Understand ARC path and how to modify the Boot.ini to make changes to the ARC path: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)

The ARC path is used to tell NT where the boot files are located. On which controller, which disk, and on what artition on that disk.The ARC path is broken down into four parts: the first is either multi() or scsi() and refers to the disk controller. The only time to use scsi() is if you have a scsi

controller with the BIOS disabled. If the BIOS on the card is enabled, or if it is an IDE controller, then it will have multi(). The second and third part are disk() and rdisk(), and refer to which disk on the controller to use.

If the first part is multi(), then use the rdisk() value. If the first part is scsi(), then use the disk() value. The last part is the partition(), and refers to which partition on the disk to use.

It is a good idea to create a boot floppy to have in case of drive failure. If a drive fails, you can modify the BOOT.INI on the diskette, then boot from it. To create the floppy, you must format the floppy under NT. The reason for this is that NT will write its own Master Boot Record (MBR) on the floppy that tells it to look for NTLDR. After formatting the diskette copy the following

files to it: NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI. If the boot partition is located on a SCSI controller with the BIOS disabled, then you must also copy over

NTBOOTDD.SYS. The partition that contains the NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, BOOT.INI, etc. is called the System partition. The partition that contains the WINNT\

directory is called the Boot partition. The ARC path in the BOOT.INI points to the Boot partition.

You should always keep a recent Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) on hand. To create the ERD, go to the Start button, Run, then type in: RDISK /S. This will copy

all of the important registry keys and the user accounts information. If you have lots of users and groups it may span several diskettes. Just typing RDISK brings up a utility with two options. The first is Update Repair Info

which copies the current registry information into the winnt\system32\repair directory. The other option is to Create Emergency Repair Disk which will create the ERD. This option creates the ERD from the repair directory, so you must make sure you Update Repair Info first to ensure that you are getting the most current information. Keep in mind though, that using these two options won't copy the user accounts information to the disk. RDISK /S will.

Disk mirroring, disk duplexing, and stripe sets with parity are the only solutions that provide fault tolerance. Volume sets, stripe sets without parity don't provide fault tolerance. If any part of the set fails, the whole volume set fails.

Disk mirroring requires one controller and two drives. Disk duplexing requires two controllers and two drives. Duplexing is the same as mirroring except it has an additional controller in case the other one fails. Stripe sets without parity require a minimum of two drives and a maximum of 32 drives. Stripe sets with parity require a minimum of three drives and a maximum of 32 drives.

If a member of a mirrored pair fails, replace the drive, then break the original mirror and remirror the drives.This is accomplished through Disk Administrator.

If a member of a stripe set with parity fails, replace the drive, then select the Regenerate command under the Fault Tolerance menu in Disk Administrator.

A stripe set can provide better performance because it writes data across all of the drives simultaneously. If you are looking for better performance and fault

tolerance isn't an issue, then use stripe set without parity.

Volume sets and stripe sets cannot contain the System partition. If you need fault tolerance for the System partition, consider mirroring.

For better pagefile performance put a pagefile on each of the physical disk drives. It is not recommended to have the pagefile on the same disk as the System and Boot partition, unless you have no other choice.

If your server has excessive paging, add more memory.

If the pagefile has grown beyond its initial size, disk fragmentation can occur and applications can take longer to load. The default initial pagefile size is the amount of RAM plus 12.

When copying a file from one directory to another, the file inherits the permissions of the target directory. When moving a file, it will keep its permissions. If moving a file from a directory on partition to a directory

on another partition, it will inherit the permissions of the target directory. This is because moving files across partitions actually performs a copy, then deletes the file. These rules apply the same way for compression.

If copying a file from an NTFS partition to a FAT partition, it will lose its permissions, but will retain its long filename. This is due to the fact that FAT supports long filenames but doesn't support security. FAT only

gives you the attributes Read, System, Hidden, and Archive.

Server roles are: Primary Domain Controller (PDC), Backup Domain Controller (BDC), Member/Stand-alone server. The PDC must be the first server installed into the domain. It will contain the Master Accounts Database. You may have any number of BDCs, and they will contain a copy of the Master

Accounts Database. Member/Stand-alone servers don't keep a copy of the accounts database and don't do user validation.

All changes to the accounts database happen to the Master Accounts Database on the PDC. Then after a period of time, the database will replicated out to the

BDCs in the domain. Even if you are sitting at the BDC, the changes are still made on the PDC then copied back out.

Changes to user accounts, such as permissions, group membership, etc. will not take effect until they log out and then log back on again.

To change the server's memory optimization go to the Network icon in Control Panel, then the services tab and view the properties of the Server service. The

choices are Minimize, which is generally for a workgroup setting with 10 or less connections, Balance which is for a network of around 64 connections,

Maximize Throughput for File Sharing which is if the server will primarily be used for file and print sharing such as sharing an Access database, and the last

option is Maximize Throughput for Network Applications which is used when you are running client-server applications such as SQL server.

If NWLINK IPX/SPX is running on the network and there are connectivity problems, always check to make sure you have the correct frame type. NetWare 3.x defaults

to Ethernet_802.3, and Net Ware 4.x defaults to Ethernet_802.2. If Auto Detect Frame Type is enabled on the server, and you have both NetWare 3.x and 4.x

on your network, the NT server will default to 802.2. To enable the NT server to see both NetWare boxes, you must use the Manual Frame Type option and add both

802.2 and 802.3.

For TCP/IP on a non-routed network you need to enter an IP address and a subnet mask. On a routed network add a default gateway. The default gateway will be the

IP address of the router.

NetBEUI is not routable. If you have a WAN with routers, NetBEUI probably won't be your protocol of choice. If you are using a brouter with bridging enabled,

then NetBEUI can be used.

Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW) enables Microsoft clients to access resources on a NetWare server. You must create a group on the NetWare

server called NTGATEWAY. Then create a user account on the NetWare server and add that user account to the NTGATEWAY group. When you edit the

GSNW properties to setup the gateway, this is the account that you will use to establish the connection to the NetWare server. You create a share on the

Windows NT server that points to resources on the NetWare server. The Microsoft clients will map to the share on the NT server, and the server will handle the

resource access. This method is not recommeded for use by a large number of users because it can be a bottleneck.

The migration tool for NetWare is used to migrate user accounts and files from a NetWare server to a Windows NT server (Leave it to Microsoft to come up

with great utilities to migrate away from competitors).Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW) and NWLink must be installed to be able to use the migration utility. The migration tool gives you the ability to choose which users and groups to migrate over. If NTFS is used on the NT server it can also migrate file and directory rights.

If you need to create a printer port to point to an HP network print device, you must first install the DLC protocol on the server.