Sams Teach Yourself MCSE Windows NT Server 4 in 14 Days
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): David Schaer, et al
ISBN: 0672311283
Publication Date: 12/15/97

With each of these included pieces of client software, certain accessories are included to make the software better for user applications. For example, Microsoft Network Client 3.0 for MS-DOS and Windows includes a full redirector as part of the package. This allows the client to log on and run the user logon scripts as well as remote access services (RAS), messaging and interprocess communications (IPC) calls such as Named Pipes, remote procedure calls (RPC), and Winsock. However, this client service does not give the MS-DOS or Windows client the capability to browse unless a Windows NT or Windows for Workgroups computer is sharing the network with them and is enabled as a browse master.

LAN Manager for MS-DOS also includes Novell NetWare connection software as well as a remote boot service that enables computers running MS-DOS or Windows to be initialized remotely by the Remoteboot service.

Windows 95 and NT Workstation have the advantage of using 32-bit protected-mode drivers, redirectors, and application programming interfaces (APIs). These are faster and less troublesome than the 16-bit APIs and drivers.

9.2.1. Network Client Administrator

The Network Client Administrator program is located in the Administrative Tools group off the Programs icon from the Start menu. You use it to install or upgrade client operating systems, copy the Network Administration Tools to supported clients, and examine information on remote boot clients (see Figure 9.1).

The Network Client Administrator enables the administrator to create the client disks for LAN Manager and Microsoft Network Client 3.0 as well as to create a network startup disk that attaches the client to a network share enabling installation of an operation system such as Windows for Workgroups, MS Network Client for MS DOS, Windows 95, Windows NT Workstation, and Windows NT Server.

Figure 9.1.  The Network Client Administrator.

Network Client Administrator also enables you to remotely administer certain domain functions from a workstation or client. To do this, use the Copy Client-based Network Administration Tools command from the Network Client Administrator dialog box (see sections 9.2.3, “Windows NT Workstation Client-Based Network Administrator Tools,” and 9.2.4, “Windows 95 Client-Based Server Tools,” for a further explanation of these functions). View Remoteboot Client Information enables you to see which MS-DOS, Windows 3.1x, or Windows 95 stations have the Remoteboot option enabled and reboot any of these stations from the NT Server console.

Selecting Make Network Installation Startup Disk and then clicking on the Continue button brings up the Share Network Client Installation Files dialog box shown in Figure 9.2.

Figure 9.2.  Selecting the source for the installation files.

The Share Network Client Installation Files dialog box allows the administrator to select the path to the client installation files. The administrator may select one of three options: use an existing share, create a share for this directory (from the CD-ROM), or copy the files to a directory and then share the new directory. When you click OK you see the Target Workstation Configuration dialog box, shown in Figure 9.3.

Figure 9.3.  Target Workstation Configuration.

You must fill out three items on this screen:

•  On which floppy drive the startup disk is being written.

•  What client software is being placed on the disk.

•  Which network card is on the client’s machine.

Next, you must provide a unique computer name for the client, the domain name, the network protocol, and an administrative logon name as shown in Figure 9.4.

Figure 9.4.  Configuring the network startup disks.

9.2.2. Making a Disk Installation Set

As previously discussed, the Make Installation Disk Set option allows Windows NT server to create installation floppy disks for the Microsoft Network Client for MS-DOS and Windows as well as the TCP/IP32 disks for Windows for Workgroups as shown in Figure 9.5. In creating these disks, the administrator has three decisions to make:

•  Which disks to create

•  Whether to format the disks before creating the software on them

•  Which floppy drive to use

Figure 9.5.  Selecting which installation set to create.

9.2.3. Windows NT Workstation Client-Based Network Administrator Tools

Which client-based administration tools can be installed is dependent on which operating system is being used. Because the different tools can be used by a Windows 95 machine or a Windows NT Workstation each of these systems should be considered separately as to which tools may be used and the requirements to run these.

The following are the requirements for running the administrative tool on Windows NT Workstation:

•  486/33 or higher CPU.

•  12MB of RAM.

•  2.5MB of free disk space on the system partition. (The administration tools are installed to the SRVTOOLS folder of the system partition.)

•  Both Workstation and Server Services must be already installed.

Installing the administration tools on an NT Workstation is a relatively easy affair. First, insert the NT Server 4.0 compact disk into the CD-ROM drive of the NT Workstation (or a shared CD-ROM if one is not available). Then, from the Start/Run menu open the following file: (CD-ROM drive letter):\Clients\Srvtools\Winnt\ Setup.exe. This copies the administrative tool files to the (system root):\System32 folder of the NT Workstation.

Press Enter and remove the CD-ROM to complete the setup of the administrative tools.

The setup results in eight tools that let an administrator perform a series of services that would normally be performed from the NT Server 4.0 hosting the service. They are shown in the following table: