Newbie - Small business network

Hi guys
I have been approached by a small business owner to fix and maintain his network. The problem is I don't really have any experience with networks at all so I plan to learn on the job. The business owner is aware of the situation and appreciates things to
take longer than expected.
Anyway, I seem to have stumbled at the first hurdle! He currently has a windows 2008 server with SBS which is used as a file server and mail server etc. He has 7 machines connected to it which are running xp! So my first job was to get him to upgrade his
machines to at least ones which are windows 7 compatible. Which he is in the process of doing. I have attempted to join one windows 7 machine to the domain which works fine but when I log in as a user it doesn't show me a desktop or taskbar, just the desktop
wallpaper. I am able to ctrl-alt-dlt and go to log off and switch user etc but nothing else. The same thing happens on the local user since adding it to the domain.
I just need someone to point me in the right direction what I could check. I am currently reading up on group policies in the hope that might be the answer.
Any help would be much appreciated.

does gpresult and rsop.msc need to be run from the machine with the issue? because I cant login to do that, it doesnt get that far.
And I have already done a full re-install but this didnt help
I see there is a folder redirect in place which redirects the desktop and documents to the server, could this be the issue? Just seems like a user profile issue but Im not sure what to check?
Thanks
Folder redirection + other restrictions might end up with an empty desktop environment.
You might want to try the following:
Create an OU
Block GPO inheritance on this OU
Move the computer account to this OU and reboot it
Please note that Folder Redirection should be configured to be turned off when it is no longer applied to the computer so that it does not keep being applied after doing what I previously mentioned.
This posting is provided AS IS with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.
Ahmed MALEK
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Similar Messages

Small business network issues!!!

I am at my wits end with this problem: We have a small business network consisting of 6 Mac Pro computers and 2 Windows PCs. Everything was working fine until we needed to replace one of the WinXP machines with a Windows 7 machine. None of the Macs can see the PCs unless they physically type in the IP address (they used to show up in the finder as the computer name). None of the PCs can access the Macs at all and now shares on one of the Macs are no longer visible by the rest of the network. Any help would be appreciated.
Computers:
Mac Pro 10.7.5
Mac Pro 10.6.8 (x4)
Mac Pro 10.5
Windows 7 64-bit Professional
Windows XP Professional
I have made sure that every computer uses the correct workgroup name and that all file sharing is enabled.

I've seen it take 45 minuyes for a PC to announce it's name on the network, just sayin'.
Anyway, does the PCs IPs ever change?

Setting up a small business network using mac and windows pcs

Setting up a small business network using mac and windows??

Ok that sounds great. What is your actual question as it relates to AirPort networking? Is it: Can I set up a wired/wireless network with an AirPort base station that support multiple Mac & PC clients? If so the answer is yes.
If, instead, it is how to I configure an AirPort network to support a small business you will have to provide more details on both your networking & computing equipment in order for any of us to help you.

Small business network w/ or w/o OSX Server?

I have a small business with two employees and an intern computer station and we are badly in need of a better networking situation. Currently we have two ibooks that connected together in a LAN, and a powerbook at a remote location that is not part of the network. I need a way to connect all three computers together so we can share files efficiently and without the constant permissions problems that we are currently having with the two computers. In the current setup, one of the ibooks is the server/workstation 1, and the second ibook is workstation 2. Clearly I need to get a dedicated machine to function as a server, and I thought it would make sense to get OSX server.
However, when I went to the apple store to talk to a mac genius about it, the person I talked to told me that it didn't make sense to get OSX Server with my needs; I should just get a imac running Tiger (which is what all the workstations are running) and use it as a server by creating an admin account that the three users have access to. He also said that a mac mini wouldn't be fast enough for this purpose, I should get at least an iMac G5 or Intel iMac.
So here are my questions:
1) Will this work? If I create an admin account on a central server machine, can three users log onto it simultaneously to access documents? They won't need to run applications from the server, and the document types they will be running will be almost entirely Word, Excel, or Filemaker (nothing too intensive).
2) Will there be issues with multiple users opening documents at once?
3) How can remote logon work to this server? Unfortunately the network doesn't have a fixed IP adress.
4) What's the best solution for shared calendaring, preferably one that syncs to Palm devices?
5) Is a dual-core iMac the slowest machine that this setup should work on? Will it be fast enough?
Any ideas/advice would be greatly appreciated!

However, when I went to the apple store to talk to a
mac genius about it, the person I talked to told me
that it didn't make sense to get OSX Server with my
needs; I should just get a imac running Tiger (which
is what all the workstations are running) and use it
as a server by creating an admin account that the
three users have access to. He also said that a mac
mini wouldn't be fast enough for this purpose, I
should get at least an iMac G5 or Intel iMac.
So here are my questions:
1) Will this work? If I create an admin account on a
central server machine, can three users log onto it
simultaneously to access documents?
yes they can however to avoid the permission issues you would be best using a piece of shareware called Sharepoints in order to create shared folders or volumes in the same way OSX server does.
They won't need
to run applications from the server, and the document
types they will be running will be almost entirely
Word, Excel, or Filemaker (nothing too intensive).
2) Will there be issues with multiple users opening
documents at once?
there may be issues if 2 users opened the same document at once if they both need to write changes to the document. If 2 users opened the same document just to read it that would be no problem.
In my experience opening a shared spreadsheet will be locked as read only if another user is already editing it.
3) How can remote logon work to this server?
Remote login is done using a protocal called SSH. To learn how to setup SSH you can use this howto. You would need to configure the server with a fixed IP and do port forwarding from your router to that mac.
Unfortunately the network doesn't have a fixed IP
adress.
You can use a dynamic domain name check out dyndns.org.
) What's the best solution for shared calendaring,
preferably one that syncs to Palm devices?
Not sure I have never used a share calander.
5) Is a dual-core iMac the slowest machine that this
setup should work on? Will it be fast enough?
I used a 450mhz cube for 5 years as my file server, mail server, web server etc it is now all running on a 1.2 ghz g4 mac mini.
I use the mini without a monitor. I log in via ssh and run a VNC client over the ssh tunnel.

Small Business Network Switch Freezes Intermittently

Background:
I am managing a small Novell NetWare environment that consists of: (2) Netware 6.5 SP6 boxes, (7) Windows XP SP3 workstations, and (2) network printers. These devices are all connected to a basic, unmanaged, 10/100/1000 Mbps switch (Netgear JGS524).
The Issue:
Unexpectedly, all devices on the Network will randomly lose connectivity at the same time (no pings go thru to/from any device), and the lights on the front of the switch "freeze" in their current state (for example, if I pull a network cable out of a switch port, it will remain illuminated in its last state, as if the cable were still plugged in). The only way to restore connectivity at this point is to reset the switch by cycling the power on/off.
Troubleshooting History:
We've been experiencing this problem for quite some time, and at first I assumed the switch was bad, so I replaced it with a different model only to find that the issue still occurs (the switch listed above is the current model we're using).
I'm having trouble diagnosing this problem, as I can't seem to correlate what's happening on the network to initiate the switch lock-up. Sometimes it will happen twice in one day, and sometimes it will go 3 or 4 days with no problems. It would be hard to leave a packet scan running for 3 days and then try to determine at what time the lockup occurred if Im not continually observing the switch 24/7.
Anyway, any thoughts on a good approach to narrowing down what's causing this? Or any obvious culprits that might exist in a Netware environment that could be causing a broadcast storm?
Thanks!
Joe

When you say you've replaced the switch with a different model...what did you mean by that? A different vendor or same vendor just different model of the same?
I'd probably try a different switch altogether...but what are you running on the Netware boxes? Most services on Netware have pretty good log files. I would start with that. Also, you can get yourself a pretty easy to set up (free) network monitoring system and sue that for diagnosis.
--El
Originally Posted by Kart46
Background:
I am managing a small Novell NetWare environment that consists of: (2) Netware 6.5 SP6 boxes, (7) Windows XP SP3 workstations, and (2) network printers. These devices are all connected to a basic, unmanaged, 10/100/1000 Mbps switch (Netgear JGS524).
The Issue:
Unexpectedly, all devices on the Network will randomly lose connectivity at the same time (no pings go thru to/from any device), and the lights on the front of the switch "freeze" in their current state (for example, if I pull a network cable out of a switch port, it will remain illuminated in its last state, as if the cable were still plugged in). The only way to restore connectivity at this point is to reset the switch by cycling the power on/off.
Troubleshooting History:
We've been experiencing this problem for quite some time, and at first I assumed the switch was bad, so I replaced it with a different model only to find that the issue still occurs (the switch listed above is the current model we're using).
I'm having trouble diagnosing this problem, as I can't seem to correlate what's happening on the network to initiate the switch lock-up. Sometimes it will happen twice in one day, and sometimes it will go 3 or 4 days with no problems. It would be hard to leave a packet scan running for 3 days and then try to determine at what time the lockup occurred if Im not continually observing the switch 24/7.
Anyway, any thoughts on a good approach to narrowing down what's causing this? Or any obvious culprits that might exist in a Netware environment that could be causing a broadcast storm?
Thanks!
Joe

Looking for Mac network professional to setup our small business network.

I've installed OS X Server on an iMac within our office to act as a file server and also allow us to access files using a VPN. Probably should have purchased a Mac Mini Server and will likely go that route in the end.
I'm computer savy, but little networks experience and just can't get this working correctly. If we had more time to dedicate to this and with help from this forum, I'm sure we could get it up and running. The goal is to get a simple network going that will allow us to access files, etc in the field and at our home offices with the ability to grow as our business expands.
At this time I'd really like to have someone just handle the setup of the network so we can get functionality asap. I've done some searches and looked for a network professional in our area with experience in Mac networking within a business environment, but haven't had much luck.
If anyone point me in a direction of someone that can help get this going I'd be forever greatful:)
Location: Southern California (Rancho Cucamonga)

I'm not a rocket scientist but I do have a working mail server and website using a mini mac and os x server (Mavericks).
It all begins with your DNS and I recommend you do use a mac mini with OS X Server as it's designed for that very purpose. You absolutely must get your DNS situation working first. There's a guy in this forum named Mr. Hoffman who is particularly useful (there are others) in this area. He has a website with lots of helpful advice and, in particular, this: http://labs.hoffmanlabs.com/node/1436.
However, before you embark on that journey, this is what you'll basically need to do:
You're going to need a public (external/public facing) DNS and a private (internal) DNS. Your private DNS (served by your os x server) needs to live behind some kind of hardware firewall/router to prevent the great unwashed and curious from venturing into places they probably shouldn't be venturing. It's port(s) should never be exposed to the outside world.
Get a static IP from your ISP and register a domain name.
Let your domain registrar provide the external DNS.
You'll want to set up an internal DNS using OS X Server in the 10.0.0.0/16 subnet (it doesn't seem to let you use 10.0.0.0/8 and it really hates 192.168.0.0/24).
The server itself will need to be "self-aware" by setting it's System Preferences > Network Preferences > DNS Server to 127.0.0.1.
Of course, once you get the DNS working you'll want to turn on File Sharing and then (and only then) Open Directory. THen you can begin adding other services such as web, mail, vpn, etc...
I'm sure there is lots more that I've missed but this should do for now. Good luck.

Small Business Network with Guest services

Hello we're looking to launch a brand new network here to replace our cobbled together one.
I am pretty sure that OS X server with Airport Extreme's can take care of these tasks, but I am getting a little confused with all the online documentation.
-So, can I setup OS X server to be the authenticator for a WEP2 Enterprise WiFi network (based on user accounts on the server)
-Does the roaming network actually work. By which I mean to say, will a user really be able to walk across campus seamlessly connecting to the strongest signal around?
-Will the guest network be distributed across the whole bridged network and keep the staff network invisible? In addition to providing unique IP's for each guest client?
I'm unsure if A device such as Netgear's WC7520 and their AP's (WNDAP350) are going to be worth the money if I can do essentially the same thing with airport devices and my existing os x server. It sounds easier to deploy with apple specific devices too.

Hello YWAM Salem. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
So, can I setup OS X server to be the authenticator for a WEP2 Enterprise WiFi network (based on user accounts on the server)
Yes, OS X Snow Leopard server provides RADIUS as part of its Directory Services and Authentication feature.
Does the roaming network actually work. By which I mean to say, will a user really be able to walk across campus seamlessly connecting to the strongest signal around?
In theory? Yes. In practice? Mostly.
Will the guest network be distributed across the whole bridged network and keep the staff network invisible? In addition to providing unique IP's for each guest client?
If you are referring to the guest networking feature of the AirPort routers, then no. AirPorts, configured as bridges do NOT support guest networking.

Cisco small bsuiness Network issues

I have small business network with following equipment
Comcast Providers Internet Router
SA520W Security Appliance
SG300-20-20Port Small Business Switch
From Comcast Router Internetworks fine
after connect SA520W Router I am unable to resolve the host name very quickly its too taking long to resolve host name to IP address while resolving dns is getting failed . I thought there might some issues with Comcast , Comcast tested and no issues their router set to bridge mode .
After that I come to conclusion that SA520w has some firmware issue , I updated the new version of firmware for sa520w
After that connected switch sg300 series after connecting the switch I have similar issue again
Do I need updated the firmware for the switch as well ,can some one provide firmware Link
Or any thoughts on present issue
Thanks
R

Hello,
Im sorry you are having issues with the devices. I really have no idea what could be the problem. Maybe you can try using the DNS servers from google, 8.8.8.8, 4.2.2.1, 4.2.2.2?
Also, here is a link to the firmware upgrade for the SG300-20.
https://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=283019616&flowid=18904&softwareid=282463181&release=1.4.0.88&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=&reltype=latest
When upgrading the firmware, please keep in mind you should step up the upgrade and please don't go straight to the last one as you may break the device.
Starting on firmware 1.3.5.8 you will also need to upgrade the boot code when upgrading the firmware.
Here is a document that explains the process.
http://sbkb.cisco.com/CiscoSB/ukp.aspx?vw=1&docid=08ef98be59904ccc9c4d69a657f5550f_Firmware_Upgrade_via_TFTP_on_200_Series_Switches.xml&pid=2&respid=0&snid=4&dispid=0&cpage=search
Please let us know if you have any more questions

Small/medium business network upgrade

Hello,
I have been asked by a friend to do an upgrade to his business network. I would appreciate any help and suggestions.
There are several things which need to be accomplished:
Implement a VPN solution for remote access
Increase bandwidth to support new IP security cameras, which will send video to a video recording device
Extend the network farther out into the shop area, in order to connect cameras and add computers to the network
The current setup consists of
A 24 port 10/100 switch in the main office area. 15 of the ports appear to be in active use.
A consumer-level ADSL termination unit, currently with 6/1 ADSL service
A 10/100 switch half way towards the back of the shop facility, apparently acting only as a repeater to overcome distance limitations
An 8-port switch and Wi-Fi access point in a small office area in the shop, which serves a couple of computers and machines.
So far, we have come to the following conclusions:
A gigabit backbone between different areas of the plant is something we need to do
A fiber link from the front office to the back, eliminating the need for signal boosting mid way, would be a good option.
We would like the VPN to be accessible from mobile phone/tablet devices as well as personal computers.
We would like be able to do some sort of traffic shaping so that a large upload or download from one computer to the Internet cannot slow everyone else to a crawl.
We will be adding a 2 or 3 computers and eventually 6 or 7 IP cameras in the back shop and probably similar number in the front of the shop (close to the office).
I would like to go with Cisco equipment if it can fit within the budget. My experience has been you get what you pay for with the cheaper gear.
I would appreciate any ideas on how best to do this upgrade. Thanks!!!

Yes, sorry. The first time I posted, I missed the part where it said the post must first be approved by a moderator. I don't see any option to delete this one, but a moderator is certainly welcome to delete this duplicate.

Slow network with "Small Business Server 2008"

Sinds upgrading to a "Small Business Server 2008", the copy speed of a file dropped from >18 Mb/s (SBS 2003) to <1 Mb/s (SBS 2008).
Other systems (Vista, XP) show no slowing down.
I searched the internet but found no solution.
Please help.
Fulco

I forgot: copying to SMB share is slow
Reading from SMB share is >20 Mb/s (SBS2008 and SBS2003)
Fulco

Using Time Capsule to backup a small office network

Hi all,
I am hoping somebody may be able to tell me if this is a good plan or not. I have been really struggling to find a good network backup solution. I've been trying to make a Lacie Ethernet Disc Mini work but have finally given up on that one.
I am trying to find a simple solution to backup a network of 5 macs. 1 is currently plugged straight into my router, another router port extends to switch in another building which has 4 further macs along with other network devices connected. Crucially, there is no wireless access from this building to the router.
Would all macs backup to the Time Capsule, including those that are wired via the switch? If so, at what speed? I have heard suggestions that it can be a very slow process?
I'm not worried about any kind of streaming - purely a good backup device.
All advice very gratefully received,
Regards
Richard

Hi Richard,
I have a small business and chose to use Time Capsule as a backup for my company's network. We have 12 workstations and use all Macs, some wireless and some not. I'm an experienced Mac sys admin and have setup many networks, including designing and installing the network we currently have, which is driven by a Leopard Server.
Based on a year of experience working with Apple's newest airport extreme and capsule products, I would not use them in business and am moving towards a wireless network hd using Carbon Copy Cloner as my software. This is due in part to numerous calls to Apple for support on these items, having to reset them dozens of times, and being told by Apple support that using these products for business is not recommended.
Carbon Copy Cloner is a great tool for a backup, especially for workstations, as you can create partitions for each computer on your HD and CCC will create *bootable* backups of your HD - a great lifesaver if a computer fails and you don't have time to reinstall everything.
I will be putting the capsule and extreme devices on Craigslist for sale and hope to recoup enough to get the wireless network drive, which my research shows is the best way to get network backup solutions for small business.
I hope this helps.

Randomly monitor small office network

Looking for a user-friendly, dummy-proof article on creating a small office network from a total of four Mac's (3 iMacs, one Air), allowing the administrator to randomly monitor without detection the real-time activities taking place on the other two machines. Triple points for iOS monitoring capabilities, as well

Hello, rjbm_exact.
You definitely need a managed switch and a Cisco Small Business (200 or 300 series) can meet your requirements. You can setup separate VLAN to segregate user access level. Are you also looking at expanding your wireless (guest access)?
Let me know if you need more assistance or e-mail ([email protected]) me directly. Kind regards.

Small Office Network Setup Help

Hi folks,
We are renting a small office in a floor which consists of many offices. The way internet is distributed here is, they have a verizon fios router and a couple of unmanaged switch, from which cables are run to offices for internet. One of the port on a switch is dedicated to our office.
In our office we have 6 computers and a network printer. The computers need to share files with each other and be able to print.
We want to isolate our office network from others. When we use an unmanaged switch, the version router dhcp assigns ip addresses to computers and we are able to access the internet. The verizon local ip is: 192.168.1.xxx. But we can also see computers that are of other offices, which means they can see us.
How do we create a separate network? Say we want to use IP 192.168.10.XXX or 10.0.0.xxx. We just bought a 24 port managed (L2) switch.
Thanks

Hello, rjbm_exact.
You definitely need a managed switch and a Cisco Small Business (200 or 300 series) can meet your requirements. You can setup separate VLAN to segregate user access level. Are you also looking at expanding your wireless (guest access)?
Let me know if you need more assistance or e-mail ([email protected]) me directly. Kind regards.

How to install Small Business Server 2008 in an existing Active Directory domain

It is shown on this page:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884453, "How to install Small Business Server 2003 in an existing Active Directory domain".
Is it possible to do this with SBS2008 ?
If "YES", are there any published information about the procedure ?

Yes, it is. Thank you very much.
But there is something that confuses me - I want to migrate from Win2003Std to SBS2008. And also, I want to keep the existing Win2003Std as a second DC for a long time.
But it is written in the shown article:
... After the migration is finished, you must remove the Source Server from the network within 21 days. ...
Is this rule mandatory for the scenarios where the Source Server is Std, not SBS ? As I know, I can have more than one DC(Win2003Std/Win2008Std) together with SBS2003. But what about SBS2008 ?

How to set up a guest LAN? (small business, simple environment)

First before getting into my actual post, please allow me to briefly express my sincere aggravation at this Cisco website for it's lack of proper IE 11 support. When I try to create a forum post, well, there is no way to do it. The old Create a Discussion link is gone (actually when I log into my profile, the entire Actions pane is gone). The Ask a Question thing you first see is terrible, it doesn't support IE 11 apparently because the message body field is just gone. I can put a Title, and tags, but there is no field. there's also no compatibility mode button anywhere in the IE 11 interface one this site. I was lucky in that the Actions pane shows up when you click on another person's post. I don't think Cisco realizes how absolutely annoying that kind of thing is.
I have a single 192.168.0.0/24 LAN with a single Cisco SG300 series switch to aggregate all the network connections, a single gateway firewall/router to the Internet, and a few wireless access points on the same LAN. These are the AP541N's. My goal is to set up guest Wi-Fi, but have it that guests cannot see or access the internal network.
Haven't not actually done this before, I have no idea where to proceed. I know I can create guest virtual AP's in the AP541N but that doesn't do anything to prevent a guest device from having full access to all of 192.168.0.0/24 computers.
What can I do? Do I have to put in completely new hardware? Should I be contacting the Cisco Small Business tech support group if the specifics are unique to the SG300 and AP541N models?
Any help is appreciated, both general advice but ideally a full solution reply can be possible :)

Hi Valley ITPC,
Here are some suggestions regarding the IE11 issue from the support team:
How to off compatibility mode on IE 11 by following the instructions given on the link below:
Assuming its IE11 on Win 7. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/use-compatibility-view#ie=ie-11-win-7
if not use this link http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/use-compatibility-view#ie=ie-11
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Cindy
Cisco Small Business Community Manager
www.cisco.com/go/smallbizsupport
twitter: CiscoSBsupport

Newbie - Small business network

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