Creating a Site Design

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Creating a site design involves deciding which locations will become sites, creating site objects, creating subnet objects, and associating the subnets with sites. Figure 3.13 shows the steps that are required to create a site design.

Figure 3.13   Creating a Site Design

Deciding Which Locations Will Become Sites

Figure 3.14 illustrates how to decide which locations will become sites.

Figure 3.14   Deciding Which Locations Will Become Sites

Decide which locations to create sites for as follows:

• Create sites for all locations in which you plan to place domain controllers. Refer to the information documented in the Domain Controller Placement worksheet to identify locations that include domain controllers. For an example of a completed Domain Controller Placement worksheet, see "Example: Determining Domain Controller Placement" earlier in this chapter.

• Create sites for those locations that include servers that are running applications that require a site to be created. Certain applications, such as DFS, use site objects to locate the closest servers to clients.

• If a site is not required for a location, add the subnet of the location to a site for which the location has the maximum WAN speed and available bandwidth.

Document those locations that will become sites and the network addresses and subnet masks within each location. For a worksheet to assist you in documenting sites, see "Associating Subnets with Sites" (DSSTOPO_6.doc) on the Windows Server 2003 Deployment Kit companion CD (or see "Associating Subnets with Sites" on the Web at https://www.microsoft.com/reskit).

Creating a Site Object Design

For every location where you have decided to create sites, plan to create site objects in Active Directory. Document those locations that will become sites in the "Associating Subnets with Sites" worksheet.

For more information about how to create site objects, see "Create a site" in Help and Support Center for Windows Server 2003.

Creating a Subnet Object Design

For every IP subnet and subnet mask associated with each location, plan to create subnet objects in Active Directory representing all the IP addresses within the site. To obtain information about IP subnets within each location, refer to the Locations and Subnets worksheet. For an example of a completed Locations and Subnets worksheet, see "Listing IP Subnets Within Each Location" earlier in this chapter.

When creating an Active Directory subnet object, the information about network IP subnet and subnet mask is automatically translated into the network prefix length notation format <IP address>/<# of bits>. For example, the network IP address 172.16.4.0 with a subnet mask 255.255.252.0 appears as 172.16.4.0/22.

For more information about how to create subnet objects, see "Create a subnet" in Help and Support Center for Windows Server 2003.

Document the Active Directory subnet object associated with each location in the "Associating Subnets with Sites" worksheet.

Associating Subnets with Sites

Associate each subnet object with a site object by referring to the "Associating Subnets with Sites" worksheet to determine which subnet is to be associated with which site.

For more information about associating subnets with sites, see "Associate a subnet with a site" in Help and Support Center for Windows Server 2003.

Example: Associating Subnets with Sites

Figure 3.15 shows an example of a completed Associating Subnets with Sites worksheet for Trey Research, which has offices located in Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Phoenix, and Washington, DC. Trey Research listed potential site candidates, the locations to be included in those sites, and the corresponding Active Directory subnets. Because the Phoenix location includes fewer than one hundred users, a domain controller is not placed at that location. The Phoenix subnets are associated with the Seattle site because Seattle is the nearest location that has a direct communication link to Phoenix.

Figure 3.15   Example of Associating Subnets with Sites Worksheet