New Server Setup

After two long days of trying to have everything set up without interrupting normal work flow in the office we finally have a new server up and running. Guess which one is the new one?

The thing that I really love about the new setup is the whole DFS deal. All the network shares are set up so that:

• if one server dies, all the shares are still accessible
• active directory does load balancing with respect to the shares
• both servers do an independent nightly tape backup (redundancy)

In addition both are set up as domain controllers, DNS and DHCP servers. So as long as one of them is running, all operation is going to be seamless in the office.

The only thing we did not get working was our wireless printer sharing, our SMTP relay and web server. The users can still choose to print via one of the servers – all they need to do is to pick an alternate printer.

Web and email is for now tied to the old server, but that’s ok for now. My biggest problem now is desk space:

I currently have 3 monitors sitting in my cube. Fortunately it’s one of those large corner half cubes, but still. It’s time to invest in a KVM methinks.

And don’t try to tell me to run them headless – these are win 2KR2 servers. They can be headless but if shit hits the fan, you will need to drag the monitor back in to get to safe mode. And no, Linux was not an option. :(