Hands-on Networking Fundamentals

Chapter 8 Solutions

Answers to the Chapter 8 Review Questions

1. You are hired to consult for a new travel agency that will hire 15 travel agents and a receptionist,
all of whom will use computers. Further, all employees will use a database on one computer as
well as share work files. Which of the following do you recommend for this travel agency?
Answer: b. A network with a server to house the database and work files.

2. The applications development manager for your company wants the programmers to develop a
network time-card system to be used by 250 workers and the payroll office staff of ten. Because
his budget is tight, he asks you to install Windows Server 2003 on an old Pentium 133 MHz
computer that meets the basic requirements for a Windows server, and to use this as the
production server for the new time-card system. What is your reaction?
Answer: c. This server is not likely to efficiently handle the load of the new system and a mult-
GHz processor with 512 MB or more memory would be a better start.

3. Both Windows Server 2003 and Fedora installations can be performed using the
______________________ method.
Answer: c. CD-ROM

4. The planning committee in your organization wants to place new servers in a custodian’s broom
closet, because the electrical outlets there provide conditioned power. What is your
recommendation?
Answer: d. A better location is in a protected area of the building that has clean power, little or no
traffic, that is not used by custodians, and that can be locked.

5. Which of the following is information provided by Task Manager? (Choose all that apply.)
Answer: a. statistics for handles, c. total physical memory, and d. system cache

6. Your company plans to enable users to telecommute from home or while traveling. Which of the
following enables them to securely access the company’s server via an Internet connection?
(Choose all that apply.)
Answer: a. virtual private network (VPN) access

7. You are curious about the programs that are running on the Windows server you manage. Which
of the following enables you to view what is running? (Choose all that apply.)
Answer: b. Applications tab in Task Manager

8. A user calls to report that he has hung a program on the Linux server you manage. Which of the
following tools enables you to stop that program?
Answer: a. top

9. Your company is setting up five Windows servers to be used by 170 people. Which of the
following offers a good approach for organizing and managing user accounts?
Answer: c. configuring a domain

10. What utility or command is used to set up an account on a Linux server?

Answer: d. useradd

11. A Windows server that does not have Active Directory installed is called a
___________________.
Answer: b. stand-alone server

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 12. Your new assistant is trying to install Fedora on a computer, but the computer is not booting from
the installation disc when you turn it off and then on with the disc inserted. What should she try?
Answer: d. Reconfigure the BIOS to boot from the CD-ROM drive before booting from the hard
drive.

13. When you install Fedora, which of the following might you need to configure? (Choose all that
apply.)
Answer: a. root password, b. time zone, c. default language, and d. partitioning

14. Your Linux server seems to be running slower than you expect and you want to check the swap
space. Which of the follow commands enables you to do this?
Answer: a. free

15. The board of trustees meeting starts in 10 minutes and you are still waiting for a database query to
complete so you can print a report from a Windows server. What can you do?
Answer: b. Use the Set Priority feature of Task Manager to give the query’s process a higher
priority.

16. The IT manager wants you to produce information about the disk space occupied by users’ home
directories on a Linux server. What command enables you to determine this information?
Answer: d. du

17. You are responsible for managing the Windows server in an office and decide to make the
management tasks easier by customizing management tools. Which of the following enables you
to accomplish this?
Answer: c. Microsoft Management Console (MMC)

18. It is late in the evening and time for you to perform system work on Windows Server 2003. One of
the users in your office is still logged on, but has long since gone home. What tool enables you to
log off that user?
Answer: c. Task Manager Users tab

19. It has been a long day and you have worked on several Linux servers using different accounts.
Right now, you don’t remember what account you’re logged into. What command can give you
that information?
Answer: b. whoami

20. You have set up a Windows server to be used at most by seven people in your small office. Which
of the following settings should you use to optimize memory allocation?
Answer: a. Minimize memory used

Hands-On Projects Tips and Solutions for Chapter 8

Activity 8-1

In this activity, students use the Winnt32 program on the Windows

Server 2003 installation CD-ROM to test the software and hardware
on a computer for compatibility with Windows Server 2003. You
need to provide students with one or more installation CDs for any of
the versions of Windows Server 2003.

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Activity 8-2

This activity shows students how to enter the BIOS setup program to
configure to boot from CD-ROM, so that they are able to install a
server operating system from CD-ROM. This capability is important
for virtually any operating system installation. Note that after they
configure to boot from CD-ROM prior to booting from hard disk,
this always gives them ability to boot from either, because if the CD-
ROM drive is empty or does not have a boot CD-ROM, the computer
next tries to boot from hard disk.

Activity 8-3

Students learn how to install Active Directory in this activity.

Depending on the setup of your network, you may want students to
join an existing domain in Step 4. Also, note that a DNS server
should already be set up. If there is no DNS server on the network,
you many want to enable students to install their own DNS server
during Active Directory setup.

In Step 13, students should report that there is an option to retrace

their steps by clicking the Back button on each setup screen, as
necessary.

Activity 8-4

This project enables students to practice creating a user account via

the Active Directory Users and Computers tool.

In Step 3, the Administrator and Guest accounts are already created

by default. Another account, called SUPPORT_XXXXX is created
for a vendor who may provide support. Both the Guest and
SUPPORT_XXXXX accounts are deactivated by default. Other
objects in the Users folder include the following groups:
Cert Publishers
DnsAdmins
DnsUpdateProxy
Domain Admins

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 Domain Computers
Domain Controllers
Domain Guests
Domain Users
Enterprise Admins
Group Policy Creator Owners
HelpServicesGroup
RAS and IAS Servers
Schema Admins

In Step 5, the Full name, domain name, and pre-Windows 2000 name
are filled in automatically.

In Step 9, the account properties tabs are:

General
Address
Account
Profile
Telephones
Organization
Remote Control
Terminal Service Profile
COM+
Member Of
Dial-in
Environment
Sessions

In Step 11, the General tab contains a box for the user’s e-mail
address.

Activity 8-5
.
In this activity, students reset a password. When students do this
activity, consider discussing why it is desirable for account
administrators to be unaware of a particular account’s password and
why it simply cannot be looked up.

Activity 8-6

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 This project enables students to learn how to delete an account. The
success of the activity is indicated when the account no longer exists
in the Active Directory Users and Computers tool.

To supplement this activity, you might have students work

individually or in groups creating a sample policy for an
organization that specifies the circumstances in which an account is
deleted. Or, obtain a sample policy from an organization and discuss
it in class.

Activity 8-7

In this project, students learn how to configure server optimization.

After a server is installed, this can be a very important configuration
task, to ensure the server is set up for the anticipated type of use.

In Step 3, students should report how the server is currently set up.
The default setting for Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition is
Maximize data throughput for file sharing.
.

Activity 8-8

In this activity students practice using the Applications tab in Task

Manager.

In Step 5, after you click Switch to, the Task Manager window goes
to the background and the Calculator program becomes active.

Activity 8-9

This activity enables students learn about the Task Manager

Processes tab and how to reset the priority of a process.

In Step 3, students should find that the Processes tab is displayed and
the calc.exe program is highlighted.

In Step 4, the active options are:

End Process
End Process Tree

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Set Priority
(also the Debug option is deactivated)
.

Activity 8-10

Students learn to use the top command in this activity, including how
to kill a process from top in UNIX/Linux.

Activity 8-11

In this project, students display memory use by using the free

command with no options, the -m option (to display information in
megabytes), and the -t option (to display totals).

Activity 8-12

For this project, students use the df and du commands to display

information about file system use.

Solutions to the Case Project Assignments

Alberta Down Products is a company formed by the merger of two small

outdoor products companies: Alberta Down Bags, which manufactures
sleeping bags and Polar Coats, which makes down parkas. Alberta Down
Products is purchasing a new building in which to locate both companies.
There will be 280 employees in the company who work in the business,
marketing, manufacturing, and distribution departments of the company.
Alberta Down Products is also opening an outlet store near the main
company headquarters. The company hires you through Network Design
Consultants to help with the changes in computer and networking services
that will occur in the new main building and in the outlet store.

Case Project 8-1: Creating a Server for the Outlet Store

Alberta Down Products is working quickly to open the outlet store to sell
remaining stocks of products that have labels from the two original
businesses. There will be twenty networked computers in the outlet store.
The company has provided the store with a computer to be quickly set up
as a server and that currently has Windows XP Professional installed. How
can you determine if Windows Server 2003 can be installed on this
computer? Describe how you would do this in a step-by-step process.
Besides determining if the computer can be used with Windows Server
2003, what other issues should the outlet store consider in regard to
installing a server?

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Answer:

The computer can be checked for compatibility with Windows Server

2003 by using the checkupgradeonly utility that is part of the Winnt
program on the Windows Server 2003 installation CD-ROM. The steps
for running the utility are as follows:

Insert the Windows Server 2003 CD-ROM.

If you see the Welcome to Microsoft Windows Server Family screen,
close it.
Click Start and click Run.
In the Open: text box, enter the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive plus
\i386\winnt32 /checkupgradeonly, such as e:\i386\winnt32
/checkupgradeonly. Click OK.
If connected to the Internet, click Yes, download the updated Setup files
(Recommended). If not connected to the Internet, click No, skip this step
and continue installing Windows. Click Next.
If you selected Yes, download the updated Setup files (Recommended)
in Step 4, it may be necessary to wait to finish the download.
Notice the Microsoft Windows Upgrade Advisor dialog box to
determine if there are incompatibilities with the hardware. If so, select
each listed item one at a time, and click the Details button to find out
more. If there are no incompatibilities, this is one green light to go
ahead with the installation of Windows Server 2003.
Click Finish.

Besides determining if the hardware is compatible, it is important to

consider the following issues:
That the computer is properly equipped with the necessary CPU power,
memory, and disk space.
Where to locate the server in the outlet store—which should be in a
secure location in which the server will not be in a trafficked area and
with good power. The server also should have a UPS.
Who will manage the server—there should be at least a main server
manager and a backup person. Both people should be trained in how to
effectively manage the server’s resources.

Another question that students might raise is whether to install a

domain. With only 20 computers in the store, a domain is not

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warranted. However, if there is a WAN link between the store and the
main headquarters, it might make sense to eventually make this server
part of the domain (as a domain controller) managed from the
headquarters location. Consider giving students extra credit if they
raise and discuss this issue.

Case Project 8-2: Installing a Domain

You are preparing servers for the new store and the company has decided
they want to create a domain for the Windows Server 2003 servers.
Computer support members of the company have not implemented a
domain in the past. They would like you to prepare a brief set of steps for
installing a domain

Answer:

The steps for installing Active Directory in Windows Server 2003 are as
follows:
The Active Directory Installation Wizard can be started in one of two
ways.
The most direct way preferred by many server administrators is to click
Start, click Run, type dcpromo on the Open box, and click OK.
An alternative way is to click Start, point to All Programs, point to
Administrative Tools, and click the Configure Your Server Wizard.
Click Next, and click Next again. In the Server Role box, click Domain
Controller (Active Directory), and click Next. Click Next again.
Click Next when the Active Directory Installation Wizard starts.
The Operating System Compatibility dialog box displays a warning that
some older versions of Windows will not be able to log on to a domain
controller running Windows Server 2003. Click Next.
Click Domain controller for a new domain, if this is the first server to
have Active Directory installed. Or if this is an additional domain
controller server in an existing domain, use the option, Additional
domain controller for an existing domain. Click Next.
If you see a screen on which to create a new domain tree, click Create a new domain tree. Click Next.
Click Domain in a new forest. Click Next.
Enter the domain name. Click Next.
Leave the name you entered in Step 7 as the NetBIOS domain, and click Next.
Leave C:\WINDOWS\NTDS as the database location and C:\WINDOWS\NTDS as the log location.
(Your system may use a different drive location by default, depending on the location of the
\WINDOWS folder). Click Next.
Leave the shared system volume location as the default, such as C:\WINDOWS\SYSVOL. The
wizard warns that the Sysvol folder must be on a volume formatted with NTFS. (At this point it is
possible to create a DNS server, if one is not already configured.) If a DNS server is already installed,

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you will see a DNS Registration Diagnostics dialog box. Supply the requested IP address information
about the DNS server. Click Next.
The Permissions dialog box provides the option to use permissions compatible with pre-Windows
2000 servers, such as Windows NT Server 4.0—or to use permissions compatible only with Windows
2000 or Server 2003 servers. Click Permissions compatible only with Windows 2000 or Windows
Server 2003 operating systems, if this option is not already selected. Click Next.
Enter an administrator password and confirm it for use in the Directory Services Restore Mode.
Click Next.
Review in the summary scroll box the selections that have been made. Click Next to proceed.
Wait a few minutes for the wizard to configure Active Directory.
Click Finish.
Save any open work, and click Restart Now.
If you used the Configure Your Server Wizard in Step 1, click Finish after the server reboots and you
log onto the administrator account.

Case Project 8-3: Creating Users

After the domain is installed, one of the server administrators is setting up accounts, but is not sure
how to start the tool to create accounts in Windows Server 2003. Explain what tool to use and how to
start it.

Answer:

The Active Directory Users and Computers tool is used to create

accounts when Active Directory and a domain are in use. Two ways to
start the tool are as follows:
Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and
click Active Directory Users and Computers.
or
Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and click OK. Click the File menu,
and click Add/Remove Snap-in. Click Add and double-click Active
Directory Users and Computers. Click Close and click OK.
Case Project 8-4: Solving a Problem on a Linux Server
As you are helping with the Windows servers, the Manufacturing
Department, which is already up and running, calls about a problem
with one of their Linux computers. The computer has issued a message
that it is running low on disk space. What tool or tools can be used to
determine the disk space and how it is being used? Also, how can they
determine the number of users and what they are doing when this
message is displayed?

Answer:

Two commands that can be used to monitor disk space on a Linux

server are df and du.

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The df command provides the following information:
Number of blocks that are allocated, used, and available
Percentage of disk space used
Mount point for mounted file systems.

The du command shows file usage for the specified directory, including
subdirectories (or for all directories and subdirectories).

The who and finger commands can be used to show the number of users
and what they are doing. Many server administrators prefer the finger
command, because it provides much information by default.

Case Project 8-5: Testing a New Program

Alberta Down Products has purchased a new inventory program and is
running a preliminary test with five users connected to a Windows Server
2003 system. What tool can they use to get basic performance information
about the server while the program is running? Also, one of the user’s
session is hung. What tool can be used to disconnect that user?

Answer:

The Task Manager can provide valuable performance information.

(System Monitor is another, more complex tool, but students have not
learned to use it at this point. If you have students who explore and
write about using this tool, consider giving them extra credit.)

For example, they might start by opening Task Manager and going to
the Applications tab. Right-click the inventory program and click Go
To Process (to identify which process is in use). On the Processes tab,
they can observe the CPU and Mem Usage for the process—providing
valuable information about how the program uses CPU and memory. In
this way they can track if the program is CPU intensive, possibly
requiring a faster processor. And they can gauge if more memory is
needed to efficiently run the program.

Another option is to access the Task Manager Performance tab to

monitor overall CPU and memory/page file response while the program
is running. Further, the Task Manager Networking tab enables them to
view the network traffic experienced at the server during the test.

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To disconnect the hung user, they can go to the Task Manager Users
tab, select that user, and click Disconnect.

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