Windows 2000 Advanced Server is a key part of the Windows Server 2000 product family. Windows NT is Microsoft's enormously popular server operating system. The 32-bit software is designed to operate with Microsoft's NT Workstation desktop operating system, but can also be used with Windows 95/Windows 98, Apple Macintosh, and Unix clients. Released in August 1996, Windows NT's rise to corporate acceptance has been impressive. Microsoft markets Windows NT as the server operating system for corporate-wide needs, but it is most appropriate for file and print serving at the departmental level.
An advanced version, the Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition, broadens the functionality of NT Server with more availability, systems management, and scalability features. The Enterprise Edition supports up to eight-way symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) servers and includes clustering, transaction server, and message queue server capabilities.
In spite of its worldwide popularity, Windows NT's days are numbered. That is because, after much delay, Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional (desktop edition) will replace the NT line (beginning in February 2000). Microsoft has retooled the Windows 2000 Server and workstation products so that they compete more fully against Novell NetWare, the leading Unix versions, and the burgeoning Linux operating system. The company reports--and most beta testers agree--that the server operating system is much improved in all areas, including applications development services, connectivity, file and storage management, reliability, scalability, security, systems management, and Web integration.
One of the most talked-about features of Windows 2000 Server is its Active Directory, which serves as a centralized means for group, network resource, security, and user management. The operating system also adds such application services as Component Object Model + (COM+), message and transaction queuing, and Extensible Markup Language (XML) support. It additionally incorporates Kerberos, IPsec, and public key infrastructure (PKI) security.
The Windows 2000 Server family is organized in the following way:
Windows 2000 Server Standard Edition--Microsoft's mainstream, general-purpose business server for small- to medium-sized company environments. It is designed to handle application and Web serving, and file and print services within workgroup and departmental settings.
Windows 2000 Advanced Server--A midrange server for enterprise and large departmental applications. It includes application failover clustering, network load balancing, and high-availability features that are required for database-intensive jobs.
Windows 2000 Datacenter ServerWindows 2000 Dataserver is suitable for huge data warehouses, econometric analysis, large-scale engineering and science simulations, online transaction processing (OLTP), server consolidation, and extensive Internet service provider (ISP) and site hosting.
Strengths
Microsoft's Industry Dominance Even though customers may not agree with Microsoft's business practices, people do like the company's products.
Microsoft reports that more than 100 million units of its 32-bit Windows operating systems are in use today. Such extensive user support naturally attracts the attention of independent software vendors (ISVs), OEMs, trainers, and other industry providers. There are thousands of NT-based applications and over 170,000 NT-certified professionals supporting the operating system. To support the pent-up market demands of the long-awaited Windows 2000, these professionals will move quickly to become proficient with the new operating system. IBM, the world's largest computer company, announced a major initiative to provide Windows 2000 migration services.
The Windows 2000 platform will also generate widespread OEM and developer support. Even in its beta test cycles, companies like Compaq Computer, Dell Computer, and Micron jumped on the Windows 2000 bandwagon, providing bundles with their hardware. In spite of Microsoft's questionable organizational status, such widespread third-party support should satisfy customers into believing that their Windows investments will survive well into the future.
Comprehensive Security Features
With Windows 2000 Server, Windows NT users can expect significant gains in the system security area. Because of security holes uncovered by hackers, NT security has been relentlessly criticized within the past year. Windows 2000 Server fortifies security in numerous ways, including support for IPsec, a secure network protocol standard for encrypting TCP/IP traffic; Kerberos, a secure authentication protocol for networks; X.509 public key certificates; and smart cards for client authentication, secure storage, and single sign-on functions. The NTFS file system also includes encryption functions that can be performed on a per-file or per-directory basis. Furthermore, with the new Active Directory, administrators can manage access rights and user accounts from a central location.
Streamlined System Management
One of the design goals with Windows 2000 Server is to give administrators the capability to create and customize a single view of all of their management tasks. The Active Directory is one of the most important and noteworthy new features offered by Windows 2000 Server. Comparable to Novell's popular Network Directory Service (NDS), Active Directory is basically a distributed database of resource and user information that holds application, network, and user settings. Active Directory scales to millions of objects per partition and employs indexing technology and replication methods to speed performance. It replaces NT's old domain structure and, in its place, provides a more scalable and workable solution for settings to be distributed across a network.
Another new feature that has significantly improved this Windows platform is IntelliMirror. This facility copies users' applications, data, and customized system settings (that is, desktop icons, printer and drive mappings, and so on) as they move from computer to computer. The Active Directory is capable of providing this flexibility because it stores all the settings in one spot. The Group Policy Editor is another new helpful tool for system administrators. It permits administrators to establish policies for groups and individual users as they are linked to a specific site, domain, or organization unit. A new automated system recovery (ASR) facility provides backup, repair, restore, and recovery features.
The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) was initially released as an add-on to NT Server 4.0, but is now bundled with Windows 2000 Server. The MMC provides a common interface for integrating and performing system management activities. It offers a single point for accessing, controlling, and monitoring elements over a distributed network. The MMC supports administrative tasks for not only Windows-based PCs, but also for minicomputers, mainframes, and general network systems as well. NT utilities like Event Viewer, Performance Monitor, and User Manager can "snap in" to MMC on an as-needed basis.
Promise for High-End Computing
For a long time, it was thought to be only rhetoric, but now it appears that Microsoft could do enterprise computing. With Windows NT Server, Microsoft has historically done well in departmental workgroup configurations. However, with support for as many as 16 processors, 64GB of memory, clustering, and load balancing, Windows 2000 Datacenter Server is intended for such heavy-duty projects as data warehousing, OLTP, and server consolidation. The product is scheduled to ship three months after the February release of Windows 2000 Professional and Server. Whether Microsoft's high-end server operating system actually presents a serious challenge to Unix competitors remains to be seen, but it is good to know that such a product is in the offing from the world's largest software supplier.
Limitations
OS Delays May Have Impeded March to Enterprise
Just two years ago, Microsoft's casual disregard of schedules may have not mattered. The Unix market was fractured with too many implementations, and the term "Linux" was known exclusively by technical types. Additionally, only doomsayers were concerned about the Year 2000 (Y2K) software glitch. In two short years, much has changed. The once-splintered Unix market has unified with its principles working on Intel 64-bit architecture strategies. With major OEMs throwing their support behind it, the mysterious Linux is now becoming the darling of corporate computing. And organizations of all sizes are devoting extensive resources to ensure Y2K compatibility.
Where does all this activity leave Microsoft? A little behind schedule. Most companies with large legacy implementations will probably not rush to deploy Windows 2000--a situation that Microsoft already realizes. Many of these organizations are not planning to purchase and install the operating system until later in 2000, when the Y2K issues are safely behind them, and when the first round of inevitable Windows 2000 bugs is resolved.
Must Overcome Inferior Comparisons to Unix
Although Windows operating systems have been remarkably successful since the late 1980s, reliability has been an issue. These systems are notorious for frequent crashes. When companies have tried to place Windows NT in business-critical situations, they were often faced with the dreaded "blue screen of death." Unix operating systems, on the other hand, are widely acknowledged for their stability and reliability. Microsoft has invested many millions of dollars in reliability testing and claims it can now meet the steady and rigorous demands of enterprise computing.
Datapro Insight
In the face of draining legal woes, Microsoft is betting the house on its new Windows 2000 platform. Although Windows NT has established a worldwide presence, after several years with no major updates, the operating system is aging in an enterprise-computing climate that demands high availability, reliability, and security.
As the world's premier operating systems software supplier and one of the most influential forces in the industry, however, there is no doubt that any major release from Microsoft will attract a great deal of attention. Microsoft has injected Windows 2000 Server with many new and substantial improvements. With widespread ISV and OEM support, the new Windows 2000 Server and desktop platforms are destined to succeed.
However, success may not come as fast as Microsoft wishes, especially at the server level. Customers will likely wait until later in 2000 to start Windows 2000 Server deployments. With Y2K issues weighing heavily, implementing Windows 2000 may not be an immediate priority. Still, given its advances in terms of performance, reliability, scalability, and security, it is likely that Windows 2000 Server will eventually find its way into business-critical environments.
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