MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterprise, Second Edition Planning Your Enterprise System: Fault Tolerance and Protocols

Transcription

1 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 1 of 14 [Figures are not included in this sample chapter] MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterprise, Second Edition Planning Your Enterprise System: Fault Tolerance and Protocols OBJECTIVES This chapter helps you to prepare for the Microsoft exam by covering the following remaining objectives within the "Planning" category: Plan the disk drive configuration for various requirements. Requirements include choosing a fault tolerance method. l This objective requires you to fully understand the fault tolerance options available in Windows NT Server and when they should be used in your enterprise environment. Choose a protocol for various situations. Protocols include TCP/IP TCP/IP with DHCP and WINS NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport Data Link Control (DLC) AppleTalk l To meet the requirements of this objective, you must understand all the protocols available in Windows NT Server 4.0 and where they apply in your enterprise environment. OUTLINE l Planning the Fault Tolerance Configurations for Windows NT Server 4 RAID Systems in Windows NT Server 4 RAID Level 0: Stripe Sets RAID Level 1: Disk Mirroring RAID Level 5: Stripe Sets with Parity Hardware RAID Implementing RAID in Windows NT Server 4

2 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 2 of 14 Sector Sparing Summary of Fault Tolerance in Windows NT Server 4 l Selecting the Proper Protocol NetBEUI TCP/IP Heterogeneous Connectivity with TCP/IP WINS and DHCP NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport NetWare Connectivity Data Link Control AppleTalk Macintosh Connectivity l Case Study Scenario Essence of the Case Analysis l Chapter Summary Key Terms STUDY STRATEGIES In any planning section, you are introduced to procedures and detailed information on each of the components. To gain a strong understanding of each of these sections, you should read each of the sections and then cross-reference with the "Installation and Configuration" sections in this book to understand how each of these items is installed in a Windows NT system. Knowing the specific steps required in an installation gives the planning procedures more meaning. This chapter covers the remaining objectives grouped in the planning section as defined by Microsoft. The main sections in this chapter--directly addressing these objectives--are as follows: l Planning the fault tolerance configurations for Windows NT Server 4 l Selecting the proper protocol The Enterprise exam focuses a great deal of its questions on the planning aspects of your enterprise system. If you have a strong understanding of the theory and the options available from your Windows NT Server system, you will have an easy time with the exam. This chapter will ensure that you can relate the various fault tolerance options available and the protocols for a heterogeneous enterprise environment. PLANNING THE FAULT TOLERANCE CONFIGURATIONS FOR WINDOWS NT SERVER 4 Plan the disk drive configuration for various requirements. Requirements include choosing a fault tolerance method.

3 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 3 of 14 One of the major items tested in the planning section of the Enterprise exam is Microsoft's use of fault tolerance in Windows NT Server 4. This section reviews the different levels of RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) available for Windows NT Server 4. It looks into the requirements for each of the fault tolerance options as well as the limitations and disk restrictions. Many fault tolerance solutions today incorporate a hardware RAID, rather than software versions of the fault tolerance. In this chapter, we will look at the software fault tolerance as supported by Windows NT Server 4.0. RAID Systems in Windows NT Server 4 In any enterprise system, you have to be prepared for system failure. Windows NT Server has some built-in hard disk fault tolerance capabilities. Later in this book, you will look at the steps required to implement the fault tolerance and how to recover from hardware failure. In this chapter about planning, however, you will look at the reasoning behind selecting a fault tolerance solution, and you will examine the benefits and limitations with each one. Windows NT Server 4 supports the following: l RAID Level 0 (disk striping) l RAID Level 1 (disk mirroring) l RAID Level 5 (disk striping with parity) The next few sections define each of these fault tolerance methods; they also give the reasoning for selecting these options. RAID Level 0: Stripe Sets Disk striping doesn't really belong in a section about fault tolerance because it offers no data redundancy. It is included, however, to help define the options and to serve as a reference against other fault tolerance options. The exam almost always uses disk striping as one of the options for fault tolerance under Windows NT, but keep in mind that it does not offer any disaster recovery of information. Disk striping divides the data into 64KB blocks and writes the data across multiple physical disk drives (see Figure 2.1). Although this process improves the performance of your hard drives, it provides no method to recover lost data. A disk stripe set consists of multiple physical disks. A minimum of 2 disks is required with the stripe set, which can reach a maximum of 32 physical disks. The benefits of a disk stripe set are l Improved disk read performance l Improved disk write performance The limitations of a disk stripe set are l No data redundancy or fault tolerance

4 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 4 of 14 l Inability to contain the system or boot partition in a stripe set FIGURE 2.1 Disk striping writes the data across multiple physical disks in 64KB blocks of data. RAID Level 1: Disk Mirroring Disk mirroring is the process of duplicating the hard drive writes onto two physical disks. When a disk mirror is created, the information is written to both drives at the same time (see Figure 2.2). If each disk is controlled by its own hard drive controller, it is called disk duplexing. This method of fault tolerance is more expensive per megabyte of data, due to the complete duplication of data. Every disk mirror requires two physical disks. The benefits of disk mirroring are l All drives and partitions can be mirrored, including boot and system partitions. l Complete data duplication is done, enabling a complete recovery of data. The drawbacks of disk mirroring are l Higher cost per megabyte (50 percent of total available disk space is utilized) l Moderate read and write performance FIGURE 2.2 Disk mirroring duplicates the data across two physical disks, ensuring that a complete copy of the data exists on both disks. RAID Level 5: Stripe Sets with Parity Disk striping with parity is the most common fault tolerance method available through Windows NT Server 4. Disk striping with parity uses the same basic process of disk striping. It writes the data in 64KB blocks across multiple physical disks (see Figure 2.3). It also calculates and writes parity information on one of the disks to ensure that the data can be re-created in case of a disk failure. The difference is that disk striping with parity uses a minimum of three disks to spread parity information. With the parity information available, the data can be regenerated on a stripe set. To implement disk striping with parity, a minimum of 3 physical disks is required and a maximum of 32 disks can be used. If any one of the disks in the stripe set with parity fails, then the data can be regenerated from the remaining disks. FIGURE 2.3 Disk striping with parity writes the data across physical disks in 64KB blocks. The benefits of a stripe set with parity are l Data can be regenerated from parity information. l Excellent read performance.

5 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 5 of 14 l Lower cost per megabyte than disk mirroring. The limitations and drawbacks of a stripe set with parity are l Requires a minimum of 3 disks and maximum of 32 disks. l Provides only moderate write performance. l Requires more system memory to implement due to calculation of parity. l Cannot include system or boot partition. Hardware RAID Hardware solutions for fault tolerance are by far the best solutions available. For the Enterprise exam, however, you do not need to know any hardware solutions. Just know that they are available and are supported on the Windows NT Server 4 Hardware Compatibility List. Implementing RAID in Windows NT Server 4 The steps required to implement fault tolerance in Windows NT Server 4 are covered in detail in Chapter 3, "Installing and Configuring Windows NT in the Enterprise." Sector Sparing Sector sparing is not a fault tolerance method; it is more of a self-recovery capability that is built into Windows NT Server 4. Sector sparing verifies each write of data onto the disk, and if it does not reread the data successfully, it moves the data to a different sector of the drive. After a sector of the disk has been marked as bad, the system does not use the bad sector until a disk defragmentation utility or a disk tool utility is executed. Sector sparing is supported on SCSI drives but does not offer any support for IDE or EIDE drives. REVIEW BREAK: Summary of Fault Tolerance in Windows NT Server 4 A comparison of the three fault tolerance options might help to summarize the information and ensure that you understand the options available in Windows NT Server 4 (see Table 2.1). TABLE 2.1 FAULT TOLERANCE OPTIONS IN WINDOWS NT SERVER 4 Disk Striping Disk Mirroring/ Disk Striping with Parity Disk Duplexing No fault tolerance. Complete disk duplication. Data regeneration from stored parity information. Minimum of 2 physical Two physical disks. Minimum of 3 physical disks; maximum of 32

6 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 6 of 14 disks; maximum of 32 disks. 100 percent available disk utilization. Cannot include system/boot partition. Excellent read/write performance. 50 percent available disk utilization. Includes all partition types. Moderate read/write performance. disks. Dedicates the equivalent of one disk's space in the set for parity information. The more disks, the higher the utilization. Cannot include system/boot partition. Excellent read, moderate write performance. SELECTING THE PROPER PROTOCOL Choose a protocol for various situations. The interconnectivity of Windows NT with other operating systems and other NT systems is critical to the proper functionality of your enterprise system. The Enterprise exam focuses a great deal on the connectivity of Windows NT Server 4. This section covers the planning of your protocols and the reasoning behind selecting certain protocols for interconnectivity with other systems. The installation and configuration of your protocols is covered in later chapters. Additional information about connection services within Windows NT Server 4 is covered in Part IV, "Connectivity." The main objective of this section is to give you the preliminary information required to select the proper protocol for various situations. Windows NT Server 4 comes bundled with a number of protocols that you can use for interconnectivity with other systems and within a Windows NT environment. You will examine the various protocols and then define when each protocol would best fit your network needs. The protocols you need to know for the Enterprise exam include the following: l NetBEUI l TCP/IP l NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport l Data Link Control l AppleTalk NetBEUI The NetBEUI protocol is the easiest to implement and has wide support across platforms. The NetBEUI protocol uses NetBIOS broadcasts to locate other computers on the network. This process of locating other computers requires additional network traffic and can slow down your entire network. Because NetBEUI uses broadcasts to locate computers, it is not routable; in other words, you cannot access computers that are not on your physical network. Most Microsoft and IBM OS/2 clients support this protocol. NetBEUI is best suited to small networks with no requirements for routing the information to remote networks or to the Internet.

7 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 7 of 14 TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or TCP/IP, is the most common protocol--more specifically, the most common suite of protocols. TCP/IP is an industry-standard protocol supported by most network operating systems. Because of this acceptance throughout the industry, TCP/IP enables your Windows NT system to connect to other systems with a common communication protocol. TCP/IP is a routable protocol that lends itself directly to enterprise or WAN communication. Each computer is assigned a unique address, the IP address. The advantages of using TCP/IP in a Windows NT environment are l The capability to connect dissimilar systems. l The capability to use numerous standard connectivity utilities, including File Transfer Protocol, Telnet, and Ping. l Internet access The configuration of TCP/IP in your Windows NT system requires more work than that of the other supported protocols. Windows NT, however, has numerous services to simplify the administration and the configuration of your TCP/IP network. First, take a look at the interconnectivity, or heterogeneous connectivity, of TCP/IP within Windows NT. You will learn about some of the services available to simplify the administration and the configuration of your TCP/IP system. The TCP/IP protocol is best suited to environments that require Internet access or access to dissimilar networks that are also running the TCP/IP protocol. The following sections will introduce the use of TCP/IP in a mixed or heterogeneous environment and some of the utilities that you can use to simplify this protocol and the configuration of it. Heterogeneous Connectivity with TCP/IP If your Windows NT system is using TCP/IP as a connection protocol, it can communicate with many non-microsoft systems. Some of the systems it can communicate with are l Any Internet-connected system l UNIX systems l IBM mainframe systems l DEC Pathworks l TCP/IP-supported printers directly connected to the network Using a communication method that is supported throughout the industry is definitely a benefit to extending your Windows NT system into an enterprise system. TCP/IP has increased in popularity and is now supported by virtually all new operating systems. This acceptance of the TCP/IP protocol

8 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 8 of 14 helps your Windows NT system maintain interconnectivity with the rest of the systems. WINS and DHCP TCP/IP can use the Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS) and the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to simplify administration of the system. DHCP is a service that allocates TCP/IP addresses automatically to all the clients configured for DHCP. You do not have to configure every workstation in your environment to use this service. All you have to do is set up each client as a DHCP client. The DHCP client makes a request to the DHCP server for an IP address. The DHCP server holds a scope or range of IP addresses that are assigned to each of the client computers. You can manage this scope from the Windows NT Server that holds the DHCP server. DHCP is a great benefit to assigning IP addresses for your client computers. Another utility that can help you in day-to-day TCP/IP use is WINS. A WINS server is a dynamic database that contains the names and IP addresses of all the computers on your network. This database is used to find computers on the network and to reduce the number of broadcast messages sent across the network. In a WINS environment, a WINS server is configured on a Windows NT Server system, and WINS clients are configured with the IP address of the WINS server. In WINS client configuration, you can set up a primary and a secondary WINS server. This system can be useful when your organization has remote locations you might need to access. If the computer does not find the computer name in the primary WINS server, it proceeds to the secondary WINS server to resolve the name to an IP address. Both of these utilities are discussed in detail in later chapters. For the planning section of the exam, you need to know how you can use WINS and DHCP to simplify the administration and maintenance of TCP/IP addresses. NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport The IPX protocol has been used within the NetWare environment for years. By developing an IPXcompatible protocol, Microsoft enables Windows NT systems to communicate with NetWare systems. NWLink is best suited to networks requiring communication with existing NetWare servers and for existing NetWare clients. This protocol is discussed in detail throughout this book. NetWare Connectivity The main advantage of NWLink is the connectivity with NetWare systems. The NWLink IPX/SPX- Compatible Transport protocol enables the Windows NT system to run a compatible protocol for NetWare connections. You must install other utilities, however, to enable the Windows NT Server system to gain access to the NetWare security. Gateway Services for NetWare/Client Services for NetWare (GSNW/CSNW) must be installed on the Windows NT server to enable the computer to log on to a NetWare system. GSNW functions as a NetWare client, but it also has the capability to share the connection to the Novell box with users from the Windows NT system. This enables a controlled NetWare connection for file and print sharing on the NetWare box, without having to configure each

9 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 9 of 14 NT client with a duplicate network redirector or client. If your NetWare clients need to access your Windows NT system, you must configure another utility. The File and Print Services for NetWare (FPNW) is an add-on utility that you can use to enable your Windows NT system to emulate the functionality of a NetWare box for NetWare clients. Data Link Control The DLC protocol was originally used for connectivity in an IBM mainframe environment, and it maintains support for existing legacy systems and mainframes. The DLC protocol is also used for connections to some network printers. AppleTalk Windows NT Server can configure the AppleTalk protocol to provide connectivity with Apple Macintosh systems. This protocol is installed with the Services for Macintosh included with your Windows NT Server CD-ROM. The AppleTalk protocol enables Macintosh computers on your network to access files and printers set up on the Windows NT server. It also enables your Windows NT clients to print to Apple Macintosh printers. The AppleTalk protocol is best suited to connectivity with the Apple Macintosh. Macintosh Connectivity The AppleTalk protocol is installed with Services for Macintosh. This service was designed to enable connections from Macintosh computers to Windows NT systems. The Services for Macintosh and the AppleTalk protocol are covered in more detail later in this book. REVIEW BREAK: The Protocols The protocols available with Windows NT--to help provide connectivity within your enterprise system--include the following (know these for the exam): l NetBEUI l TCP/IP l NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport l Data Link Control l AppleTalk CASE STUDY: PROVIDING CONNECTIVITY ESSENCE OF THE CASE Here are the essential elements of this case:

10 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 10 of 14 l Windows 95 and Macintosh clients connectivity and support are required. l Internet access via TCP/IP protocol. l Novell NetWare 3.12 access, IPX protocol. SCENARIO ABC Corporation wants to use Windows NT Server as the network operating system for its user validation and home directories. A number of NetWare 3.12 servers in the environment are also used for specific network applications that users need to connect with. The client platforms used are mainly Windows 95, but some Macintosh clients are scattered throughout the environment. The company currently uses IPX/SPX protocol for connection to the NetWare servers. It would like to let all clients talk to the Windows NT Server systems, including the Macintosh clients; the individuals who require access to the NetWare applications will need to be able to access the Novell NetWare 3.12 servers. The company would also like to let all users access the Internet. ANALYSIS On the Windows NT Server system, install and use the TCP/IP protocol; also install the Services for Macintosh on this system to allow Macintosh connections. The Novell NetWare systems can remain as they are currently configured using the IPX protocol. The Windows 95 clients should all install and configure the TCP/IP protocol to have access to the Windows NT Server and the Internet. Any users requiring NetWare access should install NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport protocol. Macintosh clients should use the AppleTalk protocol to connect to the Windows NT Server system. This should meet all the requirements of ABC Corporation. Chapter Summary A strong understanding of the supported fault tolerance methods available in Windows NT Server is important for the Enterprise exam. The disk configurations available for Windows NT Server 4.0 are l RAID 0: Disk striping l RAID 5: Disk striping with parity l RAID 1: Disk mirroring l RAID 1: Disk duplexing The strength of Windows NT Server 4.0 in the enterprise is its use of common protocols and its flexibility to connect in a heterogeneous environment. The protocols included with Windows NT Server 4.0 are l NetBEUI l TCP/IP l NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport

11 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 11 of 14 l Data Link Control l AppleTalk Make sure that you fully understand the strengths and compatibility of each of these protocols. KEY TERMS l RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) l disk duplexing l disk mirroring l NetBIOS l WINS l DHCP l IPX APPLY YOUR LEARNING This section allows you to assess how well you understood the material in the chapter. Review and exam questions test your knowledge of the tasks and concepts specified in the objectives. The exercises provide you with opportunities to engage in the sorts of tasks that compose the skill sets the objectives reflect. For more review and exam questions, see the Top Score test engine on the CD-ROM that came with this book. Exercise The following exercise provides you with an opportunity to apply what you've learned in this chapter. 2.1 Selecting the Appropriate Protocol for Connectivity This exercise has you select the appropriate protocols to use for a specific scenario. Select the best protocols for each scenario. Time Estimate: Less than 10 minutes 1. Users need to access the Internet and to communicate with each other locally. 2. Users need to access a Novell server both running IPX and communicating with the Windows NT Server.

12 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 12 of Users need to access resources on Novell servers, Windows NT systems, and UNIX systems. 4. A small number of users want to be able to share resources with no network configuration requirements. They do not need to access any computers outside the network. 2.1 Solutions: 1. TCP/IP. 2. NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport. 3. TCP/IP, NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport. 4. NetBEUI. All protocols would work; NetBEUI, however, is the easiest to configure and set up. Review Questions 1. List the disk fault tolerance methods supported by Windows NT Server. 2. Which fault tolerance method enables recovery of the boot and system partitions? 3. List the network protocols supported by Windows NT Server. 4. Which protocol enables connectivity with UNIX systems and the Internet? 5. Which protocol is used for NetWare connectivity? 6. What other services in Windows NT Server are needed to enable connectivity with a NetWare system? Exam Questions 1. Select all the disk fault tolerance functions that are supported by Windows NT Server 4. A. Disk mirroring B. Disk striping C. Disk striping with parity D. Sector sparing 2. Which of the following RAID classifications do not supply any recovery options? A. RAID 0: Disk striping B. RAID 1: Disk mirroring C. RAID 5: Disk striping with parity D. RAID 6: Hardware 3. Select the maximum number of disks that can be used in a stripe set with parity. A. 3 B. 2

13 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 13 of 14 C. 24 D The production department needs to access a software product that can be installed only on a NetWare box. The department currently connects to the Windows NT system and would like to connect to both systems with one common protocol. What protocol allows access to both a NetWare system and a Windows NT System? A. NetWare Connect Protocol B. NetBEUI C. NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport D. GSNW 5. Users from your Windows NT system want to access your NetWare box, but you do not want to set up each one with the NetWare client. What is required to enable your NT system to share a NetWare connection for the NT users? Select all correct answers. A. NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport B. NetBEUI C. GSNW D. Services for Macintosh Answers to Review Questions 1. Disk mirroring, stripe set with parity. See the section "Planning the Fault Tolerance for Windows NT Server 4" for more information. 2. Disk mirroring. See the section "Planning the Fault Tolerance for Windows NT Server 4" for more information. 3. TCP/IP, NetBEUI, NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport, DLC, AppleTalk. See the section "Selecting the Proper Protocol" for more information. 4. TCP/IP. See the section "Selecting the Proper Protocol" in this chapter for more information. 5. NWLink. See the section "Selecting the Proper Protocol" for more information. 6. Gateway Services for NetWare. See the section "Selecting the Proper Protocol" for more information. Answers to Exam Questions 1. A. C. The software fault tolerance supported by Windows NT Server are disk mirroring and disk striping with parity. See the section "RAID Systems in Windows NT Server 4" for more information. 2. A. RAID 0, disk striping, can be used to increase performance of your hard disks; however, no recovery is available using a stripe set. See the section "RAID Systems in Windows NT Server 4" for more information.

14 MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 Enterpris...: Fault Tolerance and Protocol Page 14 of D. The maximum number of disks that can be used in a stripe set with parity is 32 physical disks. See the section "RAID Level 5: Stripe Sets with Parity" for more information. 4. C. NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport protocol can be used to access both a Windows NT Server and Novell NetWare Server. See the section "NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport" for more information. 5. A. C. Sharing a connection to a NetWare box from an NT Server would require the NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport protocol and the Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW). See the section "NWLink IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport" for more information.