-overlapping scopes. I think DFS would be fine for your
> purposes....but check out
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/storage/dfs/default.mspx
> for an overview.

Thanks, so when I comes to AD authentication, it's pretty
straightforward. I will do some more research on the DNS/DHCP thing. For
my printers, I think I will set them up on my Windows Storage server. I
have to find a way to point my clients automatically to the new
printserver.

DFS is still something I'm not sure about...I've studied your link, but
I'm wondering how it will perform in real life.

Any experiences with that ?


--

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

RLM <redlob@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2007-07-29, Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]
> <lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmailatyahoo.com> wrote:
>> RLM <redlob@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> For one of our offices I need to replace their aging
>>> DC/file/print/dns/dhcp server.
>
>>> This is one machine and I want to replace it with 2 identical
>>> machines, so that they have some redundancy.
>
>>> I did some research on clustering but I don't think that's the way
>>> we want to go, because that requires an additional storage server
>>> for their data. I'm on a tight budget..
>
>>> Is it possible to use Windows server 2003 R2 for this scenario ? I
>>> read about DFS replication, but is this suitable for a fileserver
>>> where sometimes lots of small files are being stored in a short
>>> period ? (I'm thinking about replication frequency, speed, etc)
>
>>> The big question is: how can I always point the users to DC1, and
>>> fall back to DC2 in case of problems, without using clustering.
>
>>> Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated.
>
>> As far as the DC is concerned, no big deal. Whomever answers first
>> will take care of your client authentication. DNS - both DCs will
>> have AD-integrated DNS, so they should match. For printers, you
>> could set up all your printers/shares on one box, and then migrate
>> them to the other (I personally use printmig for this) - you can
>> switch users over to the other print server via a script as needed.
>> I'm not sure how DFS works with print services, honestly. For DHCP,
>> just set up non-overlapping scopes. I think DFS would be fine for
>> your purposes....but check out
>> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/storage/dfs/default.mspx
>> for an overview.
>
> Thanks, so when I comes to AD authentication, it's pretty
> straightforward. I will do some more research on the DNS/DHCP thing.
> For my printers, I think I will set them up on my Windows Storage
> server. I have to find a way to point my clients automatically to the
> new printserver.

Publish them in the directory when you install/share them. Try
lurking/posting in microsoft.public.windows.group_policy for help with
making them available automatically.

>
> DFS is still something I'm not sure about...I've studied your link,
> but I'm wondering how it will perform in real life.
>
> Any experiences with that ?

No, sorry.