Networking: A Beginner’s Guide Fifth Edition- P55:I have run into many people over the years who have gained good even impressive working knowledge of PCs, operating systems, applications, and common problems and solutions. Many of these people are wizards with desktop computers. | This page intentionally left blank Chapter 17 Administering Windows Server 2008 The Basics 253 254 Networking A Beginner s Guide Installing and setting up Windows Server 2008 is only the tip of the iceberg. Far more important and time-consuming is the process of administering the server. This process includes regular and common duties such as adding new users deleting old users assigning permissions to users performing backups and so forth. These topics are covered in this chapter. Good administration habits will ensure that the network and the server remain productive and secure. Thinking About Network Security Before delving into the administrative activities discussed in this chapter you should spend some time thinking about network security and how it relates to your specific company. Administering a server must be predicated on maintaining appropriate security for your network. The key here is to remember that every network has an appropriate level of security. The security requirements for a Department of Defense DoD contractor that designs military equipment will be different from the security requirements for a company that operates restaurants. Many beginning network administrators think they need to set up their networks to follow the strongest security measures available. The problem with this approach is that these measures almost always reduce the productivity of people using the network. You need to strike a balance between productivity and security in accordance with the needs of your company. For example Windows Server 2008 enables you to set various security policies that apply to users. These include forcing password changes at specified intervals requiring that passwords be a certain minimum length disallowing reuse of old passwords and so on. For example you could set up policies to require passwords that are at least 20 characters long and that must be changed weekly. In theory these settings should be more secure than shorter less-frequently .
