tmaster100
asked on
Windows Network Configuration
Hi,
I have 6 x sites located all around the land down under. All 6 sites are linked via a meshed VPN network and can see each other.
Now, in Head Office i have 2 x AD Servers (1 backup) on the one domain. All others have their own servers on their own domains.
Example :
Head Office - 2008R2 Domain - office1.local (30 users)
Branch Office 1 - 2008R2 Domain - office2.local (10 users)
Branch Office 2 - 2008R2 Domain - office3.,local (10 users)
etc etc
Each server in each branch holds a lot of file storage and staff want access to this quickly so servers must reside in each branch locally.
As i am about to replace all the hardware in all the branches (Servers and Desktops) i have the ability to change things hopefully to make it better.
Question.
What is the best scenario in terms of Domain setup?
Should i keep them all separate domains?
Should i make the branch servers Read Only?
Should i put all the PC's on the Head Office domain and have them replicate from there?
What's the best practice for such a Domain Network?
Looking forward to your kind assistance.
I have 6 x sites located all around the land down under. All 6 sites are linked via a meshed VPN network and can see each other.
Now, in Head Office i have 2 x AD Servers (1 backup) on the one domain. All others have their own servers on their own domains.
Example :
Head Office - 2008R2 Domain - office1.local (30 users)
Branch Office 1 - 2008R2 Domain - office2.local (10 users)
Branch Office 2 - 2008R2 Domain - office3.,local (10 users)
etc etc
Each server in each branch holds a lot of file storage and staff want access to this quickly so servers must reside in each branch locally.
As i am about to replace all the hardware in all the branches (Servers and Desktops) i have the ability to change things hopefully to make it better.
Question.
What is the best scenario in terms of Domain setup?
Should i keep them all separate domains?
Should i make the branch servers Read Only?
Should i put all the PC's on the Head Office domain and have them replicate from there?
What's the best practice for such a Domain Network?
Looking forward to your kind assistance.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Only if bandwidth supports it. Otherwisehave a DC at each location providing authentication/DNS/DHCP but have them all on the same domain (the DCs will replicate updates to each other).
ASKER
Understand, thankyou kindly.
ASKER
So what you suggest is to setup Secondary AD servers in forest that replicate with the first AD server so that all sites will be on the same domain, this makes sense but can you configure these secondary servers to serve out their own DHCP ranges? All our sites use a different Subnet for each location.
From what i understand Windows will always ask the DHCP server closest to it, as in on the same switch for an IP. Is this correct?
We do have travellers that go from state to state and use a laptop. Due to web restrictions all staff are given a reserved IP (based on MAC) so i don't want to mess this up.
From what i understand Windows will always ask the DHCP server closest to it, as in on the same switch for an IP. Is this correct?
We do have travellers that go from state to state and use a laptop. Due to web restrictions all staff are given a reserved IP (based on MAC) so i don't want to mess this up.
Well unless you have a DHCP helper feature enabled in your routers, the DHCP requests will never get beyond the routers - meaning they will stay with the subnet for each site. So, yes, you can setup DHCP on each server and configure each for it's respective site's subnet. In essence, DHCP should function the same as it is now.
ASKER