User`s guide

Chapter 2 Before You Begin 47
Setting up DHCP will reflect the physical network topology you’ll be using.
 Another crucial infrastructure component is directory services, required for sharing
data among services, servers, and user computers. The most common data you need
to share is for users and groups, but configuration information such as mount records
and other directory data is also shared. A directory services infrastructure is necessary
when you want to host cross-platform authentication and when you want different
services to share the same names and passwords.
Here’s an example of the sequence in which you might set up a server infrastructure
that includes DNS, DHCP, and directory services; the services can be set up on the same
server or on different servers:
1 Set up the DNS server.
2 Set up DHCP.
3 Configure DHCP to specify the DNS server address so it can be served to DHCP clients.
4 Set up a directory server, including Windows PDC service if required.
5 Populate the directory with data, such as users, groups, and home directory data. This
process involves, for example, importing users and groups, setting up share points,
setting up managed preferences, and so forth.
6 Configure DHCP to specify the address of the directory server so it can be served to
DHCP clients.