Berek Bryan's questions

I have a server that is host a MSSQL database and some other server related tasks.

The server communicaties with a large number of devices. The devices send data to the server.

The communication links are down between the devices on the intranet and to the outside world. However it seems I can ping and can be pinged from machines on the same switch.

This includes the DNS Servers.

When I run,

C:\ipconfig /registerdns

I get

RPC Server is Unavailable.

So, it seems that the server can not verify the DNS server. Both DNS server are up and running. No other machines are affected on the network.

Looking to upgrade our OS to a 64-bit version.

Server Purposes:

1. Web Server (Apache Tomcat)
2. Share Drive (Accessed through Windows domain and able to manage permissions)
3. Firewall

Initial Thoughts:

1. Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard
2. Microsoft Windows Web Server 2008

Linux is also a possibility but not sure if any distributions will be able to handle our shared drive needs.

EDIT:

Based off answers from Will and SirStan.

1. Would any of the other Windows editions be relevant?
2. Will a linux distribution be able to handle all of these needs?

I need to view and track the history of a printer's queue. I am running Windows XP Pro with a various set of HP printers.

If the OS or the printer does not keep a log, is there a third party application that can perform this service?

Edit:

The printers are attached to a machine via USB then shared for other users. The printers recieve print jobs from a group of people and we need to be able to track who sends what and when.

I am looking for an easy way for the user of the computer to track the jobs going to the printer.

We plan on moving to network printers but I am not sure how long that will take. So, we need a solution for the interim.

Ideally I think I would prefer an application that solely does print tracking.

Regards

I have three printers that I have to put on our internal network using the printers' internal NICs. They are all currently attached to Windows XP machines and shared via the OS.

So I need to submit details to the networking folks to get IP addresses for each printer.

How do I find the MAC addresses of these printers (they are all HP LaserJets)?

Edit:

Printers:

• HP LaserJet 3050
• HP LaserJet 1600
• HP LaserJet 2420

All are attached via USB currently.

Edit:

None of the printers currently have IP addresses. They all have the capability but currently are not setup.

My department maintains 6 servers running both Windows Server 2003 and Ubuntu Server.

We have to report and track our uptime. I believe we have to have a 95% uptime and we have no real way to track and report this data. Currently we are just doing this manually with a text file and estimations on downtime.

What tools are out there to help with this task or how do you currently report and track your server uptime?