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Configuring Windows 2000 Server

Last Updated 2/3/2009 3:42:59 PM


Abstract


A protocol is a set of rules that define how computers communicate with each other on a network. Without these rules of communication behavior, network communication would be hopeless and computers would not be able to communicate with each other. You will not see a lot of differences in the way you configure and manage protocols in Windows 2000 Server from Windows NT, but you will see some new network communication features. This chapter explains these features and shows you how to configure network communication.



INSTALLING PROTOCOLS IN WINDOWS 2000 SERVER

You install protocols in Windows 2000 Server in much the same way as you did in Windows NT. You can do this by opening My Network Places, then right-clicking Local Area Connection and clicking Properties. The Properties interface gives you a General Property Sheet, which is different from Windows NT, but will look very familiar if you have used Windows 98. The General Property Sheet is shown in Figure 1.

The selected components show you which protocols and servers are currently in use by the local area connection. You can select any component and click Uninstall to remove it, and you can select any component and click Properties to view the Properties sheet for that particular component. If you click the Install button, Windows presents you with a Select Network Component Type dialog box so that you can select the type of component you want to install. Click Protocol and click the Add button. Windows generates a list of protocols that can be added to the system. From the provided list, simply select the protocol you want to install and click OK. Windows will install the protocol and may prompt you for the location of the set-up files if necessary. You may have to reboot your system. Since all protocols are installed in this same way, the rest of the chapter focuses on configuring various protocols that you may choose to install.


TCP/IP



TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the de facto standard for Internet communication, and over the past several years, TCP/IP has become the network protocol of choice for local area networks. This is due in part to LAN integration with the Internet and TCP/IP's scalability. TCP/IP is rather complex and it is beyond the scope of this book to explain the structure and features of TCP/IP. The next section does, however, give you a general review of TCP/IP, its components, and new features supported in Windows 2000.

TCP/IP Review


TCP/IP is a protocol suite, which means it is made up of many individual protocols that all function together. These individual protocols provide you with vast functionality for many services and features. There are over 100 protocols in the TCP/IP protocol suite, and Table 1 reviews some of the major ones.

TCP/IP functions by using three major components that must be configured for each TCP/IP client on the network:

  • IP Address: An IP address is a 32-bit address that identifies the host. The computer's IP address is different from all other computer IP addresses on the network and is represented as an octet, such as 10.0.0.2. The IP is made up of the host ID and the network ID.
  • Subnet Mask: A subnet mask hides the network portion of the IP address from the host portion of the IP address. In networks that use multiple subnets, the subnet mask determines to which subnet a particular host belongs.
  • Default Gateway: The default gateway is the IP address of the computer or router that can send packets to another subnet or network.
When configuring any computer on a TCP/IP network, at least the IP address and a default subnet mask must be supplied. Windows 2000 Server provides you with three ways to accomplish this task:

  • Manual: you can manually assign an IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway for each computer. This method is impractical in large networks for the general client population, but you should consider assigning a static IP address to your servers so that their IP addresses will not change.
  • Dynamic: You can use Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to dynamically assign an IP address to network client computers. To learn more about DHCP and DHCP configuration, see Chapter 11.
  • Automatic Private IP Addressing: Windows 2000 Server includes a new feature that allows you to implement an automatic private IP address to network clients. This method is effective in small environments so that manual configuration or use of DHCP is not needed. The automatic private IP feature automatically assigns network clients an IP address in the range of 169.254.0.0 to 169.254.255.255, which is a reserved IP address range established by the Internet Corporate for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This way, clients can use an IP address that will not conflict with other routable addresses.
As in Windows NT, you still have access to the wide assortment of TCP/IP utilities that help you manage and troubleshoot TCP/IP, such as PING, IPCONFIG, NETSTAT, and ARP.

Configuring TCP/IP


You configure TCP/IP on Windows 2000 Server in the same way you did in Windows NT. In My Network Places, right-click the connection you want to configure and click Properties. Select Internet Protocol in the list and click Properties. The Internet Protocol Properties sheet appears as shown in Figure 2.

By default, the Obtain an IP address automatically radio button is selected. When this radio button is selected, the computer attempts to locate a DHCP server for an IP address. If the computer cannot locate a DHCP server, then the computer uses AutoNet to assign itself an automatic private IP address in the 169.254.0.0 to 69.254.255.255 address range so that it can have connectivity on the network. The automatic private IP addressing feature is enabled by default in Windows 2000, but you can disable it using the registry if you prefer to do so. To disable the automatic private IP addressing feature, open regedt32 and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\adapter_name, then create an entry called IPAutoconfigurationEnabled: Reg_DWORD and assign a value of 0 to the selected network adapter.

If you need to manually configure the TCP/IP settings for the computer, which is often necessary for servers, then you should enter a unique IP address and an appropriate subnet mask as well as default gateway if needed. Additionally, the server can obtain the DNS server address automatically or you can manually enter the IP address of the DNS server and an alternate server if one exists.

If you click the Advanced button, you have some additional configuration options. First, you have an IP Settings tab. On this tab, you can add or change the IP address(es) or default gateway(s) for your server. By using the Add, Edit, or Remove buttons, you can configure these values as needed. The DNS tab allows you to specify the DNS server use order so that you can configure a certain DNS server to appear at the top of the list. You also have some additional DNS settings you can configure which will be discussed in Chapter 12. The WINS tab enables you to perform the same kind of configuration, and you can learn more about WINS in Windows 2000 in Chapter 13. Finally, the Options tab enables you to further configure optional settings such as IP security and TCP/IP filtering, as shown in Figure 3.

If you select an item in the list and click the Properties button, you can further configure the component. For example, with IP security, you can choose not to use IP security, or you can select a security policy to use by clicking the appropriate radio button. TCP/IP filtering allows you to restrict TCP, UDP, and IP ports if you desire to do so. You can learn more about TCP/IP security features in Windows 2000 Server in Chapter 17.

Installing and Configuring TCP/IP Simple Services


TCP/IP simple services provide you with Windows 2000 utilities software to support optional TCP/IP services that are known as "elective" Internet standards. Typically, you do not need TCP/IP simple services unless you need your server to support communication with other systems that use the services offered in Simple TCP/IP. The optional services provided with TCP/IP Simple Services are Character Generator (CHARGEN), which sends data in ASCII printable characters; and Daytime, which returns messages containing the day of the week, month, year, and current time. Next, simple TCP/IP services include Discard, which discards all messages received on a particular port without a response; Echo, which echoes back data from any messages it receives on a particular server port; and Quote of the Day, which returns a quotation as one or more lines in a text message.

To install TCP/IP simple services, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click My Network Places and click Properties.


  2. In the Network and Dial-up Connections window, click the Advanced tab and click Optional Networking Components.


  3. In the Scroll box, double-click Network Services.


  4. Click the Simple TCP/IP Services check box and click OK.


  5. Click Next.


  6. Setup configures the component and prompts you for the location of the setup files.


  7. Click Finish.

NWLINK



NWLink is Microsoft's answer to communication in mixed Microsoft and Novell networks. The NWLink protocol is Microsoft's implementation of Novell's Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange (IPX/SPX) protocol and is used in NetWare environments. With NWLink, you can allow your Windows clients to access NetWare servers and you can allow NetWare clients to access Windows 2000.

As in Windows NT, you will need to install File and Print Services for NetWare (FPNW) on the Windows 2000 Server to allow NetWare clients access to file and print resources (see Chapter 15), and you configure the NWLink protocol the same way in Windows 2000 as you did in Windows NT.

Once the NWLink protocol is installed, you can configure it by selecting it from the Local Area Connection Properties list, then clicking the Properties button. This takes you to a General Property sheet, as shown in Figure 4.

There are three components involved in configuring NWLink: frame type, network number, and internal network number. The network number and frame type are automatically selected by Windows 2000 when you install NWLink, and a generic internal network number is also supplied by default, as you can see in Figure 4. If you run FPNW, IPX routing, or any other NetWare service that uses the Service Advertising Protocol (SAP) agent, you will need to change this default internal number to a correct internal number for your network.

The Frame Type tells the computer how the network adapter card should format the data. This frame type must match the frame type of the NetWare server for communication to take place, and this is a common communication error in mixed Microsoft and Novell environments. Windows will attempt an auto detection for the network frame type, but you can also click the manual frame type detection and enter the appropriate frame type by using the Add button. For example, the typical frame type for an Ethernet network is either 802.3 or 802.2, depending on the version of NetWare that is running. Consult the NetWare documentation for more information about frame types.

The Network Number is required for each frame type and must be unique for each segment in the network. All computers on the same segment must use the same network number for communication to take place. Windows 2000 automatically detects a network number during NWLink installation, and you use the ipxroute config command at the command prompt to gain this information, as shown in Figure 5.


USING OTHER PROTOCOLS



Windows 2000 supports a number of additional protocols that provide you with connectivity to other systems and services. The following sections gives you an overview of these.

NetBEUI


NetBIOS Extended User Interface (NetBEUI) is a small, fast protocol that was developed by IBM for workgroups and small LANs. NetBEUI is not routable, so it has widely been replaced by TCP/IP implementations. Windows 2000 still supports NetBEUI for backwards compatibility and it can be installed in the same way as other protocols. There are no configuration options for the protocol.

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