If all it does is DC functions, I don't do any raid. You are better off getting redundancy via more DC's, not more hardware on one DC. And spread those FSMO's around... just because the first DC in a domain/forest has them all by default doesn't mean that is the way that is should be. But if the DC's are just DC's, and one goes down, it is easy enough to seize the PDC Emulator role to some other machine, since that is the only critical FSMO for day-to-day usage. Unless you modify the Schema (Schema master), Add domains (Domain Naming master), Add objects (RID Master), or change cross-domain SID's (Infrastructure Master) on a daily basis, that is... So, to step back, I would recommend the following: * Single Domain forest - At least two DC's, both of them Global Catalog Servers. Schema Master, RID Master, and Infrastructure Master on one, PDC Emulator and Domain Name master on the other. * Multi-domain forest - At least three DC's... Identical to the single-domain model above, but the third machine SHOULD NOT be a Global Catalog, and should hold the Infrastructure Master role. In a Multi-domain forest, the Infrastructure master should not be a GC, or it will not be able to update Cross-domain object references in the domain that it belongs to. HTH, Glenn Sullivan, MCSE+I MCDBA David Clark Company Inc. -----Original Message----- From: windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Bill Beckett Posted At: Tuesday, April 20, 2004 11:10 AM Posted To: Windows 2000 Conversation: [windows2000] DC setup Subject: [windows2000] DC setup How do most of you setup your Primary DC as far as fault tolerance and hardware is concerned? Would a Raid 5 or Raid 1 be recommended? (Primary being the first one in the root w/FSMO's)