For many situations in which you're about to install Microsoft Windows Server 2003 onto a new computer system—a bare-metal or a clean installation to a computer you can sit in front of—booting from the Windows Server 2003 CD-ROM is certainly the simplest. You need only configure the server to boot from the CD-ROM by setting the boot device order in the BIOS and provide information when prompted. The exception to this is when you must specify command-line switches, which might require you to boot from a floppy disk with CD-ROM drivers (if it is a bare-metal installation) or run the command line from within an existing installation. Alternatively, if you work in an environment that maintains standing images of operating systems in use, you can do an interactive installation from a distribution folder on the network.
The previous chapter covers everything you must prepare for installing Windows Server 2003 and getting started. Still, there are some additional installation considerations—just a few, I promise.
When you are working with Windows Server 2003 on x86-based systems, you should be aware of the three special types of drive sections used by the operating system.
System The system volume or partition contains the hardware-specific files needed to load the operating system.
Boot The boot volume or partition contains the operating system and its support files.
Active The active volume or partition is the drive section from which the computer starts. It contains the startup files, including Boot.ini, Ntdetect.com, Ntldr, and Bootsect.dos.
Note
Partitions and volumes are essentially the same thing. We use two different terms at times, however, because partitions are created on basic disks and volumes are created on dynamic disks.
Note
Yes, the definitions of boot partition and system partition are backward from what you'd expect. The boot partition does in fact contain the Windows directory—that's just the way it is. Hey, you have to click Start to stop the computer, so what'd you expect?
Although these volumes or partitions can be the same, they are required nonetheless. When you install Windows Server 2003, the Setup program assesses all hard disk drive resources available. Typically, Windows Server 2003 puts boot and system on the same drive and partition and marks this partition as the active partition. The advantage of this configuration is that you don't need multiple drives for the operating system and can use an additional drive as a mirror of the operating system partitions. Contrary to some documentation, you can mirror operating system partitions—you do this by using dynamic disks as discussed in the section entitled "Using the Basic and Dynamic Storage Types".
Inside Out: Partitions should use NTFS
The active, system, and boot partitions can be formatted as file allocation table (FAT), FAT32, or NTFS. In Microsoft Windows NT, administrators often formatted these volumes as FAT on the premise that if the operating system failed, they could boot to a DOS diskette, and then from DOS, they could replace any corrupted files or reconfigure drives after installing a new drive. Unfortunately, because of its poor security, FAT reduced the overall security of the system and put the entire network at risk. On Windows Server 2003, configuring these volumes as NTFS is recommended and not only because of the added security benefits. Any time a boot fails, Windows Server 2003 enables you to boot to the Advanced Options menu. This menu gives you the option of starting the operating system in one of several safe modes that you can use to attempt to boot without certain services or system components. You can also boot to the Recovery Console, which allows you to access a command line and work with NTFS. For more information on the Recovery Mode Console, see "Chapter 40.
There are a number of differences when installing to the Intel Architecture 64 (IA-64) Itanium-based hardware platform. The IA-64 Extended Firmware Interface starts up loading a firmware-based boot menu (instead of Boot.ini).
IA-64 disks have a partition structure, called a globally unique identifier (GUID) Partition Table (part of the Extensible Firmware Interface, or EFI), that differs substantially from the 32-bit platform Master Boot Record–based partitions. A GUID Partition Table (GPT)–based disk has two required partitions and one or more optional (original equipment manufacturer [OEM] or data) partitions (up to 128 total):
EFI system partition (ESP)
Microsoft Reserved partition (MSR)
At least one data partition
The IA-64 boot menu presents a set of options, one of which is the EFI shell. The EFI shell provides an operating environment supporting the FAT and FAT32 file systems, as well as configuration and file management commands.
To view a list of partitions on an IA-64-based computer, use the command MAP. The following appears in the resultant display:
blk designates partition blocks.
fs# designates readable file systems.
Changing to a partition is like changing a logical drive—enter the partition block number followed by a colon, press Enter, and then type DIR to view the files.
EFI has a boot maintenance manager that allows you to configure the boot menu. By using the boot maintenance manager, you can choose to do any of the following:
Add or remove a boot option
Set timeout delay and the boot option to run automatically
Define standard console devices
Boot from a (selected) file
Perform cold reboot
Note
Any of the boot configuration settings for Windows Server 2003 can be modified by using the Bootcfg command or by using the System utility in Control Panel.
Intel's 64-bit systems do not boot from a CD-ROM; thus, Setup must be started through the EFI shell. To do this, go to the fs# alias that maps to the CD-ROM and run the Setupldr.efi Setup boot loader.
The rest of setup for an IA-64 system is the same as the 32-bit version of setup, with the exception of the IA-64 partitioning method. Setup determines whether there is an EFI partition—if one is not present, Setup creates (and formats) the EFI and the MSR partitions and asks you to create a data partition for the operating system.
If possible, you should always check system compatibility with Windows Server 2003 before attempting to install the operating system. One way to check compatibility is to use Winnt32 /Checkupgradeonly as discussed in the section entitled "Winnt32 Command-Line Parameters". You can start the same compatibility check from the graphical user interface (GUI) as well. Follow these steps:
Insert the Windows Server 2003 CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.
When the Autorun screen appears, click Check System Compatibility. (If Autorun is disabled or doesn't run, double-click the Setup.exe program on the CD-ROM.)
Click Check My System Automatically. The Windows operating system then analyzes the compatibility of the system and its hardware components, searching for any potential problems and displaying the results.
You will be prompted to get updated Setup files using Dynamic Update. Click Yes to do this or No to skip the update and continue the installation precheck.
Select a reported item, and then click Details to view additional information. You can also click Save As to save the report as a text file. When you are done, click Finish.
Now that you know how Windows Server 2003 uses disks on both x86-based and Itaniumbased systems, consider carefully how you want to partition the hard disk drives. The boot and system files require about 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of space. To allow for flexibility, you should create a partition for the operating system with at least 4 to 10 GB minimum. This allows for the addition of service packs and other system files later. Don't forget that you should also have enough disk space for the pagefile; I recommend reserving additional disk space equivalent to twice the installed RAM for this purpose.
Although on a 32-bit system you could have a single hard disk with a single partition, it is better to have multiple partitions, even if the computer has only one drive. By using multiple partitions, you can separate operating system files from application data. Not only does this enhance security, it permits the use of services that require installation on nonsystem partitions, such as Remote Installation Services (RIS).
Tip
Create additional partitions
If you plan to create multiple partitions, don't worry about doing it when installing the operating system. Configure the Windows operating system to use a partition of the correct size, such as 4 GB or more, and then create the other partitions that you want to use after the installation is finished.
For systems with multiple disks, this is a good time to think about whether you want to use a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) to add fault tolerance for the operating system. RAID options are discussed in the section entitled "Managing Volumes on Dynamic Disks" and include the following:
Disk striping (RAID 0)
Disk mirroring or duplexing (RAID 1)
Disk striping with parity (RAID 5)
You cannot use RAID 0 with system or boot volumes. More typically, operating system files are mirrored, while application data is striped with parity. If you plan to mirror the operating system, you will need two disks. If you plan to create a RAID-5 volume for your data, you'll need at least three disks.
RAID can be performed at the hardware level or at the operating system level. You will find that the hardware-based RAID provides the best performance and the easiest solution. Windows Server 2003 also provides software-based RAID. Software-based RAID is implemented by using dynamic disks. For a bare-metal installation, the disks on the computer should be formatted as basic disks, and then after installation, you upgrade to dynamic disks so you can implement software-based RAID. On existing installations, the computer might already have dynamic disks, such as would happen if a computer is currently using Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and you are performing a new installation of Windows Server 2003. As long as the dynamic disks are hard-linked as a result of a basic disk being upgraded to a dynamic disk, the new installation of Windows Server 2003 over the existing installation should work fine. However, the Windows Setup program has problems working with dynamic disks with soft links (that is, those disks installed initially as dynamic disks or those disks whose hard links were overwritten), and as a result, setup of a new installation fails (an upgrade would work fine, however). If you are concerned about dynamic disk issues, you might want to allow the first disk to be a basic disk.
It is surprising how few organizations take the time to plan out the names they're going to use for their computers. Sure, it is fun to have servers named Lefty, Curly, Moe, Ducky, Ruddy, and Aardvark, but just what do the names say about the role and location of those servers? You guessed it—nothing, which can make it difficult for users and even other administrators to find resources they need. Not to mention the management nightmare that happens when your 6 cutely named servers grow to number 50 or 500.
Rather than using names that are cute or arbitrary, decide on a naming scheme that is meaningful to both administrators and users—and this doesn't mean naming servers after the Seven Dwarfs or Lord of the Rings characters. Okay, it might be cool—way cool—to have servers named Bilbo, Gandalf, Frodo, and Gollum. But pretty soon you'd have Galadriel, Boromir, Theoden, Eowyn, and all the rest of the cast. And at that point, you'd better be ready to field lots of questions, such as, "How do you spell Aeyowin, anyway?" or "What's Thedding and where is it again?"
To help users and ease the administration burden, you might decide to use a naming scheme that helps identify what the computer does and where it is located. For example, you could name the first server in the Engineering department Engsvr01 and the first server in the Technical Services department Techsvr01. These names identify the computers as servers and specify the departments in which they are located. You might also have servers named CorpMail01 and CorpIntranet01, which identify the corporate mail and intranet servers, respectively.
Although naming conventions can be helpful, don't go overboard. The names Engsvr01, Techsvr01, CorpMail01, and CorpIntranet01 help identify computers by role and location, but they aren't overly complex. Keeping things simple should help ensure the computer names are easy to remember and easy to work with. Stay away from overly complex names, such as SeattleSrvBldg48DC17 or SvrSeaB48F15-05, if at all possible. Overly complex names are unnecessary in most instances and probably contain information that most users don't need. For example, users won't care that a server is in building 48 or that it is on floor 15. In fact, that information might be too specific and could actually help someone who wants to break into or sabotage the corporate network. Instead of putting exact mapping information in the computer name, keep a spreadsheet that maps computer locations for administration use, and include only general information about location or department in the computer name.
Finally, keep in mind that computer names must be unique in the domain and must be 64 characters or less in length. The first 15 characters of the computer name are used as the pre– Windows 2000 computer name for NetBIOS communications and must be unique in the domain as well. Further, for DNS compatibility, the name should consist of only alphanumeric characters (A–Z, a–z, and 0–9) and the hyphen.
During installation, you must decide on several important network and domain membership options, such as the following:
Which protocols the server will use
Whether the server will be a member of the domain
What networking components will be installed
As with Microsoft Windows 2000, the only protocol that Windows Server 2003 installs by default is Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). You have the option of installing additional networking components during installation, which includes Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) and AppleTalk. However, NetBEUI is not provided as a protocol option. It has been removed from all editions of Windows Server 2003.
To install TCP/IP, you must decide whether you want to use static Internet Protocol (IP) addressing or dynamic IP addressing. For static IP addresses, you need the following information:
IP address
Subnet mask
Default gateway
Preferred DNS server
For dynamic IP addressing, the IP information is assigned automatically by an available Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. If no DHCP server is available, the server will use Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) and assign itself an IP address. Autoconfigured addressing is typically nonroutable, so you must correct this issue after installation.
Just about every server you install will be a member of a domain rather than a member of a workgroup (except if your company has a datacenter or you work exclusively in an isolated development lab). You can join a computer to a domain during installation. If you want to do that, you must have a computer account created in the domain (or create one during installation using an account with Administrator or Account Operator rights). A computer account is similar to a user account in that it resides in the accounts database held in the Active Directory directory service and is maintained by domain controllers.
If a server is a member of a domain, users with domain memberships or permissions can access the server and its resources based on, of course, their individual rights and permissions without having to have a separate logon. This means that users can log on once to the domain and work with resources for which they have permissions to access, and they won't be prompted to log on separately for each server they work with. In contrast, however, if a server is a member of a workgroup, users must log on each time they want to work with a server and its resources.
During installation, you have the opportunity to install networking components. The common networking components for servers are selected automatically. They include the following:
Client for Microsoft Networks Allows the computer to access resources on Windowsbased networks
File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks Allows other Windows-based computers to access resources on the computer (required for remote logon)
Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Allows the computer to communicate over the network by using TCP/IP
You can install additional clients, services, and protocols during installation, including Network Load Balancing, Microsoft TCP/IP v6, and Client Service for Netware. However, try to keep additional component installation to a minimum. Install the components that you know must be installed. Don't install components you think you might need. Any additional components can be installed after the operating system installation. Remember, not only will the additional components use disk space, they might also run as services. Services use system processing time and memory, and in some cases, they also could lower the security of the system by providing an additional way for someone to break into it.