Need some advice on learning networking

[slimslob]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

I've been meaning to ask you this. I take it from some of your comments that you some experience with Windows Server?

Server 2012 R2 and earlier.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

I finally found the specific answer to the questions I was wondering about.

If I go to install a print driver and scan folder on every PC, am I gonna have the proper log in permission that I need to do the job?

Here's the definitive answer. In a domain environment, any user in a specific department can log on to any PC. However, some users have different permissions. Some are admins. Some are restricted users. You can log on to any PC as a local admin and install print drivers and any user on that PC will be able to print. Simple enough.

The problem comes in when you try to set up SMB. You can log on as a local admin, but you can't set up SMB for a user that is restricted because you're not logged in to the restricted user's account.

In any event, none of that is our problem. We either have the proper permission to set it up or we don't. It's not like we can go on the server and grant permission.

Edit: The domain admin can create a GPO that allows a restricted user to create a shared folder but we're getting deep in weeds.

[slimslob]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

In a domain environment, any user in a specific department can log on to any PC. However, some users have different permissions. Some are admins. Some are restricted users.

The problem comes in when you try to set up SMB. You can log on as a local admin, but you can't set up SMB for a user that is restricted because you're not logged in to the restricted user's account.

The corporate and school IT departments I have worked with usually setup all scan folders on the server. They would setup a tree structure. As an example a school district might have a top level scan folder. Under that they would have a separate folder for each campus. On each campus they would have folders for each grade and one for the office staff. Each individual would then have their own folder. Each individual would have a drive mapping to their folder setup in their Group Policy. Ran into a problem one fall after they had upgraded the server version over the summer. When they used the mapped drive in would not show the recently scanned files. If they just used Windows explorer and navigated to the folder the scanned files were there.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

The corporate and school IT departments I have worked with usually setup all scan folders on the server. They would setup a tree structure. As an example a school district might have a top level scan folder. Under that they would have a separate folder for each campus. On each campus they would have folders for each grade and one for the office staff. Each individual would then have their own folder. Each individual would have a drive mapping to their folder setup in their Group Policy. Ran into a problem one fall after they had upgraded the server version over the summer. When they used the mapped drive in would not show the recently scanned files. If they just used Windows explorer and navigated to the folder the scanned files were there.

Funny that you mentioned mapping a drive. That's what I'm about to work on learning. Should be interesting.

[slimslob]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Funny that you mentioned mapping a drive. That's what I'm about to work on learning. Should be interesting.

This might help. Found using Yahoo to search "use group policy to map drive" How To Map Network Drives With Group Policy (Complete Guide)

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

This might help. How To Map Network Drives With Group Policy (Complete Guide)

Thanks. Hey, what made you decide to learn Windows Server? Was it out of curiosity like me or is it something that you did as part of your job? Sometimes I question why the hell I'm doing it.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

This might help. Found using Yahoo to search "use group policy to map drive" How To Map Network Drives With Group Policy (Complete Guide)

I just mapped a drive using a GPO. It's pretty damn cool. The more times I create a new group policy, the easier it gets. Also, once you've created all the group policies that you're gonna need, it's a simple matter of applying an existing GPO to different users or computer.

[slimslob]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Thanks. Hey, what made you decide to learn Windows Server? Was it out of curiosity like me or is it something that you did as part of your job? Sometimes I question why the hell I'm doing it.

Primarily to support customers who did not have anyone else. The company that I worked for not only sold copiers but also phone systems and computers.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Primarily to support customers who did not have anyone else. The company that I worked for not only sold copiers but also phone systems and computers.

Cool. The reason that I wanted to learn about a server is because any time I heard the word "server", it scared me. It was the fear of the unknown. I wanted to get an idea of what challenges I may encounter when installing a copier in a network environment.

The great thing about VMWARE is it allows me to simulate a Windows Sever set-up and gain experience from the inside of Windows Sever 2019. For me it started with joining the PC's on a domain and pointing the router back to the domain server. Then understanding the level or permissions that each user has. And so on and so forth.

I wouldn't be at all scared to install a copier in a server environment. It's not much different than installing on a single Windows 10 PC.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

The more I learn, the more I realize how computer illiterate I am. I was watching a video on file sharing on Windows Server and they kept talking NTFS files. That led me to another video that talked about all the file sharing systems that are available among the different operating systems. NTFS was developed by Microsoft and that's the one you want to use if you have a Windows PC but it's not compatible with some other operating systems...like Mac. Well, you can read the files but not write.

There are many other file sharing systems...all with their advantages and disadvantages. I hear that the best is by Linux. They say it's much less prone to corruption from power outages and crashes.

[bsm2]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Most web servers are Linux base.
Most Linux OS are free including servers.
More Fun for you.


There also Chromebook and Chrome OS more fun

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

It takes me a little while to catch on but I think I'm starting to wrap my mind around the basic principles of a file server. Here's the scenario....

Let's say you work in an office and your PC has limited hard drive space but you're scanning a huge amount of documents each day. Here's the solution to the problem.


You can map one of the many hard drives on the file server to your PC. The drive will show up on your computer and give the appearance that it's a local drive. From there it will allow you to create a shared folder to the mapped hard drive. Moreover, you'll also have access to the other files on said hard drive. Like any other hard drive, the folder permissions will determine who has access.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Most web servers are Linux base.
Most Linux OS are free including servers.
More Fun for you.


There also Chromebook and Chrome OS more fun

If I do decide to do that....it's gonna be a while. This is starting to get complicated.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

It takes me a little while to catch on but I think I'm starting to wrap my mind around the basic principles of a file server. Here's the scenario....

Let's say you work in an office and your PC has limited hard drive space but you're scanning a huge amount of documents each day. Here's the solution to the problem.


You can map one of the many hard drives on the file server to your PC. The drive will show up on your computer and give the appearance that it's a local drive. From there it will allow you to create a shared folder to the mapped hard drive. Moreover, you'll also have access to the other files on said hard drive. Like any other hard drive, the folder permissions will determine who has access.

I wanted to verify my work so I mapped a hard drive on the server to my PC. I then created a shared folder on that drive. And then I set up the copier to scan to the folder I just created. It worked!!

Here's the takeaway....

If the Domain Admin has mapped a drive to the user's PC, you can set the copier to scan to that drive and the documents will scan to the server. You don't need credentials to log in to the server.


Sorry if I'm boring you guys. This is all new to me.

Edit: What's cool about this is I mapped the drive on the server to my PC thru a "user policy." That means the network drive doesn't show up when you open File Explorer. Only the users that I selected can see the drive or access it. Pretty cool.

[bsm2]