Installing Active Directory(Domain) in Windows Server 2008

Installing Active Directory Domain Services (AD-DS)

In Windows Server 2008, unlike previous server operating Systems, there is an additional step that needs to be taken before running DCPROMO to promote the server to Domain Controller and installing Active Directory on it. This step is the installation of Active Directory Domain Services (AD-DS) role on the server. In fact, the AD-DS role is what enables the server to act as a Domain Controller, but you will still need to run DCPROMO the regular way.

AD-DS can be installed in one of 3 methods:

What are RAID controllers?

Definition: A RAID controller is a hardware device responsible for managing physical drives in a system and presenting them to the computer as logical units. 

The setting up of RAID 0 and RAID 1 can be done either via software or hardware. Some operating systems allow you to setup RAID in the software itself. A better option is to have a dedicated piece of hardware controlling the RAID functions. A guide to software RAID in Linux.

RAID controller chips are often imbedded in the motherboard. They also come in the form of a PCI expansion cards.  

Hardware RAID You need to ensure that the RAID controller card is designed for the type of hard disks you are using. A RAID controller card designed for use with IDE hard disks will not take SCSI hard disks. A controller designed to provide just RAID 0 functions will not allow you to set up a fault tolerant array.