Windows Server 2016 has many roles and features that can be used to accomplish all sorts of different tasks in your network. This chapter reflects on the most common infrastructure tasks needed to create a successful Windows Active Directory environment by using Server 2016. In this chapter, we will cover the following recipes:
- Configuring a combination Domain Controller, DNS server, and DHCP server
- Adding a second Domain Controller
- Organizing your computers with Organizational Units
- Creating an A or AAAA record in DNS
- Creating and using a CNAME record in DNS
- Creating a DHCP scope to assign addresses to computers
- Creating a DHCP reservation for a specific server or resource
- Pre-staging a computer account in Active Directory
- Using PowerShell to create a new Active Directory user
- Using PowerShell to view system uptime
There are a number of technologies in Windows Server 2016 that you need to know if you plan to ever work in a Windows environment. These are technologies such as Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), Domain Name System (DNS), and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). If you haven't noticed already, everything in the Windows world has an acronym. In fact, you may only recognize these items by their acronyms, and that's okay.
Nobody calls DHCP the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol anyway. But do you know how to build these services and bring a Windows Server infrastructure online from scratch, with only a piece of hardware and a Windows Server 2016 installation disk to guide your way? This is why we are here today. I would like to instruct you on taking your first server and turning it into everything that you need to run a Microsoft network.
Every company and network is different and has different requirements. Some will get by with a single server to host a myriad of roles, while others have thousands of servers at their disposal and will have every role split up into clusters of servers, each of which has a single purpose in life. Whatever your situation, this will get us back to the basics on setting up the core infrastructure technologies that are needed in any Microsoft-centric network.