How to Configure Windows Server 2008 R2

Extensive Configuration. Installing Active Directory and Domain Name Services. Creating and configuring the Active Directory forest. Global Primary Domain Controller Setup. Connecting Windows 7 Client to Windows Server 2008. Creating and Implementing a Sample Group Policy Object

How to Configure a Windows Time Server

The latest Microsoft Windows operating systems have a time synchronisation utility installed by default called ‘Windows Time’. The Windows time service allows a Microsoft network to provide time synchronisation of machines in a domain. This article introduces how to configure the Microsoft Windows 2000 and 2003 operating systems to operate as a SNTPNTP Time Server. The article discusses how to change Windows registry entries to configure the Time Service.

Before modifying any Windows registry settings, it is a good idea to save the registry. In the even of any difficulties, the registry can be restored to its former state.

Windows 2000 Time Service

Windows 2000 has an integrated network time synchronization service, installed by default, which can be configured to synchronize to a Time Server. In fact, by changing associated registry settings, the service can act as both a time client and a time server to synchronize other network time clients.

The Windows Time service should be present in the systems service list. The application executable is ‘w32time.exe’. The parameter list for time service should be present in the in the registry at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeParameters

The Windows 2000 operating system can operate as a time client and synchronise to a time server by setting the parameter ‘NTP Server’ to the IP address of a Time Server.

By default, the Windows 2000 machine will synchronize to the specified time server every 8 hours, or 3 times a day. This may not be enough to maintain accurate synchronization and can be easily increased. Setting the ‘Period’ parameter to how many times each day synchronisation is required can reduce the period. Setting the ‘Period’ parameter to 48 will activate synchronization with the time server once every half hour.

The Windows 2000 operating system can also be configured to act as a time server by setting the ‘Local NTP’ registry setting to ’1′.

After changing any of the registry settings for the windows time service, the service must be restarted for the settings to take effect. The time service can be started or stopped from the service control applet in the Administrative Tools menu. The service can also be controlled via the DOS net command thus:

‘net start w32time’ and ‘net stop w32time’

Windows 2003 Time Service

With Windows 2003, Microsoft has expanded on the original Windows 2000 SNTP time service by providing a true NTP implementation. The Windows 2003 time service, installed by default, can synchronise to a NTP Server. Indeed, by changing registry settings, the time service can act as both a time server and client to synchronize other time clients in the domain.

The ‘Windows Time’ service should be present in the systems service list. The application executable is ‘w32time.exe’. The parameter list for the Windows 2003 time service should be present in the registry at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32Time

To configure the Windows 2003 operating system to synchronize to an external time server, edit the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeParametersType

Set the ‘Type’ registry entry to ‘NTP’, which specifies synchronization to a NTP time server.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeTimeProvidersNTPClientSpecialPollInterval

The ‘Special Poll Interval’ registry entry defines the period in seconds that the Windows 2003 operating system should poll the time server. A recommended value is 900, which equates to a polling period of every 15 minutes.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeConfigAnnounceFlags

Set the ‘Announce Flags’ registry entry to 5 indicating a reliable time reference.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeTimeProvidersNTPServerEnabled

Changing the ‘Enabled’ flag to the value 1 enables the NTP Time Server.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeParametersNtpServer

The ‘NTP Server’ parameter is used to provide a list of DNS names or IP addresses, separated by a space, of time servers that the Windows 2003 operating system can synchronize to.

Troubleshooting the Time Service

A number of isuues may be encountered when configuring the Microsoft Windows Time Service. SNTP and NTP operates using the UDP protocol over TCP/IP. Therefore, the TCP/IP network protocol must be active for SNTPNTP to operate. Synchronisation issues may also arise when SNTPNTP attempts to synchronise to an inaccurate time server reference or if network delays are excessive.

Synchronising Network Device and Components

In addition to synchronizing Microsoft Windows servers and workstations, time servers can also be used to synchronise network devices, such as switches, routers and hubs. Any network infrastructure that can synchronise to a NTP or SNTP time server can be pointed to the Windows time server to obtain synchronisation. In this way the whole network and accompanying infrastructure can be accurately synchronised to a time reference.

21 Install and Configure Domain Name System (DNS) on Windows Server 2003 for Internal Website

The resolution of names through the use of Domain Name System (DNS) is central to Windows operation. Without proper name resolution, users cannot locate resources on the network. It is critical that the design of the DNS namespace be created with Active Directory in mind and that the namespace that exists on the Internet not conflict with an organization’s internal namespace. Sorce: support.microsoft.com

How to Install and Configure a Ntp Server

Network Time Protocol (NTP) is one of the Internet’s oldest protocols still utilised. Invented by Dr David Mills from the University of Delaware it has been in use since 1985. NTP is a protocol designed to synchronize the clocks on computers and networks across the Internet or Local Area Networks (LANs).

NTP (version 4) can maintain time over the public Internet to within 10 milliseconds (1/100th of a second) and can perform even better over LANs with accuracies of 200 microseconds (1/5000th of a second) under ideal conditions.

NTP works within the TCP/IP suite and relies on UDP, a less complex form of NTP exists called Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) that does not require the storing of information about previous communications, needed by NTP. It is used in some devices and applications where high accuracy timing is not as important.

Time synchronisation with NTP is relatively simple, it synchronises time with reference to a reliable clock source. This source could be relative (a computer’s internal clock or the time on a wrist-watch) or absolute (A UTC – Universal Coordinated Time – clock source that is accurate as is humanely possible).

Atomic clocks are the most absolute time-keeping devices. They work on the principle that the atom, caesium-133, has an exact number of cycles of radiation every second (9,192,631,770). This has proved so accurate the International System of Units (SI) has now defined the second as the duration of 9,192,631,770 cycles of radiation of the caesium-133 atom.

However, atomic clocks are extremely expensive and are generally only to be found in large-scale physics laboratories. However, NTP can synchronise networks to an atomic clock by using either the Global Positioning System (GPS) or a specialist radio transmission.

The most widely used is the GPS system which consists of a number of satellites providing accurate positioning and location information. Each GPS satellite can only do this by utilising an atomic clock which in turn can be can be used as a timing reference.

A typical GPS receiver can provide timing information to within a few nanoseconds of UTC as long as there is an antenna situated with a good view of the sky.

There are also a number of national time and frequency radio transmissions that can be used to synchronise a NTP server. In Britain the signal (called MSF) is broadcast by the National Physics Laboratory in Cumbria which serves as the United Kingdom’s national time reference, there are also similar systems in Colorado, US (WWVB) and in Frankfurt, Germany (DCF-77). These signals provides UTC time to an accuracy of 100 microseconds, however, the radio signal has a finite range and is vulnerable to interference.

The distance from the reference clock is known as the stratum levels and they exist to prevent cycles in the NTP. Stratum 0, are devices such as atomic clocks connected directly to a computer. Stratum 1, are computers attached to stratum 0 devices, while Stratum 2 are computers that send NTP requests to Stratum 1 servers. NTP can support up to 256 strata.

All Microsoft Windows versions since 2000 include the Windows Time Service (w32time.exe) which has the ability to synchronise the computer clock to an NTP server (or an SNTP server – a simplified version of NTP) Many LINUX and UNIX based operating systems also have a version of NTP but the source code is free to download (current version 4.2.4) at the NTP website (ntp.org).

It is strongly recommended by Microsoft and others, that external based timing should be used rather than Internet based, as these can’t be authenticated. Specialist NTP time servers are available that can synchronise time on networks using either the MSF (or equivalent) or GPS signal.

How to Configure Windows Server as a Ntp Server

The Microsoft Windows operating systems from Windows 2000 onwards has a built-in time synchronization service – ‘Windows Time’. This article describes how to configure the Microsoft Windows 2003 and Windows 2000 time service as a NTP time server. It shows how to modify registry entries to configure the Microsoft Windows Time Service. The Windows Time service allows a Windows network to provide synchronisation of all machines within a domain.

Windows 2003 Server Configuration

Windows 2003 has expanded on the original Windows 2000 time service by providing a true NTP implementation. The time service, installed by default, can synchronise to a NTP Server. Indeed, by manipulating registry settings for the service it can act as both an NTP server and client to synchronise other network clients in the domain.

The ‘Windows Time’ service should be present in the systems service list. The application executable is ‘w32time.exe’. The parameter list for w32time can be found in the registry at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time

Before modifying registry entries it is good a dood idea to backup the registry settings. The registry can then be restored in the event of problems being encountered.

To configure a Windows 2003 machine to synchronise to an external NTP server, edit the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config\AnnounceFlags

Set the ‘Announce Flags’ registry entry to 5, to indicate a reliable time source.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NTPClient\SpecialPollInterval

The ‘Special Poll Interval’ registry entry defines the period in seconds that the Windows 2003 machine should poll the NTP server. A recommended value is 900 seconds, which equates to every 15 minutes.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters\NtpServer

The ‘NTP Server’ parameter is used to provide a list of IP addresses or DNS names, separated by a space, of NTP servers that the Windows 2003 machine can synchronise to.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NTPServer\Enabled

Changing the ‘Enabled’ flag to the value 1 enables the NTP Server.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters\Type

Change the server type to NTP by specifying ‘NTP’ in the ‘Type’ registry entry.

Windows 2000 Time Service Configuration

Windows 2000 has an integrated time synchronisation service, installed by default, which can synchronise to a NTP Server. Indeed, by manipulating registry settings, the service can act as both an SNTP client and SNTP server to synchronise other network clients.

Before modifying registry entries it is good a dood idea to backup the registry settings. The registry can then be restored in the event of problems being encountered.

The ‘Windows Time’ service should be present in the systems service list. The application executable is ‘w32time.exe’. The parameter list for w32time can be found in the registry at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters

Windows 2000 can operate as an NTP client and synchronise to an NTP server by setting parameter ‘NTP Server’ to the IP address of a NTP Server.

By default, the Microsoft Windows 2000 machine will synchronise to the specified NTP time server every 8 hours (or 3 times a day), which may not be enough to maintain accurate synchronisation. The period can be reduced by setting the ‘Period’ parameter to how many times a day synchronisation is required. Setting the period to 48 will activate synchronisation with the NTP server once every half hour.

Windows 2000 can also be configured to act as an NTP server by setting the ‘Local NTP’ parameter to ’1′.

After editing any of the registry entries for the windows time service, the service must be restarted for the settings to take effect. The services can be started or stopped from the service control applet in ‘administrative tools’. Alternatively the service can be controlled via the DOS net command thus:

net start w32time

net stop w32time

NTP Troubleshooting

A number of problems can be encountered when configuring the Windows Time Service. NTP operates using the UDP protocol over TCP/IP. Therefore the TCP/IP network infrastructure must be operational for NTP to be effective. Synchronisation issues may arise when NTP attempts to synchronise to an inaccurate time reference or if network delays are excessive.

Synchronising Time on Network Devices

As well as synchronising Microsoft Windows servers and workstations, NTP can also be used to synchronise network devices, such as hubs, switches and routers. Any network device that can synchronise to a NTP server can be pointed to the Windows server to achieve time synchronisation. In this way the whole network and accompanying infrastructure can be synchronised.

COMPAQ SmartStart and Support Software CD for Compaq Server Products. Release 4.21 CD-Rom. Booting the CD allows you to create or upgrade the system partition, configure your server, and create diskettes of the available support software, using Windows 95 or Windows NT.

Product Description
COMPAQ SmartStart and Support Software CD for Compaq Server Products. Release 4.21 CD-Rom. Booting the CD allows you to create or upgrade the system partition, configure your server, and create diskettes of the available support software, using Windows 95 or Windows NT…. More >>

COMPAQ SmartStart and Support Software CD for Compaq Server Products. Release 4.21 CD-Rom. Booting the CD allows you to create or upgrade the system partition, configure your server, and create diskettes of the available support software, using Windows 95 or Windows NT.

How to Configure an Authoritative Time Server in Windows Server 2008

Time synchronisation in modern computer networks is essential, all computers need to know the time as many applications, from sending an email to storing information are reliant on the PC knowing when the event took place.

Microsoft Windows Server from 2000 onwards has a time synchronisation utility built into the operating system called Windows Time (w32time.exe) which can be configured to operate as a network time server.

Windows Server 2008 can easily set the system clock to use UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, the World’s time standard) by accessing an Internet source (either: time.windows.com or time.nist.gov).

To achieve this, a user merely has to double click the clock on their desktop and adjust the settings in the Internet Time tab.

It must be noted however, that Microsoft and other operating system manufacturers strongly advise that external timing references should be used as Internet sources can’t be authenticated.

To configure the Windows Time service to use an external time source, click Start, Run and type regedit then click OK.

Locate the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters\Type
In the right pane, right-click Type then click Modify, in edit Value type NTP in the Value data box then click OK.

Locate the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config\AnnounceFlags.
In the right pane, right-click AnnounceFlags and click Modify. The ‘AnnounceFlags’ registry entry indicates whether the server is a trusted time reference, 5 indicates a trusted source so in the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type 5, then click OK.

Network Time Protocol (NTP) is an Internet protocol used for the transfer of accurate time, providing time information along so that a precise time can be obtained
To enable the Network Time Protocol; NTPserver, locate and click:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpServer\
In the right pane, right-click Enabled, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWord Value box, type 1 under Value data, then click OK.

Now go back and click on
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters\NtpServer
In the right pane, right-click NtpServer, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type In the right pane, right-click NtpServer, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type the Domain Name System (DNS), each DNS must be unique and you must append 0×1 to the end of each DNS name otherwise changes will not take effect.

Now click Ok.

Locate and click the following
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient\SpecialPollInterval
In the right pane, right-click SpecialPollInterval, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type the number of seconds you want for each poll, ie 900 will poll every 15 minutes, then click OK.
To configure the time correction settings, locate:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\config
In the right pane, right-click MaxPosPhaseCorrection, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value box, under Base, click Decimal, under Value Data, type a time in seconds such as 3600 (an hour) then click OK.
Now go back and click:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\config
In the right pane, right-click MaxNegPhaseCorrection, then Modify.

In the Edit DWORD box under base, click Decimal, under value data type the time in seconds you want to poll such as 3600 (polls in one hour)
Exit Registry Editor
Now, to restart windows time service, click Start, Run (or alternatively use the command prompt facility) and type:

net stop w32time && net start w32time
And that’s it your time server should be now up and running.

How Do You Configure Your Domain Name To Run From Your Own Server, To Be Available On The Web?

I already know how to configure a local host. I got a domain name, and want to display my local website on the web when the domain name is typed in. Thanks very much.