Reader Challenge - 01 Nov 1998

Flex your intellectual muscles

Replication
[Editor's Note: Solve this month's Windows NT problem and get the chance to win $100 or a copy of one of the author's books about NT. Email your solutions to challenge
@winntmag.com. Include your full name, mailing address, and connection to NT. Because of the number of entries, we cannot reply to all respondents. To add to the author's collection of NT problems, email problems and solutions to answers@
voicenet.com. Look for the solution to this month's problem in the February issue.]

Dennie's Luxurious Clothing for Kids is a fast-growing chain. Linda, the IS director, has to upgrade the company's Windows NT network to accommodate dozens of new employees. Linda wants to speed up the logon process and institute redundancy in case of machine failure. To accomplish these goals, she adds two Backup Domain Controllers (BDCs). She must then deal with replication.

Problem
Linda keeps a log as she implements replication. From Linda's log, see if you can identify any mistakes she makes, and explain what problems might occur as a result of her mistakes.

11/2: I added a new user named REP for replication. The user has full administrative rights. I configured the default user setup (i.e., user must change password every 30 days, system permits changes immediately, system does not keep a password history, and system locks user out after three incorrect password attempts).

11/3: I set up directory-replication services on all domain controllers for the REP user. I configured the startup type as Automatic. In Server Manager, I used default settings for the replication directories.

11/4: I added a new group named Accounting to the domain. All accounting department employees belong to this group, and I removed these users from all other groups. The Accounting group has the same permissions as the Account Operators group.

11/5: I added a subdirectory, WinntReplAccntScripts, to hold logon scripts for the accounting department. I entered this directory name in the user profile for each group member.

11/6: Catherine and Beth (both members of the Account Operators group) had trouble logging on. I opened Server Manager on the Primary Domain Controller (PDC) and selected the BDC. Then I forced replication from the Computer menu and told them to try logging on again.

11/9: For redundancy and backup, I established an NT 4.0 workstation as an import computer. Tomorrow I will configure the import workstation for export so it can send information to the BDCs in case of PDC problems.

11/10: The IS department is creating a second domain for the new offices on the third floor. The servers are connected through the 10Base-T concentrator, and I am wiring them as a separate leg on the LAN. I will establish a trust in both directions so that replication will be automatic.

August Winners
Congratulations to Rob Weaver, a network administrator with Command Software Systems in Lake Park, Florida, and to Chuck De La Rosa, an information technologist with AmeriServe in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Rob won first prize of $100 for the best solution to the August Reader Challenge. Chuck won second prize of a copy of Optimizing the Windows Registry (IDG Books).

The brief solution follows. For a complete explanation, see the Windows NT Magazine Web site (http://www.winntmag.com). Enter 3926 in the InstaNT Doc text box.

Problem
A systems administrator is trying to remotely administer a Windows 95 workstation. He doesn't see a particular user's computer listed in Server Manager. However, the user is logged on and working.

Solution
The systems administrator used the default Show Domain Members Only view in Server Manager. Win95 and Windows NT machines are not equal domain members. Win95 computers log on to a domain, whereas NT computers join a domain (i.e., become members of the domain). As domain members, NT computers must have a Security Accounts Manager (SAM) and provide a security ID (SID).