AnChan Tech IT Blog: My 2nd Design IT Infrastructure

7 years ago, I build an 1st IT Infrastructure in one organisation called People's World Carnival Band which you can see on the 2 links.

Part 1 = https://www.anchantech.co.uk/2015/02/install-server-2008-r2-on-hp-xw4400.html
Part 2 = https://www.anchantech.co.uk/2015/02/my-1st-design-it-infrastructure.html

During the time, I was learning how to do the Active Directory and Domain join.
At the time I build an infrastructure, the organisation did not had enough budget, but enough to turn a workstation into a Server. It was running on Windows Server 2008 R2 which was current at the time before Windows Server 2012 (not R2).

Also at the time, I did not know how to set the DNS to point to the Server so I had to manually assign the IP address to each PC at the time because I did not know how this works until years after I found out about the router settings which I will mention on this article.

(This is going to be a long read.)

Then many years later I had a call from my friend who run his business for 10 years (not mention the company name on this blog).

I did tell him I do not want to do another IT Support work as I want to get off that role as I am working at my main job for 4 days per week.

I reduce days because of my circumstances during the Covid19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Pandemic and the lockdown at the time and I my skills has evolve and wanted to hone it higher.

Instead of another IT Support, I want to do the Technical Architect (as a Sessional Consultant and Advisor) which he agrees to.

When you do the Infrastructure Design, you need look at the current IT Infrastructure, explain the current situation, look at the cost of the upgrade. In some cases, you make get calls asking for support, but you are not here for Support or quick fix because your role is to look at the bigger picture and the overhaul. Expert version of Microsoft Certifications (such as the old MCSEs) will teach you this if you an Engineer or Management level. The issue was the staff are getting frustrating due to slow PCs and I could not do any troubleshooting as the issue will not be solved by making the PC faster on the Hard Drive.
Because I am working at my main job, I go on certain days to fit around on my non-working days.
First I did was to go into the office and assess the IT Equipment. Find out what hardware the Desktop PCs uses, the cabling, patch panels and the software they are using. Then document the issues raised and look at the cost of upgrade.

Since he agrees to the business plan, I first I look at building the Server which is running on Server 2022 which is the latest Server OS as of this blog. Proceed with the task as I can come in when I am available and plan the days carefully.

The next part is to get my Server sold to him for the company which he did then tidy up the office so I get the PDU and the HP Switch to do the cabling and patching for the small office. Give the staff in the small office new Extension sockets.

The next part is building a Server was easy as I build this many times during my lab days, setup up Active Directory, Group Policy, connect to Microsoft 365 Cloud to make it hybrid. Enable password writeback which is a good idea so the users can change password from the cloud and synchronise back to the premise. Set up the DNS and DHCP so it can point to Server and Router.

Most PCs I saw are old, but still good. They are slow because they are all using the Hard Drive, so all the PCs are BIOS updated and replaced with SSD (Solid State Drives) because as of 2020, all news PCs and laptops are now using SSD and built in TPM (Trusted Platform Module) to be modern and security compliance. Reinstall Windows 10 Professional to every PCs. If any PCs are Home version, they also need to be Professional so it can be domain joined. At the time I still have to manually assign DNS IP address because I could not figure out how to make it automatically point the DNS to Server and router

(I did manage at the end which I will explain on the last paragraph).

The next task is to look at the Microsoft 365 tenant and look at subscription licenses who to assign, had to purchase more and upgrade to Business Premium even it cost more because it has Geo and cloud Security policy (Conditional Access Policy).

Now back to how I fix the DNS settings: It took me months figure out (thanks to YouTube) on how to make the PCs automatically assign DNS to Server and router as I normally manually assign each PCs to the Server and Router to join the domain. It was mentioned which I did is I had to configure the DNS from the router and make it point to the router and Server IP. Since this works, I remove the manual settings from each PC so it can automatically point so any new PCs installed I can join the domain normally.
On top of it all, with the Business Premium which comes with Azure Premium v1, I cannot do Security compliant, I can also onboard Antivirus on each PCs.

The reason it was a 3-month project because I was working the main job and waiting for more orders of parts and equipment to resume the work, otherwise, it would be quicker.

It was a bit demanding first as I told the staff in the business that I had to prioritise the structure first before working on desktops.

However overall, I really enjoyed it as I officially build a live-production environment. The infrastructure is currently 25% premises and 75% cloud and gain a lot of confidence on how to build an infrastructure.

The staff are very happy there because all PCs are running on Solid Sate Drives.

Here is the picture of the Server.