PDC pondering

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Guest

I have a PDC that has all the roles in a single domain (rid, pdc,infrastruc).
I fear my pdc is getting along in age and i want to transfer these rolse off
it so if it dies...i dont have a hassel. Is it better to move them all to
one stable server? or can i spread them out to different servers. I have 4
dc's (3 win2k, 1 win2k3). Also i was wondering what each of these control.
(When my pdc goes down ...no one can login to the network...is there
something set wrong?)

Thanks
 
I would move them all to one good server.

In enormous environments, it is sometimes recommended to spread them about.
But I can't really see any benefits to doing this.
Also i was wondering what each of these control. (When my pdc goes down
...no one can login to the network...is there something set wrong?)
Click to expand...

Only the PDCe directly affects the users. The enterprise roles are very
infrequently used, and only then for very specific purposes. The RID role
is needed, and you will notice it's missing after a while; although only if
you make lots of new security principles. The Infrastructure role, in your
environment, is not used. It is only used in multi-domain environments
where not all DCs are GCs.

Unless you have mainly legacy clients, I suspect that your PDC problem is
actually a DNS problem. All internal clients should point to more than one
internal DNS server (usually DCs). You should also have a minimum of two
GCs and at least one per site. In your environment (single domain) I would
make all DCs GCs.

Here's a couple of article's I've written that may help out. These also
point to a bunch of MS KBs:
-- http://www.msresource.net/content/view/13/46/ (info on FSMO roles)
-- http://www.msresource.net/content/view/14/46/ (info on the GC/ IM issue)
-- http://www.msresource.net/content/view/28/47/ (move FSMO roles)
-- http://www.msresource.net/content/view/25/47/ (configure a GC)


--

Paul Williams

http://www.msresource.net/
http://forums.msresource.net/

I have a PDC that has all the roles in a single domain (rid,
pdc,infrastruc).
I fear my pdc is getting along in age and i want to transfer these rolse
off
it so if it dies...i dont have a hassel. Is it better to move them all to
one stable server? or can i spread them out to different servers. I have 4
dc's (3 win2k, 1 win2k3). Also i was wondering what each of these control.
(When my pdc goes down ...no one can login to the network...is there
something set wrong?)

Thanks
 
thx for the answers...i think im good. Im thinking about new server just
for the specific role of PDC and dns...so if/when this old hag of a server
dies i wont have to bother with downtime.

thanks again for the tips/articles!!
 
No problem!!

Just remember that you need multiple DNS servers and that your clients
should point to more than one ;-)

--

Paul Williams

http://www.msresource.net/
http://forums.msresource.net/

thx for the answers...i think im good. Im thinking about new server just
for the specific role of PDC and dns...so if/when this old hag of a server
dies i wont have to bother with downtime.

thanks again for the tips/articles!!
 
Steve,

You did notice Paul's comment about every DC being a GC... If you just
added more DC's you may not have done anything to designate others as GCs.
You want to make sure that you have one GC in every site you have designated
and two if you have all your DCs in one site.

Do read the articles that Paul has listed below but you needn't get too hung
up on role placement unless you have multiple domains in your forest or a
very high load of object creation/ destruction.

Of course... It is always a good idea to be mindful of the best practices
so you don't get into trouble later should your environment grow. (If you
leave that company someday, you don't need the next person in there going on
and on about you not doing things correctly. <smirk>)
 
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