Windows Server 2003 Remote Services and Network Protocols

Remote Installation Services (RIS)

Remote Installation Services (RIS) are defined as software that lets an administrator configure new client computers remotely, without having to work directly on each client computer. The target clients must support remote booting.

Requirements for RIS

The use of Remote Installation Services requires several components that are pre-installed on the Windows 2003 Server operating system, specifically including:

• Domain Name System (DNS Service)
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
• Active Directory

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a TCP/IP standard designed to simplify the administration of IP configuration for network equipment. A DHCP server is a server that receives requests from clients seeking IP network settings. The server responds to these requests by providing the parameters that enable clients to autoconfigure.

For a PC to request network configuration from a server, you should select the option 'Obtain IP address automatically'.

Remote Desktop Technology

Remote Desktop is a technology that allows a user to work on a computer through its graphical desktop from another terminal in a different location. It is the basis for connecting to the server remotely and performing administrative functions.

Remote Desktop provides remote server management for the Windows 2003 Server family. With this feature, you can manage a server from virtually any computer on the network. No licenses are required for up to two simultaneous remote connections, plus the console session on the server.

Access and Authentication

To access the server through a Remote Desktop connection, you must first authenticate as an authorized domain user. Users enabled to initiate a Remote Desktop session on their workstation can simply log out of their session, which is managed transparently by the server operating system, independent of any other client session that could be running. The client software can run on multiple hardware devices, including equipment and terminals based on Windows OS.

Domain Name System (DNS) Server

A DNS server is a server that identifies the IP address of a PC based on its name. To this end, the DNS server maintains a database that stores all IP addresses and the names of the PCs belonging to its domain.

There is no single database that stores all IPs in the world; instead, each server stores the IPs for its specific domain. DNS servers are arranged hierarchically, so when a server cannot provide an immediate answer to a request, it forwards the query to an upper-level DNS.