Although the features mentioned in the previous section likely compel most system administrators to use NTFS, additional reasons make using it mandatory. The most important reason is that the Active Directory data store must reside on an NTFS partition. Therefore, before you begin installing Active Directory, make sure you have at least one NTFS partition available. Also, be sure you have a reasonable amount of disk space available (at least 4 GB). Because the size of the Active Directory data store will grow as you add objects to it, also be sure that you have adequate space for the future.
Exercise 7.1 shows you how to use the administrative tools to view and modify disk configuration.
Verifying the Filesystem
Before you make any disk configuration changes, be sure you completely understand their potential effects; then perform the test in a lab environment and make sure you have good, verifiable backups handy. Changing partition sizes and adding and removing partitions can result in a total loss of all information on one or more partitions.
If you want to convert an existing partition from FAT or FAT32 to NTFS, you need to use the CONVERT command. For example, the following command converts the C: partition from FAT to NTFS: CONVERT c: /fs:ntfs
EXERCISE 7.1
Viewing the Disk Configurations
- Right- click on the Start button and then choose Computer Management.
- Under Storage, click Disk Management (see Figure 7.2).
FIGURE 7.2 Disk Management
EXERCISE 7.1 (continued)
The Disk Management program shows you the logical and physical disks that are currently configured on your system.
- Use the View menu to choose various depictions of the physical and logical drives in your system.
- To see the available options for modifying partition settings, right-c lick any of the disks or partitions. This step is optional.
- Close Computer Management.
Verifying Network Connectivity
Although a Windows Server 2022 computer can be used by itself without connecting to a network, you will not harness much of the potential of the operating system without network connectivity. Because the fundamental purpose of a network operating system is to provide resources to users, you must verify network connectivity.
Basic Connectivity Tests
Before you begin to install Active Directory, you should perform several checks of your current configuration to ensure that the server is configured properly on the network. You should test the following:
Network Adapter At least one network adapter should be installed and properly configured on your server. A quick way to verify that a network adapter is properly installed is to use the Computer Management administrative tool. Under Device Manager, Network Adapters branch, you should have at least one network adapter listed. If you don’t, click the Add Hardware icon in Control Panel to configure hardware.
TCP/IP Make sure that TCP/IP is installed, configured, and enabled on any necessary network adapters. The server should also be given a valid IP address and subnet mask. Optionally, you may need to configure a default gateway, DNS servers, WINS servers, and other network settings. If you are using DHCP, be sure that the assigned information is correct. It is always a good idea to use a static IP address for servers because IP address changes can cause network connectivity problems if they are not handled properly.
Internet Access If the server should have access to the Internet, verify that it is able to connect to external web servers and other machines outside of the local area network (LAN). If the server is unable to connect, you might have a problem with the TCP/IP configuration.
Verifying Network Connectivity
LAN Access The server should be able to view other servers and workstations on the network. If other machines are not visible, make sure that the network and TCP/IP configurations are correct for your environment.
Client Access Network client computers should be able to connect to your server and view any shared resources. A simple way to test connectivity is to create a share and test whether other machines are able to see files and folders within it. If clients cannot access the machine, make sure that both the client and the server are configured properly.
Wide Area Network Access If you’re working in a distributed environment, you should ensure that you have access to any remote sites or users who will need to connect to this machine. Usually, this is a simple test that can be performed by a network administrator.
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