Help Designing Active Directory for 2 Remote Stores

Hi there,

I am trying to build a server for my company. We are a car dealership with 2
stores.. 50 users each. how should i name my servers?

the sole purpose of the servers is to provide active directory (to enfource
group policy, don't want ppl messing with the workstations like wallpaper
etc.) and for file sharing..

the names of my store are: honda & mazada

how I should name my servers? How should I connect these servers together?
and also plan for future stores and growth. The stores are connected by VPN
(1Mbit WAN Link)

I'm using Windows 2003 Server x64 Enterprise Edition.

i've been reading books and everything and confused about having a "root
domain" which should be my root domain?

our internet domain name is: "cargroup.com" (example)

The Honda store is our Main store. We don't plan to add additional domain
controllers any time soon at the same location (like accounting, sales,
parts) (not really worried about redundancy).. Just 1 Server per store is
enough. I guess if the Server at Honda crashes, people can still login though
the Mazda store?

How should I name these boxes?

server1: HONDASVR01
server2: MAZDASVR01

and what about DNS & forests?

server1: honda.cargroup.com
server2: mazda.cargroup.com

Any help would be appreciated

 

Keep it as simple as you can. Root domains are the old suggestion and while
still debated are not typically recommended unless really warranted.
Reason: Adds to the complexity and confusion with very little return.

My thoughts:
Have you considered getting a consultant onsite for a few days?
Deploy a single domain if your business requirements can work with that
(likely that they can from what you describe)
Server and Domain naming: that's usually up to you the customer, but I
suggest that you consider a naming scheme that isn't tied to the brand or
anything else that can be changed too easily. Best to make the name
enduring and non-descript in terms of company names or brand affiliation.
If you don't, you'll likely have to answer some silly questions about why
you don't rename your domain or servers now that we no longer sell brand x.
Somebody might notice.... Perhaps a name suggestion would be cargroup.net
(meaning you'd keep it private and you'd purchase the name and keep it
registered so that nobody else uses it.)

For your head office, place your first server in that site. You'll want to
create sites in your AD based on your network scheme and topology. See the
helpfiles for additional reading about sites.

DNS and Forests. Hard to answer that one. I think you may want to read up
or take my initial advice to help with that. But in a nutshell, if you
decide the others as I've mentioned, DNS is pretty straightforward and
should be AD-Integrated for your internal domain. Don't use anything
external else you'll be asking for issues down the road. And don't use
single-label domains. Same reason.

Al

P.S. Forests are collections of domains. You don't have to worry about
anything there other than forest functional level. Since it's new, consider
making it the highest it can be.

P.P.S. Consider a great recovery plan before you get too far into it. You'll
be glad you did.

 

Hi Al,

for my active directory domain name, do you suggest using "cargroup.local"
or an actual internet domain name? "cargroup.net" i guess i should be safe
with that in case of any unforseen changes.

and to name my 1st server: CG-SRV01 would this be an appropriate name? Would
I be safe from any unforseen future changes? can server names be changed
later?

i agree with not using a domain name that is tied to a brand, because down
the road, what if we dropped the franchise.

so, to create sites: i would goto AD sites and services to add my 2nd
server? And create a replication schedule? (KCC something like that) Would
this 2nd server at my other location be a domain controller as well?

and if it is, do I use the same names?
dns: "cargroup.net" and NETBIOS: "CG-SRV02"

Thanks!

 

I still think the consultant might be worth the money

CG-SRV01 is a fairly benign name. Should be fine.
I still suggest using the .net vs. .local. Both should work for the
immediate solution.
Sites: sites are defined via sites and services. But you'd install first
the one server in site 1 and then when you install the second DC and promote
it, you add it to the same domain. Define it's site etc. and you can
configure replication if you want, but there's not much need unless your WAN
link dictates that you need to.
I do also suggest that your netbios name be cargroup vs. the server name of
the second server. If you keep it the short part of the fqdn, you'll be glad
later

Al