Networking

Networking

Although the flashy improvements in Windows Server 2003 are arguably in AD, there were some significant improvements and features added in the area of networking.

DNS

DNS added a number of changes and improvements. We discuss these in detail in Chapter 6, but a few are worth noting here for an overview:

• Stub zones are now configurable in Windows 2003 DNS.

• Conditional forwarding allows the Administrator to do custom forwarding of certain zones or domains to specific authoritative DNS servers by their IP addresses. This is a shortcut of sorts ”similar to stub zones.

• _MSDCS zone is automatically delegated when DCPromo configures DNS on the first DC in the forest, helping to address the problem in multi-domain forests where the Cname records and GC SRV records are stored in the forest root domain and may be unavailable at times to DCs in child domains. We discuss this in detail in Chapter 6.

• ForestDNSZones and DomainDNSZones are two application partitions that are configured by default in Windows Server 2003 and are visible in DNS as forward lookup zones.

• When application partitions are created, a forward lookup zone is automatically created. We discussed application partitions in detail previously in this chapter.

• The DNS Event Viewer is now included as part of the DNS Management snap-in.

Another improvement in DNS has been the collective knowledge of how it works with AD. Take advantage of Microsoft's volumes of whitepapers, training, and other documents located in the DNS Center (also called DNS Center for Windows 2000), located at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/technologies/communications/dns/default.asp.

Home Networks

The popularity of consumers having networks in their home to connect multiple computers to the Internet has prompted Microsoft to develop features in the operating system to address their needs. This section describes some of those new features.

Network Bridge

The network bridge feature really has its benefit in the home network environment. It allows you to "bridge" multiple network adapters, such as between a public network and a private network, or between a wireless adapter, an Ethernet adapter, and a dial-up adapter. The network bridge allows these adapters to communicate with each other without requiring the user to set up complicated routing tables. You can enable the bridge easily by selecting the adapters to be in the bridge (hold the Ctrl key down as you select them in Network Connections), and then right-clicking and selecting Bridge Connections. It's really that simple. The bridge is created and shows up in the Network Connections under "Network Bridge," as shown in Figure 1.21. You also can use the New Connection Wizard to set up and administer the bridged network.

Figure 1.21. Network Bridge is listed in Network Connections window.

Device Driver Enhancements

This is another improvement for home networking, removing legacy drivers that are no longer used or supported and adding or improving drivers in the following areas:

• Local Area Network (LAN) network drivers, such as 10/100 Network Interface Cards (NICs), IEEE 802.11, and Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA)

• Broadband, including cable modems, Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

• Modems, including driver-based and 56Kbps V.90 modems

Remote Desktop Client and Resource Redirection

In answering customer support calls at HP, and in speaking engagements at conferences, I hear Administrators frequently comment that Windows 2000's Terminal Services (Administration mode) is the best tool Microsoft offers. It allows remote access to servers anywhere in the network. In HP's Qtest environment, we use Terminal Services (TS) to manage, install, configure, and repair servers all over the world. All we need is someone at the site to put in a CD or do physical tasks .

In Windows 2000, you must install the TS client manually by building floppy disks with the Terminal Services Server Manager or by running %systemroot%\system32\ clients \tsclient\win32\disks\disk1\setup.exe from the server. However, only Windows Servers can host the client and allow remote logon. In Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, the TS Client is replaced by the Remote Desktop and is installed and enabled by default. Go to Start, Programs, Accessories, Communications, Remote Desktop Connection, and enter the name or IP address of the computer you want to connect to. You can use Remote Desktop to connect to Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2003 Server, or Windows XP client.

The Remote Desktop feature permits resource redirection, which means you can access your local disks, printers, and even speakers through the Remote Desktop session. This allows you to log on to a remote session and save files (such as log files) to your local disks ”a tremendous benefit and improvement over Windows 2000 TS. In addition, Remote Desktop is available on Windows XP clients, allowing you to establish remote sessions to client computers.

Chapter 15, "Terminal Services for Windows Server 2003," contains more in-depth detail on Remote Desktop connections in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

Internet Authentication Service (IAS)

In addition to a new MMC snap-in, IAS has several new features. Two important features are noted here.

IAS and Radius Client

In Windows 2000, you can use an IAS server only as a Radius server, configured to perform access request authentication against the domain. In Windows Server 2003, you can configure an IAS server as a Radius Proxy that either authenticates the remote request or forwards the request to another Radius server.

IAS and Cross-Forest Authentication

You use cross-forest authentication to authenticate the user account when two AD forests are connected with a two-way, cross-forest trust. We discuss these trusts in the "Security" section of this chapter.

New Features in RRAS

IPSec over NAT

VPN clients behind a NAT (Network Address Translation) can now establish IPSec (IP Security) or Level 2 Tunnel Protocol (L2TP) tunnels to a Windows 2003 server. This was not available in Windows 2000. You can use this feature to make a connection to the company's internal network when one server is in the company's DeMilitarized Zone (DMZ), a branch office, or perhaps a client in a home network that shares a single IP address behind a NAT.

Broadcast Name Resolution

Also known as the NetBT Gateway, this feature provides TCP/IP name resolution for RAS (Remote Access Service) clients where no WINS (Windows Internet Naming Service) or DNS servers are available. This is similar to the WINS proxy and is shown in Figure 1.22. This is advantageous for small networks in which a DNS or WINS server is not in place.

Figure 1.22. Configuring the NetBT Gateway in the RRAS snap-in.

When the RAS server receives a request to resolve a name to an IP address, and it does not have that information in its NetBIOS name cache, it performs a NetBIOS name query over the network on behalf of the RAS client. The computer who owns that name replies to the RAS server, who caches the name/address and sends the reply to the client. The client can then contact that computer resource. The NetBIOS name cache in the RAS server and the client has a ten-minute lifetime.

note

If the NetBIOS over TCP / IP option is disabled on the RAS server, Broadcast Name Resolution will fail.

Broadcast Name Resolution is enabled by default, but you can disable or reenable it by doing the following:

1. In the Routing and Remote Access snap-in, right-click on the appropriate server icon.

2. Select the IP tab.

3. Clear the Enable broadcast name resolution option (or check it to enable the service).

This option is controlled by the Registry key EnableNetbtBcastFwd :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CurrentControlSet\Services\RemoteAccess\

Parameters\Ip\

Name:

EnableNetbtBcastFwd

Type: REG_DWORD

Data: 0 (disabled)

     1 (enabled)