The N I Project - 25/05/11

On my last post i said that i have been struggling with the server. The main problem was that no computer was connecting to the server. After lots of research over the internet, I found that i didnt need to type in the IP address for the DNS server, i found out that this conflicts with the IP address of the main server and thats why it could not be contacted.

After pinging the server computer on all three computers, i connected them to the server through the domain. I then craeted a file server for the share storage for everyone to use. After that i created the user accounts and all ready for testing.

I realised that we had a week break and that the college will be closed, so this would have put my planning back a week. So i looked at the gantt chart and adjusted some of the tasks, so all the tasks that i can do at home, i scheduled it for me to do at home and some the rest of the tasks i will do at college when i come back into college.

Here is a print screen of my gantt chart:


The next blog post will be on the 01/06/11

The N I Project - 20/05/2011

On my last blog update i had a bit of a nightmare with the cleint machine connecting up with the server, well today it is still doing it. No client machine is still not finding the domain of the server. So i reinstalled the services agian, this time naming it somthing different (just in case) and still no pinging to the server computer.

So i thought to my self, if the cleint machine cannot communicate at that low of a level in network it has to be the hardware in the computer, the cbaling or the switch. To test the cabling, i swpped over cble to the server for another network cable, this did not work. So I unplugged the network cable to the server and made the three cleint machines a peer to peer network, this work perfectly between each computer. This narrow it down alot to the server software (have i installed it correctly or are the driver for the network corrupt on the server machine) Once i have done that I had a meeting with the client to see if she can give any suggestions. Some of them were good suggestions which i will use on monday. So i left the server for a bit and started to do some research on why this is happeing, i will also do reasearch over the weekend ready for some action on monday.

Here is a picture of my gantt chart update

The next update will be on 25/05/2011

The N I Project - 18/05/2011

Well everyone, I am at phase 4 of completing my project. This phase is part where i create the final network with everything working ready for testing by users. I was going to have a meeting with the supervisor but as I had a lot to do about setting up the server, we both agreed to change it to next Monday. So whats been happening so far this week:

I came into college and had a look at my gantt chart to see what needs doing for the week coming. I started to draw my final design of where everything is going to go, i completed this monday afternoon.

I then sorted out the lab by moving the server computer and the client computers around, so it now looks like what i have planned. After that I installed all the cabling to the main switch. Once i had done that, i pinged each machine to make sure all the computers are talking to each other and they did.

After i had done all of that, I started to install windows server 2008 on the computer. This attempt failed as it kept on coming up with and error of hardware and the screen resolution was not big enough. As this occured i had a mini meeting with the client to discuss this matter. We both agreed that windows server 2008 was not sutible for what we need because of two reason, the hardware of the server machine and that we were unsure if windows xp will support the new updated version of windows server. After the dicussion we have finally gone with windows server 2003, this is a trial version that I have got a few years ago.

I started to install windows server 2003, everthing was working and I finally got to the part where i deploy the services such as DHCP and File server etc. I first gave the server an IP address and I typed in the same IP address in the preffered DNS. I first installed the DHCP, then the active directory and during the installation of this, the DNS installed by itself. After making sure everything works, i tried to ping the server computer, IT COULD NOT CONTACT THE SERVER!!!, so i tried typing in the domain and apprently it was not there. So I checked all the cabling to make sure nothing came out and everthing was in. So i went to the other computers to check if i could connect to them but no luck. I looked at the active directory and remeber my supervisor from work experince saying you have to add in the computer first and then add the computer to the domain, so i did that and still no luck and still couldnt ping to the server.

I then resinstalled the xp machines just incase they were not installed correctly, once all the clint machines were installed with a fresh version of winodws xp, i tried it again and still no luck with the pinging on any computer. So i went back to the server and used my supervisors way of installing the services and that did not work either. This time it was coming near to the end of the day, i finally realise that project can have its ups and downs esciapally when a project will be used in the future.

The next update will be this friday!!!! See you then!!!

The N I Project - 13/05/2011

Well followers, this is the third post I have posted on this blog. A lot has been happening this week, I have re-done the gantt chart by adding in all the tasks i have to do during creation of the project. With following gantt chart I am on track to completing the project successfully and on time to the client.

I have also learnt that Ive got two major meetings. One with the supervisor and one with the client and through this i will be adding two posts each week, one on a Wednesday and the usual one on the Friday, this will start next week.

Following my original and new gantt chart I have been experimenting with the server. As discussed with my client, she would like Windows server 2008. I downloaded a trial of this from the Microsoft website, i also had a trail copy of Windows server 2003 which i burned both to disc. Wednesday and today I experimented with the server and have found out that due to the resolution problems windows 2008 does not like this. So I experimented with windows server 2003 and found it slightly hard but easy enough to do as i have installed windows server 2003 before.

Next week I will be doing my final layout plan and start to create my network!!!

The N I Project - 09/05/2011

This is not a main update, but a post to say how my project has been planned out through the Gantt Chart and CPA.

Here is a picture showing this from 26/04/2011:



Here is the other picture showing the extra timeline:

The Network Instalation Project - 06/05/2011

Well I am into the second week of the project. This week I created a Gant chart to have a rough idea of how I am going to plan the whole project, the final timeline for the project will be created after i have defined what needs to be included within the project.

I had a meeting on Thursday of this week with the client about the network. I explained and showed the layout of the network and the design of the topology of network. As we were talking we realized a constraint with the network and that was that the switch can only support the maximum of 4 computers. So we have decided to do a 4 computer network. 1 server and 3 client machines. If in future i was to add more computers, they can daisy chain with the other hub.

Before the meeting I tested all the computers and found 3 perfect computers for my network, i also managed to find the drivers for the server on the computer i am going to be using. When i showed the client my design, i had realized that the tables on the back wall is bigger than i thought, so i re draw my drawing again to be able to put all the computers along the back wall.

I f my client wishes to see the up to date drawing they can let me know. All in all i am on schedule on the time line.