Network layout

Our software company has just landed a small company that has several network
issues. They want us to help with the process of making their network more
stable. I want to make sure we are thinking of everything before we start
moving servers. The goal is to get away from the current datacenter.

Current setup:

Cisco VPN connection between Datacenter, Headquarters, and 2 remote offices.
1)Datacenter rack with Terminal Server with AD and another server that is
running AD. All FSMO roles are on the Terminal Server. The Terminal server
has approximately 60G of data which is mostly big autocad map files.
2)Headquarters has 1 DC Global Catalog
3)Remote office #1 1 DC Global Catalog
4)Remote office #2 1 DC Global Catalog
5)Exchange Email is hosted on a shared server as is their website.
6)Everything at the Datacenter is backed up once a week on tap.
7)They recently went away from Thin clients and now are using desktop
computers. I did notice however that they are still having to pull the maps
from Terminal Server across the WAN link.

Problem:
The network is turtle slow. They want a simple network that will function so
they can concentrate on their core business.

Questions:
I want to do this is a phased approach.

1)Moving the Terminal server to the HQ should get rid of unnecessary WAN
traffic. Should I move the Terminal server to the HQ or just move the files?

2)Should I have all the FSMO roles moved to the other server that is setting
in the Datacenter?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Greg

"Madrino" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:844CF5E1-60DB-4FA1-B8D8-(E-Mail Removed)...
> 1)Moving the Terminal server to the HQ should get rid of unnecessary WAN
> traffic. Should I move the Terminal server to the HQ or just move the
files?

Move the TS. The TS needs to be close to the files it accesses,...it does
not need to be close to the Clients.

> 2)Should I have all the FSMO roles moved to the other server that is
setting
> in the Datacenter?

Domain Controller at each location. Use AD Sites and Subnets to deal with
Domain Dontroller replication over the slow WAN link. Search for documents
or whitepapers on MS's site for deploying Active Directory over slow WAN
links.

--
Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
www.wandtv.com
-----------------------------------------------------
Understanding the ISA 2004 Access Rule Processing
http://www.isaserver.org/articles/IS...cessRules.html

Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Guidance
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/t...dance/2004.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/t...dance/2000.asp

Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Partners
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/partners/default.asp

Deployment Guidelines for ISA Server 2004 Enterprise Edition
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...isaserver.mspx
-----------------------------------------------------

What is slow? logins? file transfers? email? what's the link speed between
the sites?

"Madrino" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:844CF5E1-60DB-4FA1-B8D8-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Our software company has just landed a small company that has several
network
> issues. They want us to help with the process of making their network more
> stable. I want to make sure we are thinking of everything before we start
> moving servers. The goal is to get away from the current datacenter.
>
> Current setup:
>
> Cisco VPN connection between Datacenter, Headquarters, and 2 remote
offices.
> 1)Datacenter rack with Terminal Server with AD and another server that is
> running AD. All FSMO roles are on the Terminal Server. The Terminal server
> has approximately 60G of data which is mostly big autocad map files.
> 2)Headquarters has 1 DC Global Catalog
> 3)Remote office #1 1 DC Global Catalog
> 4)Remote office #2 1 DC Global Catalog
> 5)Exchange Email is hosted on a shared server as is their website.
> 6)Everything at the Datacenter is backed up once a week on tap.
> 7)They recently went away from Thin clients and now are using desktop
> computers. I did notice however that they are still having to pull the
maps
> from Terminal Server across the WAN link.
>
> Problem:
> The network is turtle slow. They want a simple network that will function
so
> they can concentrate on their core business.
>
> Questions:
> I want to do this is a phased approach.
>
> 1)Moving the Terminal server to the HQ should get rid of unnecessary WAN
> traffic. Should I move the Terminal server to the HQ or just move the
files?
>
> 2)Should I have all the FSMO roles moved to the other server that is
setting
> in the Datacenter?
>
> Any advice is greatly appreciated.
>
> Greg

Thank you for responding

All users are accessing files on the terminal server. The issue is they are
not using terminal server to access the files they are using autocad on their
local computer that is pulling autocad files from a shared folder on the
Terminal Server.

So basically the terminal server is acting as a file server over a WAN link.
Does that help explain it better? The link from the HQ to the datacenter is
a full T1, both remote sites only have DSL connections.

We want to get rid of the terminal server but it might be easier to just
move it to the HQ to get the files local and not being pulled over the WAN
link. Does this sound good for phase I?

I didn't think we were going to get involved in this company's network but
hey never know what the boss might do. When I was in the HQ about a month
ago I did some speed checks and they were getting less than 56K speeds on the
T1 during the day but when everyone went home they were back up to T1 speeds.
It's only about 20 users.

Does any of this help?

Thank you again for your help.

"Neteng" wrote:

> What is slow? logins? file transfers? email? what's the link speed between
> the sites?
>
> "Madrino" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:844CF5E1-60DB-4FA1-B8D8-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Our software company has just landed a small company that has several
> network
> > issues. They want us to help with the process of making their network more
> > stable. I want to make sure we are thinking of everything before we start
> > moving servers. The goal is to get away from the current datacenter.
> >
> > Current setup:
> >
> > Cisco VPN connection between Datacenter, Headquarters, and 2 remote
> offices.
> > 1)Datacenter rack with Terminal Server with AD and another server that is
> > running AD. All FSMO roles are on the Terminal Server. The Terminal server
> > has approximately 60G of data which is mostly big autocad map files.
> > 2)Headquarters has 1 DC Global Catalog
> > 3)Remote office #1 1 DC Global Catalog
> > 4)Remote office #2 1 DC Global Catalog
> > 5)Exchange Email is hosted on a shared server as is their website.
> > 6)Everything at the Datacenter is backed up once a week on tap.
> > 7)They recently went away from Thin clients and now are using desktop
> > computers. I did notice however that they are still having to pull the
> maps
> > from Terminal Server across the WAN link.
> >
> > Problem:
> > The network is turtle slow. They want a simple network that will function
> so
> > they can concentrate on their core business.
> >
> > Questions:
> > I want to do this is a phased approach.
> >
> > 1)Moving the Terminal server to the HQ should get rid of unnecessary WAN
> > traffic. Should I move the Terminal server to the HQ or just move the
> files?
> >
> > 2)Should I have all the FSMO roles moved to the other server that is
> setting
> > in the Datacenter?
> >
> > Any advice is greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Greg
>
>
>

Move the TS. The TS needs to be close to the files it accesses,...it does
not need to be close to the Clients.

The TS is acting as the file server/TS. They are not really even using the
TS anymore so they are having to access the files on the TS via the WAN link.
Is that a crazy setup or what?

"Phillip Windell" wrote:

> "Madrino" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:844CF5E1-60DB-4FA1-B8D8-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > 1)Moving the Terminal server to the HQ should get rid of unnecessary WAN
> > traffic. Should I move the Terminal server to the HQ or just move the
> files?
>
> Move the TS. The TS needs to be close to the files it accesses,...it does
> not need to be close to the Clients.
>
> > 2)Should I have all the FSMO roles moved to the other server that is
> setting
> > in the Datacenter?
>
> Domain Controller at each location. Use AD Sites and Subnets to deal with
> Domain Dontroller replication over the slow WAN link. Search for documents
> or whitepapers on MS's site for deploying Active Directory over slow WAN
> links.
>
> --
> Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
> www.wandtv.com
> -----------------------------------------------------
> Understanding the ISA 2004 Access Rule Processing
> http://www.isaserver.org/articles/IS...cessRules.html
>
> Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Guidance
> http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/t...dance/2004.asp
> http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/t...dance/2000.asp
>
> Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Partners
> http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/partners/default.asp
>
> Deployment Guidelines for ISA Server 2004 Enterprise Edition
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...isaserver.mspx
> -----------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>

"Madrino" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:7ED2AA66-2EB7-48D3-A2D3-(E-Mail Removed)...
> The TS is acting as the file server/TS. They are not really even using the
> TS anymore so they are having to access the files on the TS via the WAN
link.
> Is that a crazy setup or what?

umm....Yep.

Ok. So it does need to be close to the clients. Uninstall TS from the
machine if you don't need it,...save a few processor cycles and a little
memory.

--
Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
www.wandtv.com
-----------------------------------------------------
Understanding the ISA 2004 Access Rule Processing
http://www.isaserver.org/articles/IS...cessRules.html

Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Guidance
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/t...dance/2004.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/t...dance/2000.asp

Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Partners
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/partners/default.asp

Deployment Guidelines for ISA Server 2004 Enterprise Edition
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...isaserver.mspx
-----------------------------------------------------

Do you think I should move the FSMO roles to the other DC at the Datacenter
and then move the TS to the HQ office? I want to make sure I change things
slowly so if something crashes I know why.

"Phillip Windell" wrote:

> "Madrino" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:7ED2AA66-2EB7-48D3-A2D3-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > The TS is acting as the file server/TS. They are not really even using the
> > TS anymore so they are having to access the files on the TS via the WAN
> link.
> > Is that a crazy setup or what?
>
> umm....Yep.
>
> Ok. So it does need to be close to the clients. Uninstall TS from the
> machine if you don't need it,...save a few processor cycles and a little
> memory.
>
> --
> Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
> www.wandtv.com
> -----------------------------------------------------
> Understanding the ISA 2004 Access Rule Processing
> http://www.isaserver.org/articles/IS...cessRules.html
>
> Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Guidance
> http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/t...dance/2004.asp
> http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/t...dance/2000.asp
>
> Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Partners
> http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/partners/default.asp
>
> Deployment Guidelines for ISA Server 2004 Enterprise Edition
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...isaserver.mspx
> -----------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>

You need to hunt down some of the documents on MS's Site for dealing with
Active Directory over WAN links use "AD Sites and Services". Having the
documentation that places it all in front of you is the only way that you
will come up with a "plan" that works. We would be here forever if we tried
to handle it by a little question here and a little question there, it is
too big of a project for that.

--
Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
www.wandtv.com

"Madrino" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:F25C1534-812F-499C-9876-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Do you think I should move the FSMO roles to the other DC at the
Datacenter
> and then move the TS to the HQ office? I want to make sure I change things
> slowly so if something crashes I know why.