Windows Server 2003 taking over contract/maintenance questions

[Skunkfunk]

Hi chaps

I am a very advanced and experienced user of all Windows OS's including trouble shooting and fixing Windows since 3.1 and before that DOS.

I build PC's for customers and trouble shoot hardware as well, there is pretty much nothing I can't fix when it comes to PC's basically :)

I currently do this for a living and have been self employed for the last 3-4 years mainly with residential and small business's with 5-10 employees.

Now during my 15 years experience I have never really used or come into contact with Windows Server, I have always meant to get more experience with it but never really had the time.

I have now installed it on a spare machine I have here and had a little play and I feel I could pick it up very quickly but am aware that it's a big OS and there is lots to learn!

I have been asked to support a fairly big network of 40ish PC's running Windows XP and there is two Servers running Windows Server 2003 (both DC's as far as I can tell) The current guy has left the company in the lurch and is not responding to calls and has basically vanished.

I visited today to do a little audit and everything looks in order and there is no major problems as far as the customer knows either although there are some small problems occurring, the main server has 35'ish clients connecting and the current roles in Mange my Server are:

File Server

Print Server

Application Server

Domain Controller

DNS Server

DHCP Server

WINS Server

The customer is a relation to me and would really like me to take it over as they have had bad experiences in the past, my question is do you think I can pick up what I need to as I go along or by buying a Windows Server 2003 bible (if there is such a thing) or from help on here and other forums?

I there some video tutorials around or a really good intensive course paid or free?

If I did decide to take the maintenance on do you think it would be best to start a fresh, wipe the server and set it up myself so I know what is going on and gain experience or leave it alone as it's working but with some one else's possible mess?

I know there are lots of questions here but any input would be greatly appreciated :)

[Swiftie]

Well my 1st question would be how can you tell that there's a possible mess left over?

You say there's small problems occuring from your audit? Such as what?

There's loads of book out there I suppose. But not everything will be documented on one book.

You could maybe start with "Windows Server 2003 for Dummies" then move on to "Mastering Windows Server 2003"

[Skunkfunk]

Hi, I had a look through the book they write problems down in and there seems to be things like can't print from a certain machine , a user can't log on, system seems slow, cant access files they needs to etc. A far as a mess goes I'm really going on what the customer is telling me, but it seems that he wasn't exactly good at his job, very lax in returning calls, billing loads of hours for "remote work" not fixing or doing things that they asked etc...

[Guest]

Sounds like a really nice basic network to me. Because its so basic it is proberbly a nice network to be familiourising yourself with Windows domains and servers.

Networks with no problems are always good money makers. My goal for any network is to make it run sound then make sure I can remote access the site. Unless their internet breaks or there's a hardware issue I can remotely manage all customers. More often than not customers moan that you don't come on-site much for the price they pay for your support. Well... isn't that a good thing?

My first point of call would be to change the administrator password and look for any signs of remote access on the router. You don't want the previous guy coming back in and looking around the network. Why do companies employ someone full time to manage 40 users whom only use file and print sharing? That guy must have had some long boring days.

I wouldn't wipe and start over unless the network just didn't work at all. Rebuilding a domain and then configuring all usernames and 40 workstations would be a long long process. Because this network sounds so simple there isn't much to go wrong.

You need to gather up any information the previous guy had before. A list of passwords etc would be handy (Directory Restore Password would be nice to have. If you don't have this you should look at changing it while the servers are still functional). It depends on the previous guy though, if he's what I come across everyday then it will all be in his head (Sigh). As long as you have the administrator password or at least an account with domain admin privileges you can figure everything out.

You say you have managed small businesses before yet never come across Windows Servers. I can't think of one small company I have done work for that doesn't have a Windows Server on-site somewhere. What types of networks have these small businesses had?

I have the Mastering Windows 2003 Server book and read it right through. I highly recommend the book, I got mine cheap as a second hand copy on Amazon. It has a lot of good info inside it but like any book it won't tell you how to fix something when it doesn't work :)

Most people here at Neowin are always willing to help. Forums and/or Google are always a great source for information.

*Edit*

Ugh I started writting this before you replied to the guy above. I can see now that he was an external contact of the company. The problems you mention don't seem like big problems to me. You need to kick the customer for more information in regards to the login issues. Windows won't simply say "Not letting you logon". Error messages are needed to find the source of the problem. Can't access certain files just sounds like file permissions are preventing them. Again need error message. Slow systems need to be seen. Slow to someone can be fine to others. If it is slow then normally its just a PC that needs replacing or reloading. Then again it could always be EndPoint Protection (spit) doing it's thang.

Edited June 2, 2008 by ]SK[

[Marshalus Veteran]

I agree with SK, you should be fine but you need to change every administrator password to anything, ASAP, and it would be a very good idea to force every user to change their password as well because chances are the old guy will have one of them. It's also a good excuse to enforce strong passwords on them.

[Skunkfunk]

Thanks for the comments SK, sounds like a good idea to change every password on the server admin wise and the same with the router, defiantly don't want him snooping around or sabotaging anything.

The customers I have at the moment have been using one power PC in their network as the File Server, using POP3 with Outlook, auto backing up to an external hard disk. This works well for them and is cheap which is what they wanted at the time, thinking about the 3 company's I manage, they are all florishing business's now and could probably afford/need a Server but how do you persuade/convince a business to buy a server and the associated software when they won't notice any difference? (anyway that is another question)

In relation to your question Marshalus, the users all logon with the same username and no password at the moment, it's a learning center so they all login with group1, group2, group3 etc I was told while I was there that not much get saved by the users but the teachers have access to quite a lot of files stored on the server and the various groups open the shared files.

It's worth mentioning the second Server is serving 5-6 users (the teachers) 1 of which has outlook connecting to exchange on that server. I didn't get a proper look at this server as it had no screen and no one knew the password for it anyway.

[Guest]

The customers I have at the moment have been using one power PC in their network as the File Server, using POP3 with Outlook, auto backing up to an external hard disk. This works well for them and is cheap which is what they wanted at the time, thinking about the 3 company's I manage, they are all florishing business's now and could probably afford/need a Server but how do you persuade/convince a business to buy a server and the associated software when they won't notice any difference? (anyway that is another question)

What's your meaning of a 'power PC'? If the company had a fire where could their non-fried data be found? If they are using POP3 I guess their PST/OST's for outlook are stored on the local machine or have they been redirected to the 'power PC'? Exchange does alot more than just emails. Since all outlook data for Exchange is held on the server you can backup the companies exchange information easily. This also allows you to offer Outlook Web Access. Outlook isn't that useful when used for just mail. Having Exchange unlocks all of its features. Having a domain is an easy and secure way of making sure users are working and not able to do things they shouldn't.

It's worth mentioning the second Server is serving 5-6 users (the teachers) 1 of which has outlook connecting to exchange on that server. I didn't get a proper look at this server as it had no screen and no one knew the password for it anyway.

Surly if you have the admin user and password for the first server then you have the details you need to login to the exchange server. Most of my servers don't have monitors on them. Remote Desktop was a most welcome addition to Windows XP/2003.

Edited June 3, 2008 by ]SK[

[Skunkfunk]

What's your meaning of a 'power PC'? If the company had a fire where could their non-fried data be found? If they are using POP3 I guess their PST/OST's for outlook are stored on the local machine or have they been redirected to the 'power PC'? Exchange does alot more than just emails. Since all outlook data for Exchange is held on the server you can backup the companies exchange information easily. This also allows you to offer Outlook Web Access. Outlook isn't that useful when used for just mail. Having Exchange unlocks all of its features. Having a domain is an easy and secure way of making sure users are working and not able to do things they shouldn't.

A power PC meaning a Core2Duo with 4GB and 500GB of hard disk, the outlook data files are backed up every night from the local machines to backup drive, that then replicates to another drive which they take away incase of fire.

They already have Outlook web access with the ISP.

So you can see why it would be hard to convince they need a server.

Surly if you have the admin user and password for the first server then you have the details you need to login to the exchange server. Most of my servers don't have monitors on them. Remote Desktop was a most welcome addition to Windows XP/2003.

It wasn't the same password as the main server.

Going a little bit off track now any way.

So you guys think I should be ok with a little help from books and the internet?

Seems a really simple network to me as well, just 35-40 clients running basic software and printing hardly saving anything and not using Outlook/E-mails, the only thing that concerns me slightly is the other server running exchange but this appears to be running and working fine so I guess I will learn as I go with that...

I'll get a list of what is currently wrong today and post here if it's not too big.

[garethevans1986]

See if the second server with Exchange is setup on the same Active Directory domain, if so the Admin password will be the same on all servers and all workstations on the domain.

GE

[Guest]

Not being able to access the server would be a major concern for me. I like to find out as much as I can about a network. That way when things go wrong you will have a better understanding for when things go wrong... and trust me things do go wrong from time to time.

I would say create your own test network using MS Virtual PC or alike. Familiarise yourself with Exchange because Exchange is quite a complicated program.

[Marshalus Veteran]

In relation to your question Marshalus, the users all logon with the same username and no password at the moment, it's a learning center so they all login with group1, group2, group3 etc I was told while I was there that not much get saved by the users but the teachers have access to quite a lot of files stored on the server and the various groups open the shared files.

Then change the username and passwords they share. If they are sharing them you can be assured that that guy has access.

You probably also want to poke around in AD Users and make sure he didn't leave any backdoors for himself.