Windows Server 2003 - Laptop Installation?

Has anyone attempted a Server 2003 installation on a laptop to use for study purposes? The reason I ask is because I only have one desktop and one laptop to use. The desktop has already been configured to dual-boot (W2K Pro/2003 Server) and wanted to setup the laptop on 2003 to be able to create some of the DNS exercises contained in the MS Self-Pace 70-291 book.

Thanks in advance.

JLuna

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sm45350

I've done that for me home lab, currently one desktop xp client , one laptop xp client and two other laptops acting as a pdc and bdc,
no problems, only thing is you can't setup raid or dynamic discs on a laptop,,,,,,,,,

JLL

Did you install Windows Server 2003? I ask because the terms you used - PDC and BDC - refer to an NT domain model.

Let me know

Thanks!

JLuna

Gogousa

Try VMware, is an excelent tool to study.

eurotrash

Yeah, I have 2003 installed on my laptop. It's a DC, DNS/DHCP/WINS/CA/RRAS/Exchange/etc etc server, works perfectly fine.

sm45350

old habits die hard,,,,,,,

Danman32

PDC/BDC in AD. That's always been my pet peave when clients say that. Often I should let it go since what they really mean is that one machine was the first AD DC and so it holds all of the FSMO roles, the GC and probably the DNS as well. All of these functions though can be divided up amonst several DCs with GC and DNS operational on multiple DCs.

JLL

_omni_,

That is exactly what I wanted to hear! Thank you.

sm45350,

I understand. Just wanted to get further clarification. Thank you.

JLuna

JLL

OK, I took one look at the VMWare Server .PDF documentation provided from the VMWare website and quickly closed it. I honestly don't feel like reading the amount of information on that document and lose focus on my 70-291 studying. I managed to download and install VMWare on my XP Professional laptop and configured a new 'Virtual Machine'. I then proceeded to install Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition successfully. Does anyone have any quick notes on how to configure the two Network Connections that were automatically installed during VMWare installation in My Network Places on my XP Laptop? How do those two Network Connections relate to the Network Connection in Server 2003?

Assistance is greatly needed!

Thanks in advance.

JLuna

mikey_b

I swear by VMWare Workstation - price is worth it if you will be doing a lot of certs and need a lab setup. I think I paid $150 for it. It needs a lot of RAM (I recommend at least 384mb per server) and disk space (3GB per server is fine for testing purposes - I prefer 10GB cut up into some partitions for testing DFS and the like) but my laptop is an Athlon 64 4000+ with 2GB RAM and 120GB of disk, so it's ideal for a virtual lab. I highly recommend it to anyone studying for MCSE, it's got all the functionality you need provided your hardware is up to snuff.

mikey_b

jluna wrote:

OK, I took one look at the VMWare Server .PDF documentation provided from the VMWare website and quickly closed it. I honestly don't feel like reading the amount of information on that document and lose focus on my 70-291 studying. I managed to download and install VMWare on my XP Professional laptop and configured a new 'Virtual Machine'. I then proceeded to install Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition successfully. Does anyone have any quick notes on how to configure the two Network Connections that were automatically installed during VMWare installation in My Network Places on my XP Laptop? How do those two Network Connections relate to the Network Connection in Server 2003?

Assistance is greatly needed!

Thanks in advance.

JLuna

It depends on what kind of connection you selected while configuring the machine - I prefer using a bridged network connection using the host adapter for external access. I'd honestly skip the Server product - Workstation is plenty for what you need and is easier to use (and just because it's the "Workstation" version doesn't mean you can't install Server 2003 on it - it even has a tweaked VM model for testing servers on your desktop).

JLL

I did choose to use a bridged connection - whatever that means - during the configuration of the virtual machine. I would guess that 'bridged' means bridging the virtual machine network connection to a network connection on my XP Laptop in order to communicate to my network? Anyhow, the reason I chose VMWare Server is because it is free and have heard good reviews about it.

So, choosing a bridged connection is the right way to go if you plan on configuring this Virtual Machine to communicate with your existing network?

JLuna

mikey_b

jluna wrote:

I did choose to use a bridged connection - whatever that means - during the configuration of the virtual machine. I would guess that 'bridged' means bridging the virtual machine network connection to a network connection on my XP Laptop in order to communicate to my network? Anyhow, the reason I chose VMWare Server is because it is free and have heard good reviews about it.

So, choosing a bridged connection is the right way to go if you plan on configuring this Virtual Machine to communicate with your existing network?

JLuna

Yes, each virtual interface will be able to use you physical NIC to communicate with any external infrastructure, likewise your laptop will be able to connect to virtual resources (you can even add it to the AD domain and get DNS and DHCP from virtual servers).

JLL

Ahhh, that is what I suspected. Now, that being said, I currently have a built-in ethernet and wireless adapter on my laptop. When I installed the VMServer software, it automatically created two additional network connections (VMWare Network Adapter VMnet8 and VMWare Network Adapter VMnet1). Is this because the VMWare installation detected two existing adapters (ethernet and wireless) on my laptop? If so, how do I know which VMWare adapter is associated to what adapter on my laptop?

mikey_b

jluna wrote:

Ahhh, that is what I suspected. Now, that being said, I currently have a built-in ethernet and wireless adapter on my laptop. When I installed the VMServer software, it automatically created two additional network connections (VMWare Network Adapter VMnet8 and VMWare Network Adapter VMnet1). Is this because the VMWare installation detected two existing adapters (ethernet and wireless) on my laptop? If so, how do I know which VMWare adapter is associated to what adapter on my laptop?

Yes - my laptop has two adapters as well and I have the same thing on my servers - I just never bothered to disable any of them (effectively making all my virtual servers multihomed machines).

JLL

The reason why the Server 2003 Virtual Machine was having problems communicating with my private network is because the firewall setup on the host computer was blocking it. I just happen to check the log while troubleshooting something else and happen to see the entries

Anyhow, it is now fully functional within the network.

Thanks for the information.

JL