Windows Server Deployment Proposal
Introduction
This paper is aimed at showing the windows server deployment proposal. Throughout the paper, the following are vividly described: active directory, new features of windows server 2012, applications services, deployment and server editions, DNS and DHCP, file and printer sharing.
Windows Server 2012 new features
Global Advertising can take advantage of the following Windows Server features. (Shields, 2012). Server Manager- Windows 2012 Server offers a multi-server support in its server manager. This feature will enable GAI to be able to manage its servers to be located either in Los Angeles or New York. Windows Server 2012 holds the concept of cloud computing hence making it easy to manage different servers.
Server Message Block (SMB 2.2) – Windows Server 2012 has well enhanced the file sharing protocol. The file server now has some added resiliency which needs no special configuration (Shields, 2012). On the other hand, Server applications such Microsoft Server can have their databases stored on the SMB shares. This feature enables the Global Advertising Inc to be able to use the SMB 2.2 without having to configure changes to the SQL Server databases.
Active Directory (AD) Recycle Bin GUI: Windows Server 2012 comes up with a new GUI add-on which is contained in the Active Directory Administrative Centre. With the availability of this feature admins can now view and restore objects deleted from the Active Directory, these objects can be restored to their original container or in a fresh container. This is not a new feature as such, but in previous Windows Server versions, it was done through scripting. The system Admins of GAI in Los Angeles or New York can swiftly get any accidently erased items reinstated through the Active Directory Recycle Bin (Shields, 2012). Network Interface Cards- System administrators at GAI will not have to rely on third party vendors for network cards. This is a result of Microsoft Windows Server 2012 having able to team several network adapters to combine bandwidth more also providing fail over. Microsoft Windows Server provides in-built NIC teaming of Network Interface cards up to 32 of them which do not depend on the type of cards installed.
Domain controllers Replication: this a feature that enables users to create replicas of Domain Controllers by cloning existing one. A new option contained in windows server 2012 “Allow this DC to create a clone” enables a computer to be replicable (Shields, 2012).
Related: Desktop Virtualization
Deployment and Server Editions
Windows Server 2012 being the most progressive server operating system will be employed all through the set-up. A total of 8 servers will be needed by Global Advertising Inc network. Some server roles are combined to reduce the number of servers used. These roles include; file and sharing services, web server IIS roles can also be combined to some extent.
Standard and Datacenter Windows Server editions will be used on most of the servers.
Datacenter is an edition that is designed for a heavily virtualized environment, and the GAI setup can be said to be highly virtualized since the offices are located differently in two sites that are Los Angeles and New York. On the other hand, Standard Edition is a full-featured operating system mostly used for businesses that have more than 25 users. GAI setup has more than one hundred employees hence having more users. The idea of Serve Cores will not be used since the server cores do not support the “Windows Deployment service” that is used to deploy all the servers in their specified sites.
Most the 8 servers should be in the central offices in Los Angeles where 5 will be deployed while the other three servers will be deployed in New York. On the deployment mode to be used due to the time factor, the number of devices and the location factors using manual deployment method will be ineffective and costly to GAI since it could lead to declined profits. Therefore, the preferred way of deployment is Automatic through the windows automated installation kit.
The Following table shows how some of the server roles will be distributed considering the following factors fault tolerance, security resource allocation, and availability.
| SERVER NUMBER | SITE IT IS LOCATED | ROLES AND SERVICES | EDITION |
| 1 | Los Angeles | Main Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
Primary Dynamic Naming Server Main Active Directory |
Standard |
| 3 | Los Angeles | File Services
Applications AD Backup Printing services |
Data Centre |
| 7 | Relay Agent for the DHCP
Application services Webserver IIS Terminal services |
Data Centre |
Active Directory
Each Active Directory will require a minimum two domain controllers. At GAI there are 2 DCs which are situated in the two sites in Los Angeles and New York. The main DC and a backup will be situated at the Los Angeles office while a Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) will be placed at the New York branch office to enhance efficiency. Having the Read Only Domain Controller in New York will enable freeing of Wide Area Network of unnecessary traffic. To enable the DNS replication traffic to be processed through the Active Directory (Rist, 2012), Active Directory Integrated Zones must be used. Domain Controllers contain Universal Scope hence their placement at the Second Site will be smoothly done (Rist, 2012).
There will be a parent domain and two child domains for each of the two sites. The parent domain can be GAI.local while the two child domains are NY.WAI.local for the site in New York and LA.WAI.local for the site in Los Angeles.
The Active Directory Organizational Units will be as follows; the different departments will be established as organizational units which contain all employees from the two locations. The organizational units stand listed as; Executive, IT, Accounting and Sales, Human Resource and Finance, Creative, Media and Production departments. The Organizational units’ group scope should be global since it incorporates all employees from the two locations. To prevent the departments that want their information to be private from other departments, we should configure the NTFS and share permissions strictly. This will enable other departments from accessing information such as financial data. The Chief System administrator can make changes that he/she sees necessary since he/she is granted with full control on permission changes.
Below is an image showing the active directory schema in some the two sites and how some of the servers are placed.
DNS and DHCP
To save on expenses and administrators time, a hybrid Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol infrastructure should be used with relay agents. I prefer having a central and DHCP backup at the main office in Los Angeles, and several relay agents in New York branch office as the ideal solution since it frees traffic from the Wide Area Network link between the two offices.
I will implement programmed/automatic allocation of IP addresses to prevent unnecessary network traffic flow at each location. For the network scalability, there will be a solid network layout with large subnets for each of the organizational units. The configuration of 80/20 shall be used to accomplish fault tolerance for the DHCP network. This configuration will be used for scope splitting (Stanek, 2013). Address range of 172.0.0.1- 172.0.1.300 will be used. On the Main DHCP, I will have the exclusion as 172.0.0.1-172.0.100 while the split scope DHCP will be 172.0.0.101-172.0.0.300. Entirely, the relay agents in New York office will be configured so that they can use boot threshold which ensures that all the DHCP clients get their addresses only from the local server.
A DNS will be set on both sites that are in New York and Los Angeles this is to enable the Windows 2012 server can provide name resolution services whereby computers’ IP Addresses can be found based on the computer name.
Related: Intranet project and Self-service portal system for Dingwow Inc.
Applications
All applications that will be deployed in the GAI setup will be server based and available to terminals through Microsoft management services. Applications can be deployed using the group policy in windows server 2012. Windows Server 2012 contains a feature known as Software Installation and Maintenance. This feature is used by the Group Policy to install, maintain and remove applications from the organizations’ machines.
To deploy applications in the GAI infrastructure using Group Policy the following procedure will be gone through. In the Domain Server under Server Manager, tools and then group policy management. In the group policy management console, right click on GAI.local which is the domain name and create a new GPO in this domain. In the new GPO, you can now install the software application you want to install.
Web access shall be used for to allocate applications for intranet through port 3333. From different offices in the sites, users will just open internet explorer on their terminals to access the applications they need. The following software applications shall be needed Webserver IIS component; all client computers should also be equipped with RDC 7.0. Several Applications will be available to clients through we access these applications includes Microsoft Office applications (Stanek, 2013).
File and Printer Sharing
The Global Advertising file services will utilize recommendations on Microsoft (Ferril, 2013). Each client shall be given a home folder which will be used for private storage, a shared folder, and a collective workplace through share point. Three servers shall be installed with file services; two at the main site and 1 at the branch site. These servers will be used to provide shares. Having local file services at each site enables allowance to incase the Network fails on the same note reducing unnecessary traffic in the link (Stanek, 2013). Synchronization of the file system is necessary to ensure that current data is available to everyone. Synchronization shall be achieved through Distributed File System replication.
DFS will be needed so as the files will appear as a single integrated directory to bring users’ convenience more also providing consistent backups (Ferril, 2013). Print services will be available to all the clients through the remote desktops which are already in place for applications. There will be an administrator to manage the print jobs within the network.
Conclusion
A consistent server implementation is vital to the victory of any corporate environment. The deployment of the server must be aimed at reducing traffic and increasing productivity within the network. I believe that the solution provided above will bring success to the Global Advertising Inc.
References
Ferril, P. (2013). A Hands on Look at Windows Server 2012. ServerWatch, 1-23.
Rist, O. (2012). Review: Weighing Windows Server 2012. Windows Servers, 30-42.
Shields, G. (2012). Quick Guide: What’s New in Windows Server 2012 Active Directory. Redmond Media, 5-11.
Stanek, W. (2013). Windows Server 2012 Inside out . RedMond: Microsoft Press.
Related:
