Windows 2000 Server
An operating system that underwent continuous evolution, Windows 2000 Server was neither perfect nor the best OS you could implement on your server. But with the familiar user friendly interface of Windows & the easy to use ‘Wizard’s to accomplish most tasks, it has pushed the envelope of competition with Unix (and now Linux) as the OS for the enterprise.
The Windows 2000, based on the NT platform was a improvement over the latter. Faster, more resource efficient & stable than NT, it had been reorganized and rationalized. The highlight of Win2K was the Active Directory system. An operating system directory service provides the means to record and organize the resources of a network (people, computers,and peripherals), control their security, and monitor their operation. This information becomes much more accessible in Active Directory and is used throughout the operating system. It is also required for features such as Kerberos authentication.
Windows 2000 Server bundled the IIS dedicated server into the package. It was faster, more robust than before. Also part of the Internet/intranet package is support for multimedia, including Windows Multimedia Services, Windows Quality of Service (to ensure that streaming multimedia receives necessary bandwidth), Resource Reservation Protocol, and asynchronous transfer mode support.
There were many performance enhancements in Windows 2000 Server. A good deal of code optimizing was also done resulting in an improvement of 10% to 20% over NT. There were four service packs released for Win2K which addressed a number of security, stability & other issues that were encountered.
With the release of Windows Server 2003 earlier this year and after nearly four years in the marketplace, Microsoft has announced that Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Window 2000 Server Client Access Licenses (CALs) will be retired in phases. Customers who are in need of a copy of Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server can obtain a copy of Windows Server 2003 and exercise their downgrade rights.
