Active Directory By the Numbers: Windows Server 2003

Overview

So we have our server up and running, bristling with shared folders and printers. Now all we need to do is connect some computers to our server. This chapter takes us through the process of preparing Windows 98, Me, NT 4 (SP6), 2000, and XP computers (also known as clients) to the Windows Server 2003 domain controller ( Note: Windows XP Home Edition can't connect to a domain ).

Clients connected to the domain must have a common DNS server. Recall that DNS translates IP address into domain names such as our fictitious guinea.pig. Active Directory relies heavily on DNS. Without it, clients would be unable to find the domain name guinea.pig .

Ideally, clients connected to the domain should be on the same subnet , or division, of IP addresses. If they are not, then they must have a routing device to direct network requests from one subnet to another.

As mentioned earlier, Windows 95 clients and Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3 and below do not work and play well with Windows Server 2003. In order to get these clients connected to our server, we must install the DSclient.exe (for Windows 95), a program that has vanished from the Server's installer CD, or update to Service Pack 6 (for Windows NT 4). Service Pack 6 is still available from http://www.microsoft.com.