Some MCP Study notes for NT Workstation 4.0

Every user of a workstation must log on through a user account. Windows NT 4.0 installs two default user accounts: Administrator and Guest.

User accounts maintain information such as individual permissions to use resources, group membership, passwords, and policy constraints.

Groups are a way of arranging users in logical sets, based on shared characteristics.

Permissions and policy assigned by group apply to all members of that group.

Some NT Workstations Questions to Ponder

1. DHCP stands for?

2. DNS stands for?

3. The controlling computer in a Windows NT Domain is called the ______ ______ _____ ?

4. HCL stands for?

5. Windows NT 4.0 Workstation creates two default user accounts.
TRUE/FALSE ?

6. Windows NT 4.0 Supports two file systems: _____ and _____ ?

1. Dynamic Host configuration Protocol

2. Domain Name Service

3. Primary Domain Controller (PDC)

4. Hardware Compatibility List

5. TRUE

6. FAT and NTFS

Built-in User Accounts

NT Workstation creates two built-in user accounts when installed:
* Administrator and Guest

You can use these two built in accounts for administration of Windows NT Workstation and to allow access to the Workstation.

Administrator: The default Administrator account has full power over the Workstation. It has the right to create user accounts, delete them, share resources, stop sharing them, format partition, create partitions, set password policies, and use the administrative tools of NT.

Guest: This built-in account on Windows NT is used for people who do not have accounts on the Windows NT Workstation or the domain that the workstation is part of if in a domain environment. This account has the least privilege on the Workstation and is not allowed to share resources, create users, or manage user policies. This account is only used for allowing the user to log on to the Workstation.

Workstation info on NTFS

NTFS (new technology File System) tends to be the preferred system for use under NT if your environment can support it. Only windows NT Supports NTFS.

Using NTFS has many benefits, including the following:

• Support for long file names. NTFS supports long file names up to 255 characters long.



• Preservation of case. NTFS is not case-sensitive, but it does have the capability to preserve case for POSIX compliance.



• Recoverability. NTFS is a recoverable file system. It uses transaction logging to automatically log all file and directory updates so that in the case of a power outage or system failure this information can be used to redo failed operations.



• Security. NTFS provides the user with local security for protecting files and directories



• Compression. NTFS supports compression of files and directories to optimize storage space on your hard disk



• Size. NTFS partitions can support much larger partition sizes than FAT. NTFS can support partitions up to 16 exabytes in size. (an exabyte is a little larger than one billion gigabytes.)

Using NTFS gives you security and enhanced functionality compared with the FAT file system.

Knowing the limitations

The main limitation with NTFS is compatibility with other operating systems and overhead. If needing to dual-boot, or if you have a partition size smaller than about 200MB, you should use FAT rather than NTFS.

Some Thoughts on career Microsoft

The ideal Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer ( Network Engineer) MCSE

Microsofts definition of the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) is as follows:

"The Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer is qualified to effectively plan, implement, maintain, and support information systems with the Microsoft Windows NT operating system and the Microsoft BackOffice integrated family of server software."

Overall, Microsoft's description of what an MCSE is capable of performing is accurate. In the real world, however, system engineers typically find themselves working in a heterogeneous computer environment. The trend is most IS shops in the day and age, particularly with Fortune 500 companies, is for multi-vendor systems integration. In fact, it is not uncommon to find network engineers who have extensive training and experience in UNIX, Novell, and Microsoft network operating systems. In addition to those skills, many network engineers also have experience with specialized computers called routers and Web servers for intranets and the Internet. As a result of this explosion in information technologies, system engineers are expected to work harder and learn faster than ever before.

Networking info

Computers are information tools, and networks are how the computers exchange that information. Networked computers can share data and peripherals, allowing people in an organization to communicate better and more effectively use their hardware resources. In peer-to-peer networks, every computer is both a client and a server. Server-based networks dedicate a computer to more effectively perform server functions. Some networks use a combination of both servers and peers. Topology is the shape of the network:

• In a bus, the computers are connected in a straight line.

• In a star, the computes are linked together at a central point.

• In a ring, the computers form a circle

• The star bus or star ring results when network topologies are combined.

Media are what the network cables are made of. Copper is the most common networking medium, while fiber-optics is used for high performance. Infrared and radio are used when cables are inappropriate for certain networks location.

QUESTIONS

1. If you are responsible for a network you need to understand how it works

(TRUE/FALSE) ?

2. Computers are special-purpose tools.

(TRUE/FALSE) ?

3. A stand-alone printer can be accessed only from the computer it is connected to.

(TRUE/FALSE) ?

4. A shared printer can be made available to anyone on the network?

(TRUE/FALSE)

5. You should probably not consider a peer-to-peer network if security is a concern.

(TRUE/FALSE) ?

6. LAN stands for? ____ ____ ____
7. WAN stands for? ____ _____ _____
8. The three most common topologies are ______, ________, and ________.

---- ANSWERS ----

1. TRUE
2. FALSE, Computers are general purpose tools you can use for almost any purpose with the right software
3. TRUE
4. TRUE
5. TRUE
6. Local Area Network
7. Wide Area Network
8. Bus, Star, Ring

Configuring Windows NT Workstation

The control Panel allows you to control most system configuration options.

You can change control Panel settings on per-user or a per-system basis, but you must have appropriate permissions in order to change system settings.

System settings are settings that affect every user on the system.

Device drivers and network protocols are system settings. Per-user settings are settings that change with the user's preferences. Background colors, sound schemes, keyboard mappings, and mouse icons are per-user settings. Per user settings are stored in user profiles. User profiles can be local to a certain computer or can be roaming. User profiles are usually stored in the Profiles subdirectory of the Windows NT Directory.

All of the critical information maintained by the Windows NT operating system is stored in the Registry. You can use the Registry Editor to view and change information in the Registry. The five subtrees within the Registry are as follows:
1. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER
3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
4. HKEY_USERS
5. HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

The five subkeys within HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE are as follows:
1. hardware
2. SAM
3. security
4. software
5. System

OSI Model

The International Standards Organization developed the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model to provide a basis upon which different manufacturers could create interoperable network software components. Th