setting up a 2000 server

[Andy]

Has anyone any experience fooling around with Windows 2000 Server? I am just playing around with it at home and wanna set up Exchange 2000 on it but have no idea about Active Directory, DNS, etc...
Plus, i want to set up my domain name to be forwarded to my home server rather than a hosting site...

If anyone has the time, can I get some tips. Web pages, ebooks, etc?

[Andy]

oops! i had this in the wrong forum

anyhoo, who knows even a little about setting up a Windows 2K server?

[Andy]

Can someone look at this and tell me how to point my domain name to my 2K server at my house?

Custom NameServers:
(must select "Your own
NameServers" above)
Note: Do not enter IP addresseses, they won't work. The names will resolve by the name server name addresses.
(ex: ns1.nameserver.com, ns2.nameserver.com, ns3.nameserver.com)

This is from where i have my domain name...I can use their name servers or my own which is what i'm sure I want to do.

[RobDog888]

I am curently trying to do the same thing on my 2003 server.

This info on DNS should help - DNS

[Andy]

Thanks Rob...so, if i understand the gist of that article, i need to set up my active directory to know who the router is? Maybe i'm missing something here.

[dglienna]

When I installed AD a few years ago, I had to uninstall it, as I didn't have a static IP address. Maybe it works with a router, but I thik the jist of it is having a static IP address. I could be wrong, however, and if I am, will try it again.

I found that I didn't need a DNS, as I used my ISP for DNS services. I guess it depends on what you want to do. How many users do you have that need DNS service?

[Andy]

it's just for me and my spouse...I don't even know if i NEED it per se...If i remember correctly, i HAD to install dns because i also installed Exchange 2000.

[dglienna]

Exchange Server is only for private email. You don't need it if you don't want to have a company email system. When I had my system running, I only had DHCP running, so that I could give IP addresses to my other machines, and Internet Connection Sharing turned on so that I could access the dial up line from the other machines. I think you should try using the system before you enable other systems, that you might not need.

[Andy]

good advice i'm ultimately wanting email too at my domain...is exchange necessary for this? or what other way can i get email?

[dglienna]

Exchange is an email server, not a client. You have Outlook Express as a client, and that's all you need. I presume that your ISP has an email server, so that would be all you need to receive email to your system. Each machine could pop mail from as many accounts as you want. No mail would go to all accounts.
They give you a server, which is what you paid for. If you need it, then you got it for free. Don't think that you need everything that came with the server.
I got Advanced Server, and the only thing that I may ever use is the streaming that is built in.

[RobDog888]

Exchange Server is only for private email.

No, You have it completely wrong. Exchange is originally for corporate or business email. You can run your own Exchange
server at home and host your own email service. As long as your ISP doesnt block port 25. You can get them to unblock
it (usually just need to ask) so you can do it.

What your telling Andy is like if he has Windows XP but can download Windows 3.11 for free somewhere that he
should use 3.11

Since you obviously have Exchange available to you and if your server can handle it, I would highly reccommend doing this
for several reasons.

You will get more knowledge and experience doing other things other then programming.
You will have complete control over your email server.
You can use these skills later if your going to look for a job.
Etc.

[RobDog888]

You need DNS if you are going to want to run AD on Server 2003. I can remember exactly for 2000 Server but I believe that you
can run DNS without AD.

Since you want your own domain (email or web or both) you can do it either way. Your ISP usually provides free web space and if you
purchase a domain name you can have them host a website and/or email but then again your limited to the services that they offer.

For ex. if you want to use front page server extensions on a website and your ISP doesnt provide that support then your out of luck.
Or if you go over your disk quota then you need to delete files, emails, etc. If you host it yourself then you can always add another
hard drive or change it to a bigger one, archive to a CD or DVD (if you installed a burner on your server), etc.

[dglienna]

Office has different settings for an Exchange Server. Outlook will then only connect to the Exchange server. It's not bad to learn, but it's not necessary for a home network. I think 2003 is the same as 2000 as far as Static IP and Active Directory. I don't think it will work on a Router with a public IP (\\192.168.1.1)

[Andy]

Thats exactly why i wanted to use Exchange..I want to host my own email service because i want to learn about it, can't always rely on my isp(Comcast), i want more control over my names i use, and many more reasons. Exchange isnt just for business uses...it's a pop3 server too

[Andy]

another big reason i wanted to use Exchange was that I have my own domain name and I like the idea of using [email protected] rather than [email protected] just feels better knowing you can use your own name and any name you wish at will rather than having to juggle around numbers, letters etc.

[RobDog888]

Same here too Andy.

[VBdynamic]

In 2000 you can run DNS without having AD installed.