During installation, you must choose the type of network security group that you want the computer to join: a domain or a workgroup.
Joining a Domain
During installation, you can join an existing domain as a member server. Joining a domain during installation requires the following:
- A domain name. Ask the domain administrator for the Domain Name System (DNS) name for the domain that you want to join. An example of a valid DNS domain name is contoso.com.
- A computer account. Before a computer can join a domain, a computer account must exist in the domain. You can ask a domain administrator to create the computer account before installation, or, if you have administrative privileges for the domain, you can create the computer account during installation. If you create the computer account during installation, Setup prompts you for the name and password of a user account with authority to add domain computer accounts.
- An available domain controller and a server running the DNS Server service. At least one domain controller and one DNS server in the domain that you are joining must be online when you install a computer in the domain.
Joining a Workgroup
As with Windows NT 4.0, you will only join a workgroup if you are in a small network without a domain, or if you are preparing to join a domain later on. The workgroup name that you assign can be the name of an existing workgroup or the name of a new workgroup that you create during installation.