Pros and Cons to Windows 2003 Clustering and Load Balancing:

You could now be asking yourself, which is better to implement, Windows clustering or load balancing hosting? To give you a quick rundown of the high-level pros and cons to each technology, consider the following. With Windows cluster hosting, you depend on the actual clustered nodes to make a decision about the state of the network and what to do in a failure. If Node A in a cluster senses a problem with Node B (Node B is down), then Node A comes online. This is done with heartbeat traffic, which is a way for Node A to know that Node B is no longer available and it must come online to take over the traffic. With load balancing, a single device (a network client) sends traffic to any available node in the load-balanced group of nodes. Load balancing uses heartbeat traffic as well but, in this case, when a node comes offline, the “load” is recalculated among the remaining nodes in the group. Also, with clustering (not load balancing), you’re normally tied down or restricted to a small number of participating nodes. For example, if you want to implement a clustered solution with Windows 2003 Advanced Server, you might use a two-node cluster. With load balancing, you can implement up to 32 nodes and, if you use a third-party utility, you can scale way beyond that number. You can even mix up the operating system (OS) platforms, if needed, to include Sun Solaris or any other system you might be running your services on. Finally, you have the option to set up tiered access to services and to mix both architectures (clustering and load balancing hosting) together. You can set up the first tier of access to your web servers as load balanced and the last tier of access as your clustered SQL databases.

With eukhost we have expertise for any feature as per your hosting requirement. We can also setup Windows Dedicated Cluster hosting along with Plesk control panel, this is something that only eUKhost can provide.

This would only happen if the Cluster services has been installed before installing and configuring MSDTC Service. Hence it is highly recommended that you first install and configure MSDTC and then configure the Windows Cluster Service.

Event ID: 4097
Description:
MS DTC started with the following settings: Security Configuration (OFF = 0 and ON = 1): Network Administration of Transactions = 1, Network Clients = 0, Distributed Transactions using Native MSDTC Protocol = 1, Transaction Internet Protocol (TIP) = 0, XA Transactions = 1.

OR

Event ID: 4395
Description:
MSDTC detected that MSDTC related information in the local registry is different from that in the shared cluster registry. Error Specifics: d:ntcomcom1xdtcsharedmtxclumtxclusetuphelper.cpp:541, CmdLine: C:WINNTSystem32msdtc.exe, Pid: 796
Data:
0000: 05 40 00 80 .@.?

OR

Event ID: 4384
Description:
MS DTC was unable to start because the installation was not configured to run on a cluster. Please run comclust.exe and restart MS DTC. Error Specifics: d:ntcomcom1xdtcsharedmtxclumtxclusetuphelper.cpp:668, CmdLine: C:WINNTSystem32msdtc.exe, Pid: 796

OR

Event ID : 7024
Source : Service Control Manager
Description: The MSDTC service terminated with service specific error 3221229584.

Initially you should try and run the command below and check if it solves the problem:

msdtc -resetlog

If that does not help then follow the fix below:

1. Delete the DTC resource
2. Delete MSDTC folder from the quorum disk.

On Node 1:

– Stop the Cluster Service

– Remove Enable network DTC  Service with the command below:

msdtc -uninstall

Make sure to check the Success in the Event logs.

– Verify that the following registry key has been removed as well.. if not then remove it manually.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCID
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMSDTC
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesMSDTC

– Reboot the Server

– After the Server is back online reinstall Enable network DTC Service with the command below:

msdtc -install

Now create the DTC resource on Node 1 and it should come online.

Now on Node 2

– Stop the Cluster Services.

– Evict Node 2 from the Cluster

– Remove Enable network DTC  Service with the command below:

msdtc -uninstall

Make sure to check the Success in the Event logs.

– Verify that the registry key has been removed as well.. if not then remove it manually.

– Reboot

– Reinstall Enable network DTC Service with the command below:

msdtc -install

– Verify that the Service has now Started and also registry keys created.

– Rejoin the node back into the cluster.

Software Requirements

•    Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition or Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition installed on all dedicated servers in the cluster.
•    A name resolution method such as Domain Name System (DNS), DNS dynamic update protocol, Windows Internet Name Service (WINS), HOSTS, and so on.

•    An existing domain model.
•    All nodes must be members of the same domain.
•    A domain-level account that is a member of the local administrators group on each node. A dedicated account is recommended.

Hardware Requirements

•    Clustering hardware must be on the cluster service Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). To find the latest version of the cluster service HCL, go to the Windows Hardware Compatibility List at http://www.microsoft.com/hcl/, and then search for cluster. The entire solution must be certified on the HCL, not just the individual components.

•    Two mass storage device controllers—Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) or Fibre Channel. A local system disk for the operating system (OS) to be installed on one controller. A separate peripheral component interconnect (PCI) storage controller for the shared disks.
•    Two PCI network adapters on each node in the cluster.
•    Storage cables to attach the shared storage device to all computers. Refer to the manufacturers instructions for configuring storage devices..
•    All hardware should be identical, slot for slot, card for card, BIOS, firmware revisions, and so on, for all nodes. This makes configuration easier and eliminates compatibility problems.

Network Requirements

•    A unique NetBIOS name.
•    Static IP addresses for all network interfaces on each node.
•    Access to a domain controller. If the cluster service is unable to authenticate the user account used to start the service, it could cause the cluster to fail. It is recommended that you have a domain controller on the same local area network (LAN) as the cluster is on to ensure availability.
•    Each node must have at least two network adapters—one for connection to the client public network and the other for the node-to-node private cluster network. A dedicated private network adapter is required for HCL certification.
•    All nodes must have two physically independent LANs or virtual LANs for public and private communication.
•    If you are using fault-tolerant network cards or network adapter teaming, verify that you are using the most recent firmware and drivers. Check with your network adapter manufacturer for cluster compatibility.

Shared Disk Requirements:

•    An HCL-approved external disk storage unit connected to all computers. This will be used as the clustered shared disk. Some type of a hardware redundant array of independent disks (RAID) is recommended.
•    All shared disks, including the quorum disk, must be physically attached to a shared bus.
•    Shared disks must be on a different controller then the one used by the system drive.
•    Creating multiple logical drives at the hardware level in the RAID configuration is recommended rather than using a single logical disk that is then divided into multiple partitions at the operating system level. This is different from the configuration commonly used for stand-alone servers. However, it enables you to have multiple disk resources and to do Active/Active configurations and manual load balancing across the nodes in the cluster.
•    A dedicated disk with a minimum size of 50 megabytes (MB) to use as the quorum device. A partition of at least 500 MB is recommended for optimal NTFS file system performance.
•    Verify that disks attached to the shared bus can be seen from all nodes. This can be checked at the host adapter setup level. Refer to the manufacturer’s documentation for adapter-specific instructions.
•    SCSI devices must be assigned unique SCSI identification numbers and properly terminated according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
•    All shared disks must be configured as basic disks.
•    Software fault tolerance is not natively supported on cluster shared disks.
•    All shared disks must be configured as master boot record (MBR) disks on systems running the 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003.
•    All partitions on the clustered disks must be formatted as NTFS.
•    Hardware fault-tolerant RAID configurations are recommended for all disks.
•    A minimum of two logical shared drives is recommended.

This applies to all versions of Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 and also to Vista and XP Professional. This problem normally occurs to our client with Dedicated Server hosting. So I thought I will create a check list to make their hosting service a bit easy.
Yes, you will need physical access to the machine to check this, it is obvious that you will not be able to check this problem unless you have remote access to the server. These steps can only be performed if you have physical access to the dedicated server or through a Keyboard-Video-Mouse [KVM]. So there we go:

* First thing that you need to check is whether the Remote Desktop Console [RDC] is enabled on your server.
Go to Desktop >> My Computer >> Properties >> Remote Tab
Check the box for “Enable Remote Desktop on this computer” and click OK.

* If the above option is enabled then make sure that the user which you are using to connect the server remotely is added in the “Remote Desktop users” group. Administrators are normally added in the group. This can be confirmed from with the steps below:
Go to Desktop >> My Computer >> Mange
Expand Local Users and Group >> Select Group.
Double click on “Remote Desktop Users” Group and make sure that the user is added in here.

* If both the above settings are correct then you need to make sure that TCP port 3389, which is the default port for RDC is enabled in the firewall of the machine that is used to RDP the server. Vise a verse make sure that the server firewall also has this port added in the exception. The best way to check this is:

First make sure that the server listens to telnet, try telnet of any other port which you are sure is working on the server like port 80 or 25. The command would be:

TELNET ip_address 25

If this works then try telnet on port 3389.

TELNET ip_address 3389

* If the telnet is not working then there are several possibilities, it can be the firewall on your machine or the firewall on the server tha is blocking the port. It can also be the case that Terminal Server Service did not start for some reasons. Or in a very rare situation it could be that the RDP port has been changed by some one. We will rectify all the possibilities one by one:

* Check the firewall on your machine or just shut the firewall down and then try the telnet again.

* If you have Windows Firewall then make sure that Remote Desktop is added in Exception.
Goto Start >> All Programs >> Control Panel >> Windows Firewall
If you have a third party firewall your dedicated server then just disable it and try the telnel option.

* If that is not the firewall issue make sure that Terminal Server Service is set to Automatic and is running. This server depends on Remote Procedure Call Service and you get errors while starting the server and you will need to trouble shoot the problem. If the server is terminating unexpectedly then make sure that the Hardware profile of the server is set to “Enable”:

* Sometimes client with Windows Dedicated Hosting package change the RDP port of their server and forget it, the steps below can be used for checking the RDP port as well as changing it as well, these steps will require to make changes in Registry hence it is recommended to backup the registry before following these steps:

Goto Start >> Run
Type: regedit to open the registry editor MMC
Expand to the Key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlTerminal ServerWinStationsRDP-Tcp]
Modify the value for Key “PortNumber”
Change Base to Decimal

Change Value data to the port your desire for your Dedicated Server
Click OK
Reboot the Machine.

Once the machine is online you will have to define your the port to connect your Dedicated Server remotrly
ip_address:port_number
10.10.10.52:3362

It would not be the case now as I have listed detailed steps along with the images on how to block IP using the IP security policy in Windows. This option is also available in XP as well as Windows 2003 Server edition.

How to BLock IP Using Windows:

You can either open MMC from START >> RUN >> MMC and add a new Snapin for IP Security policy with steps below:

Click ‘Start’ > ‘Run’ >type ‘MMC’ press ok.
In the console click > ‘File’ > ‘Add/Remove Snap in’
In the ‘Standalone Tab’ click The ‘add’ button
Seclect ‘IP Security Policy Managment’ > ‘ADD’ > ‘Local Computer’ > ‘finish’ > ‘close’ > ‘ok’
You should now be back to the Management console.

OR

Just goto START >> PROGRAMS >> ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS >> LOCAL SECURITY POLICIES ON LOCAL COMPUTER to open the IP Security Management Console.

1. Select IP Security Policy and Right Click on the right pane to select new Policy. The screen will like an image below:

Figure 1

2. This will open the IP Security Policy Wizard, Just click on Next button.

Figure 2

3. On the Next screen you have to define the name of your IP Security policy and its description and then click Next Button.

Figure 3

4. Plesk uncheck the box for “Activate the default Response Rule” and then click Next Button..

Figure 4

5. On the Next screen remove the check for Edit Properties and Click Finish.

Figure 5

6. Once you click on the Finish Button you will see the screen below along with your rule being added to the list. Now we will create an IP filter list to block IPs.

Figure 6

7. Double click on the rule you have just create to open the properties window:

Figure 7

8. Since we have chosen to uncheck “Activate the default Response Rule” in Step 4 the Dynamic rule in not applied. Click on Add button to open Security Rule Wizard and Click again on Add button to open IP Filter List Wizard.

Figure 8

9. You will have a screen some what in Figure 9. Put in the name of your list and Click on the Add button.

Figure 9

10. This will open another window for you to add IP and ports in the IP Filter list. In the Description box just put in the IP address that you want to block and make sure that you keep the check on the box for “Mirrored. Match packets with the exact appropriate source and destination addresses” and click on the Next button.

Figure 10

11. Select My IP address in the Sources Address from the drop down list.

Figure 11

12. You have many more options to select from the list for both in Sources and Destination Address. You will need some advanced knowledge to work with those option. We will select My IP address for now and click on Next button.

Figure 12

13. In the IP Traffic Destination, select “A specific IP Address” and enter the IP address that you want to block on your machine. Here you can also select a sub net from the drop down and block the entire subnet. Once you finish entering an IP/Subnet, click on Next button.

Figure 13

14. Here in IP Protocol Type you can define the protocol that you want to block, it can be any one from the list for example TCP, UDP, ICMP etc. We will select ANY which mean all connect from a specific IP address. If you select a protocol from the list andclick Next it will ask you to enter the port address that you want to block, example 80 (See Figure 14.2). But since we want to block all ports we will select Any and click Next (Figure 14.1) and then Finish.

Figure 14.1

Figure 14.2

15.  After you click on Finish button you will see that the rule has been added in the IP filter list. If you want to add more IP and subnets then click on the Add button to add another rule or block 2nd IP. Once you finish with it you will have rules as in Figure 15.2.

Figure 15.1

Figure 15.2

16. Once your IP Filter List is complete click on the OK button to get back Security Rule Wizard. Select the IP filter list which you have created by clicking on the radio button and click Next.

Figure 16

17. In the Next screen of Security Rule Wizard you will not see any Filter Action as Block as by default it is not created. We will create a Filter action to block connect by click on Add button.

Figure 17

18. In the Name type “Block” and any discryption you like and click on Next.

Figure 18

19. In Filter Action General options select Block and click Next.

Figure 19

20. And then on Finish to get back to Security Rule Wizard.

Figure 20

21. This will add the Filter option as Block in the list, just click on radio button to select it and click Next.

Figure 21

22. Click Finish to complete the security Rule Wizard.

Figure 22

23. You will see the rule added in the list, you can add more rule with the same steps. Now just click OK to finish with the rules.

Figure 23

24. Now since we have already created the rules to block desired IP address just right click on the IP Security Policy and select Assign to apply the rule on the server.

Figure 24

There are allot many option to secure your entire server with IP security policy. You can create more rules to block every one on RDP port TCP 3389 and allow only select IPs. IP Security is IP and port based application and not Services based and you can create the rule as per your need.

Local Group Policy:
Using local Group Policy involves setting up Group Policy on the local machine.This is not very useful for managing computers on a network. Local Group Policy is configured on the local computer.

Site Group Policy:

Site Group Policy is when the Group Policy object is linked to the site. Site Group Policies can generate unwanted network traffic, so use these only when absolutely necessary.

Domain Group Policy:
Domain Group Policy is when the Group Policy object is linked to the domain.This will apply the Group Policy object to all computers and users within a domain.This is especially useful for enforcing company-wide settings.This is one of the two most commonly used applications of Group Policy.

Organizational Unit:
Group Policy When the Group Policy object is linked to the organizational unit (OU). Organizational unit Group Policy is especially useful for applying a Group Policy object to a logical grouping (organizational unit) of users or computers.

When a Windows Server machine logs on to a Windows AD, any legacy Windows 2000 Group Policies will be applied to and work on Windows Server. The new Windows Group Policy snap-in will work on a Windows 2000 AD as well as Windows 2003.You can use the Windows Group Policy snap-in to connect to any Group Policy object in the Active Directory.You can also create a new Group Policy object using this snap-in. When you connect to a GPO using this snap-in, the ADM files are automatically updated using the newer versions of these files found on Windows XP.

Windows has over 200 policies.These policies are reflected in the new ADM files that are updated on the domain.The Windows admin snap-in shows what policies work on which clients. Best practice in a mixed environment: Use the Latest Windows Group Policy snap-in to administer Group Policy because it will display what policies are supported on what clients.

Group Policy Order

When Group Policies are applied in Windows Server, they are applied in a specific order.This is important to note because the order applied can affect the resulting policy. Group Policy is applied in the following order:

■ Windows NT 4 Policies (if any exist)
■ Windows 2000 Policies
■ Local Group Policies
■ Site Group Policies
■ Domain Group Policies
■ Organizational Group Policy Objects (going from Highest Parent in the chain to lowest)

Additionally, the result of all of the applied policies can be determined by using the Resultant Set of Policy (RSOP) snap-in. More information on this topic is covered later in the “Resultant Set of Policy (RSOP)” section. Figure A.1 shows how Group Policy is applied by different organizational units along with the domain Group Policy.

For steps on Linux refer the link below:

How to install PHPMyAdmin on Linux

How to install phpMyAdmin 2.11 on Windows Desktop and Server

Here are steps that will help you installed PHPMyAdmin on a Windows server.

REQUIREMENTS:

>> PHP 4.3/4.4/5.1
>> MySQL 4.0/4.1/5.0

DOWNLOAD:

This installation was tested on phpMyAdmin-2.11.1
You can select the file from PHPMyAdmin Downloads

CONFIGURATION:

Configuration that needs to be noted, the one below are the one we have chozen. They might be different on your server:

Installation path: C:\www\phpMyAdmin (If you have Apache on your server then place out side of webroot of Apache)
Apache webroot : C:\www\webroot
My-SQL path : C:\www\mysql\bin
Access phpMyAdmin as : http://192.168.1.52/phpMyAdmin/

INSTALLING PHPMyAdmin:

1. Unpack the downloaded file phpMyAdmin-2.11.1.zip under the directory C:\www
2. Rename directory C:\www\phpMyAdmin-2.11.1 to C:\www\phpMyAdmin
3. Make a copy of C:\www\phpMyAdmin\libraries\config.default.php
4. Open the default configuration file of PHPMyAdmin C:\www\phpMyAdmin\libraries\config.default.php and make following changes:

a. Find:

$cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri'] = '';

Put the full URL of PHPMyAdmin in the quotes, you can replace the IP address with the IP address of your server or your domain name:

$cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri'] = 'http://192.168.1.52/phpMyAdmin/';

b. PHPMyAdmin can also try to auto-detect the proper value for the above directive if it is left as it is [BLANK] and the below line is changed to ‘TRUE’:

$cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri_DisableWarning'] = FALSE;

c. Authentication Method:

– For single-user (root or trusted) environment:

– Method 1 would be to prompt client for MySQL user/password, this option will only work if your database is not accessed by other users:

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'http';

– Method 2 is to store MySQL user/password under config.ini.php file.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'config';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = 'root';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = 'root-password';

Please replace the user and password with the administrator user and password of your MySQL server.

d. Authentication Method — for multi-user (untrusted) environment, this will allow to give access to your developers or clients if it is a shared server in hosting environment.
This step is also required to for enabling phpMyAdmin’s relational features

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'http';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = '';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = '';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['controluser'] = 'pma';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['controlpass'] = 'pmapass';

Save the password: pmapass

e. Now we will have tp create MySQL controluser user ‘pma@localhost’ with password ‘pmapass’, and with the proper permissions to the user:

C:\www\mysql\bin> mysql -u root -p
mysql> GRANT USAGE ON mysql.* TO 'pma'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'pmapass';
Note the SQL password

mysql> GRANT SELECT (Host, User, Select_priv, Insert_priv, Update_priv, Delete_priv, Create_priv, Drop_priv, Reload_priv, Shutdown_priv, Process_priv, File_priv, Grant_priv, References_priv, Index_priv, Alter_priv, Show_db_priv, Super_priv, Create_tmp_table_priv, Lock_tables_priv, Execute_priv, Repl_slave_priv, Repl_client_priv) ON mysql.user TO 'pma'@'localhost';
mysql> GRANT SELECT ON mysql.db TO 'pma'@'localhost';
mysql> GRANT SELECT ON mysql.host TO 'pma'@'localhost';
mysql> GRANT SELECT (Host, Db, User, Table_name, Table_priv, Column_priv) ON mysql.tables_priv TO 'pma'@'localhost';
mysql> quit

CONFIGURING APACHE 2.0

a. If you run Apache as the webserver then you will follow the steps below:

Open file C:\www\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf to edit it and uncomment line (remove the beginning character ‘#’)
I would suggest you to backup the http.conf file incase you have messed it up.

LoadModule alias_module modules/mod_alias.so

b. Make sure directive ‘DirectoryIndex’ contains ‘index.php’ http.conf

DirectoryIndex index.html index.html.var index.php

c. Then add the following lines:


Alias /phpMyAdmin "C:/www/phpMyAdmin"



Options None
AllowOverride None
order deny,allow
deny from all
allow from 127.0.0.1


Do not forget to restart Apache once you have made the above changes and have saved the http.conf file.

CONFIGURING IIS6.0

a. Open IIS Webserver from START >> RUN: inetmgr
b. In IIS manager expand SERVER_NAME >> Web Sites and select Default WebSite.
c. In the Right pane right click in white soace and select New >> Virtual Directory.
d. In the Virtual Directory creation Wizard, click Next.
e. Give directory Alias (Name) as PHPMyadmin and click Next.
f. Click on Browse button and navigate to “C:\www\phpMyAdmin”
e. Select “Read”, “Run Script” & “Execute” and click Next.
g. Now Right click on the PHPMyAdmin Virtual directory and select permissions.
h. Give “Read & Execute” permissions to IUSR_ and inherit the permissions.
i. Right click on the PHPMyAdmin Virtual directory >> Properties >> Virtual Directory >> Configuration and map .php extention to PHP executable.

OPTIONAL CONFIGURATIONS:

Configuration for PHP v5:

These steps are only required if you want to use PHP5 for PHPMyAdmin, in PHP4 PHP extension php_mysql.dll is build in and extension php_mysqli is not supported.:

a. Edit file %SYSTEMROOT%\php.ini, under the ‘Dynamic Extensions’ Section:

Uncomment line:
;extension=php_mbstring.dll

If using MySQL v4.0 : Uncomment line
;extension=php_mysql.dll

If using MySQL v4.1 : Insert line
extension=php_mysqli.dll

Edit config.inc.php and update server extension line:
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['extension'] = 'mysqli';

Enable phpMyAdmin’s Relational Features:

Please make a note that these steps are required for “Authentication Method — for multi-user (untrusted) environment”

Edit phpMyAdmin’s configuration file C:\www\phpMyAdmin\config.inc.php:

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] = 'phpmyadmin';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['bookmarktable'] = 'pma_bookmark';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['relation'] = 'pma_relation';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_info'] = 'pma_table_info';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_coords'] = 'pma_table_coords';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['pdf_pages'] = 'pma_pdf_pages';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['column_info'] = 'pma_column_info';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['history'] = 'pma_history';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['designer_coords'] = 'pma_designer_coords';

Now Run phpMyAdmin’s sql script file ‘create_tables.sql’:

C:\www\mysql\bin> mysql -u root -p
mysql> source C:\www\phpMyAdmin\scripts\create_tables.sql
mysql> quit

That is it, you should be done with PHPMyAdmin installation on Windows.

Windows Server 2003 provides improved alternatives to CDONTS. To make CDONTS
functioning on a Windows Server 2003-based computer, use one of the following

solution:

1. Obtain CDONTS.DLL and put it into %systemroot%\system32 folder
(C:\Windows\system32 by default).

2. Register the CDONTS.DLL component on your server using the following command:

regsvr32 “%systemroot%\system32\cdonts.dll”

For example:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>regsvr32.exe cdonts.dll

3. After you have registered your CDONTS.DLL component you need to check whether
your SMTP service is running. Go to Administrative tools > IIS and expand your local
machine. If SMTP service is listed then it is installed, else  it’s necessary to
install this service. To install SMTP perform the following operation:
Go to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Add/Remove Windows Components >
Application Server > IIS > Mark SMTP service > Click OK.

4. Change the port number for SMTP service. Default port is 25. Use 25 only if you
don’t have another SMTP service running. If another SMTP service is already running
on your server you should switch IIS SMTP port to another, for example to 26. You
can do through IIS management console:
Control Panel > IIS > expand `local computer` > SMTP > Properties > General tab >
click on Advanced button > Edit.

5. Configure SMTP service. The main things are to set a valid full-qualified domain
name for SMTP service:
Control Panel > IIS > expand `local computer` > SMTP > Properties > Delivery tab >
click on Advanced button

6. Configure Security for SMTP service. It’s necessary to grant permissions to
IIS_WPG standard IIS Worker Process Group.

Control Panel > IIS > expand `local computer` > SMTP > Properties > Security tab >
click on Add button > Cick Object types… button > Mark Groups item > click OK >
Add IIS_WPG as object name to add > Click OK.

7. Additional setting:

Choose Authentication and tick Anonymous Access and Integrated Windows
Authentication. Click OK, then click CONNECTION. Configure RELAY settings as you
wish. Click the DELIVERY tab then click ADVANCED.

8. Stop SMTP service of IIS and start it again. Now IIS SMTP service as configured
and ready to work.

1] Remote Assistance uses Windows XP/2003 Terminal Services to share desktop and other resources between two PCs.

Terminal Services - It is a way of using RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), which allows users to connect to their Windows XP desktop or a dedicated server (Terminal Server) combining with VPN (Virtual Private Network) with the help of which users can connect to their office network remotely and work with their applications.

Virtual Private Network – Creates a secure connection between private networks.

In a *Remote Assistance Session* -

Both users must be present at their respective PCs and must agree to establish a connection.

Remote Assistance is designed for peer-to-peer use by Windows users.

In which a Novice (asking for help) from a Expert (technician, or friend, or helpdesk, or vendor). To have a successful Remote Assistance both users must have active Internet connections or be on the same local area network, and neither of them should be blocked by firewalls.

2] The Remote Desktop service is available as part of Windows XP Professional Edition. This service allows you to take control of the remote computer without requesting for access.

To do this you need to have administrator login details of the machine on which you will be doing Remote Desktop. Once logged in you will have complete control of the Remote computer.

To enable Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance services:

Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties. Click on the Remote tab >> Check both Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop >> Apply >> Ok