Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition R2 x 64-bit

Contributed by Jonathan Barwon

We have recently completed a server installation project of Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition R2 x 64-bit for one of clients. We are pretty sure this is one of the few deployments of this particular edition of Windows Servers here in Liberia because almost everyone is still using the 2003 version.

This blog entry will describe how we went about setting up the Server which took us a couple of weeks. We started in the second week of December but had to pause it over the Christmas & New Year break as our client had shut down its offices over the holidays. We completed and handed over the project in the second week of January. 

Brief Description of Project:

The objective of the project was to create a domain and a workgroup for common file sharing with high security among users; to have better control of the network end users’ devices i.e. to deny users' access to sites that use a lot of bandwidth (downloadable sites).

Hardware Requirements:

To deploy the Windows Server 2008 you need to meet the following hardware requirements:

Component	Requirement
Processor	Minimum: Single processor with 1.4 GHz (x64 processor) or 1.3GHz (Dual Core) Note: An Intel Itanium 2 processor is required for Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems
Memory	Minimum: 512 MB RAM Maximum: 8 GB (Foundation) or 32 GB (Standard) or 2 TB (Enterprise, Datacenter, and Itanium-Based Systems)
Disk Space Requirements	Minimum: 32 GB or greater Note: Computers with more than 16 GB of RAM will require more disk space for paging, hibernation, and dump files
Display	Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution monitor
Other	DVD Drive, Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse (or compatible pointing device), Internet access (fees may apply)

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/system-requirements.aspx

We were lucky enough to be working with a brand new and really sleek desktop – the Dell Studio XPS100 which we had imported for the client. The XPS100 was not intended to host the server but the client decided to use it anyway. As you can see the specs are significantly higher than the basic requirement: 

Processor:  Intel® CoreTM i7-870 processor (8MB Cache, 2.93GHz)

Memory: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs

Available Disk Space: 1TB - 7200RPM,  SATA 3.0Gb/s,  16MB Cache

Drive: 16X CD/DVD Burner + Roxio Creator 10 Premier - Ultimate Burn/Authoring

Display/ Peripherals: 

21.5" Dell SX2210 Full HD Monitor with Integrated 2.0 Megapixel  Webcam

Installing and Configuration of the ABA windows server 2008

December 28 2010 - January 14, 2011

Installation was quite easy and you can even find a step-by-step instruction on the Internet i.e. http://www.arabhardware.net/forum/showthread.php?t=76780. 

As for the configuration, here's what I did:

Day .1

It took me 2 hours to install the windows server 2008 standard edition.

I also installed McAfee antivirus and updated it, this took almost the whole day because of the slow Internet speed. 

Day .2

a. I started configuring the server by creating a common domain name for the server, with the domain name and a static IP address.

b. I created Accounts and Passwords for 15 users and their logon names to access the server. Active Directory configuration was done along with Active Directory Controller.

c. I also created personal folders for each of the 15 users to be able to save their document.

Day .3

a. I started configuration of Domain Name Service (DNS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), win service to enable client access the Internet, and Configuration of User and Computer Environment using Group Policy. I also did the Accounts lock out policies, account management events, user rights assignments, restricted groups, and security options password settings all of these were done. 

b. I also set up the Preferred DNS server IPv4 addresses. 

I opted not to use WINS on the network and I clicked Next.

Then, I was promoted to configure a DHCP scope for the new DHCP server. I  opted to configure an IP address range of 192.168.0.20-150 to cover the 40+ PC Clients on the client's local network. To do this, I clicked Add to a new scope. I named the scope Client-local, configured the starting and ending IP addresses of 192.168.0.20-192.192.168.0.150.

Subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, default gateway of 192.168.1.1, type of subnet and activated the scope.

c. Apart from the main office, I also had to set up a static IP address for 20 computers in the Computer Lab. I added these computers to the domain and set up their network printer on the network with a static IP address. 

After the first 3 days I had to pause the project, because client was closed down over the Christmas/New Year period. 

After a long holiday the client resumed work on January 10, 2011 and I was able to continue with my work. There was not much to do except to make sure all the users were on the server and able to share and access files. 

This Windows server 2008 x64 standard edition which was purchased by my company, New Africa Technology Company, from the Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 USA. It came with 40 user’s license (CAL's). 

How'd it go?

Building this server was not an easy thing for me to do because I have not worked on or built a Windows Server 2008 before. This was my very first time working in Server 2008,  I have only built and work within Windows Server 2003. But when I started things began working well as was planed. I had also done some reading on the Internet to familiarise myself. Towards the close of the configuration process, the clients' users were unable to access the Internet. The problem was that I did not share the network connection of the second network card of the server. I tried to get some help from other techies in the country but to no avail. I ended up e-mailing my IT teacher in Ghana and explained the problem to him and he told the problem was that because I did not share the second network. And, as soon as I shared the second network card, the problem was solved! 

The project was completed and handed over to the client who is quite happy! I am sure the next time I have to do it, it'll be quite easy and straightforward.