Posted on Thu, Jun 23, 2011
Although the Domain Name System used on the internet is as old as the internet itself, it's still a very confusing technology for many businesses. Understanding all the different hosts and services necessary to create a presence on the web can be confusing and overwhelming.
Most people understand that they need to register a name for their business on the web (referred to as a domain name) and host a website, but beyond that, they're unclear on what they might need. In fact, there are several layers and different hosts who coordinate to make sure everything goes just right. Just like when buying a cell phone, there are many parts to the equation to ensure everything works as you expect.
The Registrar
The registrar is the place you start; they are the service which officially creates and maintains your chosen domain name (e.g. terminal.com). Using our cell phone analogy, this is much like choosing your carrier and cell phone plan. Initially, Network Solutions was the only registrar, but some years ago law changed to allow other companies to act as internet registrars. Now there are hundreds, such as GoDaddy, Verisign, Tucows, and many others. They all work essentially the same, though costs can vary quite a bit.
The Domain Host
Once you've registered your domain name, you need to host it somewhere. Again, going back to our analogy, you need more than just a cell phone plan, you need to get a phone number as well, so people know how to reach you. The domain host provides directions on the internet for anyone trying to reach your internet services, whether they be email or web or even remote access or corporate VPNs.
The Service Hosts (email, web, etc.)
If the registrar is the cell phone plan in our analogy, and the domain host is the phone number, the service host would be the cell phone itself. The service hosts are the endpoint that your users are trying to reach. This can be a web page, or email, or many other business services. Some companies choose to host these services inside their own offices, while others choose to have other companies host them. Traditionally, many small and medium businesses have relied on web hosting companies to host their web pages and sometimes their email, as well. As companies grow in size, they will frequently host their own email and may even host their own web pages. These days, as cloud computing becomes more popular, companies often host many services with third party service hosts.
While it's entirely possible to choose different companies for each of these categories, many companies offer some or all of these services together. I often encourage clients to try to stick to as few companies as possible, as it helps keep a handle on recurring costs and creates a central contact point for service-related issues.
It's important to choose wisely, for this very reason; don't be stuck in the situation of not knowing just who to call when something breaks! If you need help consolidating or making sense of your domain hosting, Contact Us today and a Terminal engineer can help you understand your domain configuration and simplify your management.
Brian St. Marie - Sr. Systems Engineer
Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!
Sincerely, Terminal We Serve All of Greater Boston and Cambridge, MA
Posted on Wed, Jun 08, 2011
Once again on the subject of useful tools is ForensIT's User Profile Wizard. If anyone is familiar with the longhand method of migrating a user's profile, you will be very excited to get your hands on this gem!
Recently, we have been building a lot of domain environments from the ground up which requires us to migrate many user’s beloved local profile to their new domain profile. The User Profile Wizard has helped us slash the time it takes to do this and has improved the success rate at the same time. This tool completely automates the process of changing the various permissions on the local profile folders and registry keys, sets the default login name and even lets you join the computer to the domain all within one intuitive wizard. Using the migration tool preserves the user's custom settings, wallpaper, email configuration, internet favorites, shortcuts and desktop icons. It fully supports both Active Directory and Novell networks. When purchased, you will gain access to the deployment kit which supports scripting and customization and has the capability automatically migrate thousands of workstations at once! This is a solid tool that just works.
Adam Jones - Systems Engineer
Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!
Sincerely, Terminal We Serve All of Greater Boston and Cambridge, MA
Posted on Thu, Jun 02, 2011
A personal pet peeve of mine is the required authentication to access the Management Console of Symantec's Endpoint Protection Suite. Since it doesn't typically require logging in very often yet requires frequent changing of the password, it's very easy to forget the login information which delays troubleshooting when it's most important.
Just recently, I discovered that there is a way to configure the Management Console to allow domain logins, greatly simplifying management of Symantec's Protection Suite.
Inside the console, browse to the Admin tab. On the bottom left of the new pane, click on the Servers sub-tab. Select your management server and click Edit Server Properties and then Directory Servers on the resulting window. Here, you can add external authentication servers for the Symantec software to use. Click Add and enter the information for your domain controller of choice, as well as the name of the account you wish the software to use when connecting to the domain.
Once that's complete, you can specify any Symantec Endpoint Protection Administrator to use this domain server and account to log into the console. Simply browse to the Administrators sub-tab, edit or create an Administrator account and specify Directory Authentication for Authentication. You don't even need to have the same username in Symantec as you do on the domain, but you must use the same password. The advantage to this is you never need to worry about independent or unmanaged passwords in the Symantec management system. This improves security and manageability, allowing administrators to focus on keeping your network protected.
Brian St. Marie - Sr. Systems Engineer
Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!
Sincerely, Terminal We Serve All of Greater Boston and Cambridge, MA