Requirements for Installing Active Directory Domain Services

Before you can install AD DS, you must have at least one server that meets the following requirements:

• Operating system— The server must be running the Standard, Enterprise, or Datacenter edition of Windows Server 2008. Note that a server running the Web edition cannot act as a domain controller.

• Adequate hard disk space— Beyond the space used for installing Windows Server 2008, the server must have a minimum of 500MB of disk space for the Active Directory database and SYSVOL folder, plus at least 100MB for the transaction log files. The larger the proposed network, the more disk space is necessary, and in practical terms you should have several gigabytes of available space at a minimum.

• A disk volume formatted with the NTFS file system— This ensures security of the database; furthermore, it is required for the SYSVOL folder. Windows Server 2008 creates an NTFS partition by default when installed.

  Tip

  It is strongly recommended that you use a fault-tolerant disk volume, such as RAID-1 (disk mirroring) or RAID-5 (disk striping with parity), for the Active Directory files. This enables the domain controller to function in the event of a disk failure, until the failed disk can be replaced. However, fault-tolerant disks are no substitute for regular backups of Active Directory. Backups are discussed in Chapter 8, “Monitoring and Maintaining the Active Directory Environment.”

  
  

• A DNS server— Active Directory requires a DNS server that supports service (SRV) resource records to be present. This can be any server running Windows 2000 or later, or it can be a UNIX server running Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) 4.9.7 or later. If you want to integrate the DNS database with Active Directory, you should install DNS on the same server that you install AD DS. If the Active Directory Installation Wizard cannot find a suitable DNS server, you are prompted to install one. DNS is discussed in Chapter 2, “Active Directory and DNS.”

• Administrative privileges— You must be logged on with an account that has the appropriate administrative privileges. For the first domain controller, this is a local administrator. To add a domain to an existing forest, you must be a member of the Enterprise Admins group in this forest, and to add a domain controller to an exiting domain, you must be a member of the Domain Admins or Enterprise Admins group in this domain. Chapter 5 discusses group memberships.