Making Informed Decisions

When you install a NOS, you have to make some decisions about how you want the operating system and its servers to be configured. Most of these decisions aren't cast in stone, so don't worry if you're not 100 percent sure how you want everything configured. You can always go back and reconfigure things. However, you can save yourself time if you make the right decisions up front rather than just guess when the Setup program starts asking you questions.

The following list details most of the decisions that you need to make:

• The existing operating system: If you want to retain the existing operating system, the installation program can perform a multiboot setup, which allows you to choose which operating system to boot to each time you start the computer.

  Warning 

  This is rarely a good idea for server computers. I recommend that you delete the existing operating system.

• Partition structure: Most of the time, you want to treat the entire server disk as a single partition. However, if you want to divide the disk into two or more partitions, you should do so during setup. (Unlike most of the other setup decisions, this one is hard to change later.)

• Computer name: During the operating system setup, you're asked to provide the computer name used to identify the server on the network.

  Tip 

  If your network has only a few servers, you can just pick a name, such as Server01 or MyServer. If your network has more than a few servers, follow an established guideline for creating server names.

• Administrator password: Okay, this one is tough. You don't want to pick something obvious, like Password, Administrator, or your last name. On the other hand, you don't want to type something random that you'll later forget, because you'll be in a big pickle if you forget the administrator password.

  Tip 

  Make up a complex password consisting of a mix of uppercase and lower- case letters, some numerals, and a special symbol or two; then write it down and keep it in a secure location where you know that it won't get lost.

• Networking protocols: You almost always need to install the TCP/IP protocol, the Microsoft network client protocol, and file and printer sharing. Depending on how the server will be used, you may want to install other protocols as well.

• TCP/IP configuration: You need to know which IP address to use for the server. Even if your network has a DHCP server to dynamically assign IP addresses to clients, most servers use static IP addresses.

• Domain name: You need to know the domain name for the network.