Understanding Disk Storage and Domain Concepts in Windows Server

Posted on Nov 20, 2024 in Technology

Fixed Disk Storage Concepts

Disk Storage Basics

Data is stored on clusters of plastic, metal, and silicon. Logical volumes are the basic units of disk storage, representing drive letters and potentially spanning multiple physical disks.

Mounted Volumes

Mounted volumes can be attached to empty folders or existing NTFS volumes for increased flexibility.

Fault Tolerance

Windows Server 2003 supports fault tolerance through mirroring (RAID-1) and parity (RAID-5). It also supports hardware RAID controllers, which manage disks as a single unit.

Data Separation

For enhanced security and administration, the operating system, applications, and data can be installed on separate volumes.

Disk Management

Basic Disks

Basic disks are the traditional disk structure used by operating systems prior to Windows 2000, with a limited number of partitions.

Dynamic Disks

Introduced in Windows 2000, dynamic disks use volumes instead of partitions and offer features like fault tolerance without requiring a system restart.

Basic Disk Partitions

  • Primary Partition: Bootable partition; Windows 2003 supports up to four.
  • Active Partition: The primary partition from which the operating system starts.
  • Extended Partition: Non-bootable partition; only one per physical disk, subdivided into logical drives.
  • Logical Drive: A portion of an extended partition acting as an independent unit.

Dynamic Disk Volumes

  • Simple Volume: Space on a single disk, similar to a basic disk partition.
  • Spanned Volume: Combines free space from multiple disks (up to 32); data is written sequentially across disks. Does not support fault tolerance.
  • Striped Volume (RAID-0): Combines free space from multiple disks (up to 32); data is written in stripes across disks for improved performance, but no fault tolerance.
  • Mirrored Volume (RAID-1): Duplicates data across two disks for fault tolerance.
  • RAID-5 Volume: Distributes data and parity information across three or more disks for fault tolerance and performance.

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks)

RAID uses multiple physical drives to improve performance and data security. It can be implemented through software or hardware controllers.

Dynamic Disk Considerations

  • Dual-boot systems with a basic disk cannot be converted to dynamic disks.
  • Windows Server 2003 cannot be installed on spanned volumes.
  • The system volume cannot be spanned or striped.

Network Concepts

Lmhosts File

A static file used in the absence of DNS to resolve NetBIOS names to IP addresses.

WINS (Windows Internet Name Service)

A service that dynamically maps NetBIOS names to IP addresses. WINS clients register their names with a WINS server.

WINS Console

Used to manage WINS server settings, including database replication and filtering.

Domain and Forest Concepts

Intransitive Trusts

A one-way or two-way trust relationship limited to two domains. Commonly used between:

  • A Windows NT domain and a Windows 2003 domain.
  • A Windows Server 2003 domain in one forest and a domain in another forest (not through a forest trust).

Creating a New Forest

A forest is a collection of one or more domains sharing a common schema and global catalog. A forest represents the security and administrative boundary for all contained objects. The first domain created in a forest is the forest root domain.

Global Catalog

A domain controller storing a full copy of all objects in its own domain and partial copies of objects from other domains in the forest. It performs the following functions:

  • Object Search: Enables searching directory information across all domains in the forest.
  • User Authentication: Resolves user principal names (UPNs).
  • Group Membership: Stores universal group membership information.
  • Object Validation: Validates references to objects in other domains.

Forest Operations Master Roles

  • Schema Master: Controls updates and changes to the Active Directory schema.
  • Domain Naming Master: Controls the addition or removal of domains in the forest.

Trust Relationships and Authentication

Trusts in Windows 2000/2003

All trusts within a Windows 2000/2003 forest are two-way transitive trusts.

Trust Protocols

Windows Server 2003 uses Kerberos V5 or NTLM for authentication. Kerberos is the default, but NTLM is used if a system doesn’t support Kerberos.

Trust Objects

Trust objects represent trust relationships between domains. They store information about the trust, such as transitivity, type, and reciprocal domain names.

Trust Direction

  • Unidirectional Trust: One-way trust where users in one domain can access resources in another, but not vice-versa.
  • Bidirectional Trust: Two-way trust where users in both domains can access resources in each other’s domain.
  • Transitive Trust: A trust relationship that extends across multiple domains in a hierarchy.