Why do I need replicas?

NDS replicas contain the NDS information necessary for users to log on to the network. If the replica is held on a server that is separated from the users by a slow or unreliable WAN link, the users will experience slow logons. In some cases, they may not be able to log on at all, even if they have a server locally. With a local replica, you don't have to worry if your WAN goes down. Users authenticate based on information in the replica.

The last tab, NT Tools, is shown in Figure E. This tab acts as a convenient launch pad for NT administrative utilities. If you're running NetWare Administrator from an administrative workstation, NetWare Administrator may ask you to log on to a Windows NT server before displaying any icons. Unfortunately, this tab isn't accessible if you run NetWare Administrator from a Win9x administrative workstation. You'll only see it if you run NetWare Administrator from your NT server or an administrative workstation that runs NT Workstation or Windows 2000 Professional.

 

 

 

Figure E

The NT Tools tab allows you to launch NT utilities from within NetWare Administrator.

By default, NT Tools includes shortcuts to User Manager, Server Manager, and Event Viewer. You can add other utilities by clicking Add and entering the necessary launch information. Using the NT Tools tab lets you launch the utilities without having to exit or minimize NetWare Administrator. Additionally, you can use the File and Folder Sharing Wizard to set up shared drives and folders on your NT server. We'll cover the File and Folder Sharing Wizard and other NT administration tasks in an upcoming Daily Drill Down.

Other NDS for NT objects

If you double-click the Domain object, you'll see additional objects within the domain, as shown in Figure F. If you've administered Windows NT before, you'll immediately recognize the icons as being Windows NT group and workstation objects. Domain objects can contain Alias objects, NDS for NT Global Group objects, NDS for NT Local Group objects, and NDS for NT Workstation objects.

 

 

Figure F

The Domain object contains other NDS for NT objects.

Alias objects within a Domain object are just like regular Alias objects. All they do is reference other objects in the NDS tree. Unlike standard NDS Alias objects, NDS for NT Alias objects can reside only within a Domain container. Additionally, NDS for NT Alias objects can alias only other NDS for NT objects.

The NDS for NT Global Group object represents global groups that reside in the NT server's domain. Global groups contain User objects that have common rights on the NT server. If you have multiple domains on your network, you can also use global groups in conjunction with trust relationships to grant rights across domains.

The NDS for NT Local Group object represents local groups that reside in the NT server's domain. As the name suggests, local groups represent groups that reside and control rights only within the NT server's domain. No matter how you've configured trust relationships, local groups aren't accessible outside the domain. Unlike global groups, local groups can contain global groups as well as User objects.