Server: An Introduction

A server is any combination of hardware or software

designed to provide services to clients. When used alone, the
term typically refers to a computer which may be running a server
operating system, but is commonly used to refer to any software
or dedicated hardware capable of providing services.
For example, a file server is a computer and storage device
dedicated to storing files. Any user on the network can store files
on the server. A print server is a computer that manages one or
more printers, and a network server is a computer that manages
network traffic. A database server is a computer system that
processes database queries.
Servers are often dedicated, meaning that they perform no
other tasks besides their server tasks. On multiprocessing
operating systems, however, a single computer can execute
several programs at once. A server in this case could refer to the
program that is managing resources rather than the entire
computer.

Server may be of Application Servers, Audio/Video Servers, Chat

Servers, Fax Servers, FTP Servers, Groupware Servers, IRC Servers,
Mail Servers, News Servers, Proxy Servers, Servers, Web Servers.

Windows Server 2000:

Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by
Microsoft for use on business desktops, notebook computers, and
servers. Windows 2000 is a continuation of the Microsoft Windows NT
family of operating systems, replacing Windows NT 4.0. Four editions of
Windows 2000 are Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and
Datacenter Server.

Features of Windows Server 2000:

Windows 2000 introduced many of the new features of Windows
98 such as Windows Desktop Update, Internet Explorer 5,Outlook
Express, NetMeeting, FAT32 support, Windows Driver Model,Internet
Connection Sharing,[28] Windows Media Player, WebDAV support[31]
etc.

NTFS 3.0
Microsoft released the version 3.0 of NTFS as part of Windows
2000; this introduced disk quotas (provided by QuotaAdvisor), file-
system-level encryption, sparse files and reparse points. Sparse files
allow for the efficient storage of data sets that are very large yet
contain many areas that only have zeros.

Encrypting File System

The Encrypting File System (EFS) introduced strong file system-
level encryption to Windows. It allows any folder or drive on an NTFS
volume to be encrypted transparently by the user.

Active Directory
A new way of organizing Windows network domains, or groups of
resources, called Active Directory, is introduced with Windows 2000 to
replace Windows NT's earlier domain model. Active Directory's
hierarchical nature allowed administrators a built-in way to manage
user and computer policies and user accounts, and to automatically
deploy programs and updates with a greater degree of scalability and
centralization than provided in previous Windows versions. It is one of
the main reasons many corporations migrated to Windows
2000.[citation needed] User information stored in Active Directory also
provided a convenient phone book-like function to end users. Active
Directory domains can vary from small installations with a few hundred
objects, to large installations with millions. Active Directory can
organise and link groups of domains into a contiguous domain name
space to form trees. Groups of trees outside of the same namespace
can be linked together to form forests.

Active Directory services could only be installed on a Windows

2000 Server, Advanced Server, or Datacenter Server computer, and
cannot be installed on a Windows 2000 Professional computer.
However, Windows 2000 Professional is the first client operating
system able to exploit Active Directory's new features. As part of an
organization's migration, Windows NT clients continued to function
until all clients were upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional, at which
point the Active Directory domain could be switched to native mode
and maximum functionality achieved.

Editions of Windows 2000 server:

• Windows 2000 Professional
• Windows 2000 Server
• Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

Hardware Requirements for Windows 2000 (minimum)

Windows 2000 Professional

Minimum Requirements
Processo 133 MHz or higher Pentium-compatible CPU
r
Memory 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM recommended minimum; more memory
generally improves responsiveness
Hard 2GB hard disk with a minimum of 650MB of free space
Disk
CPUSupp Windows 2000 Professional supports single and dual CPU systems
ort

Windows 2000 Server

Minimum Requirements
Processo 133 MHz or higher Pentium-compatible CPU
r
Memory 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM recommended minimum [128 MB
minimum supported; 4 gigabytes (GB) maximum]
Hard 2 GB hard disk with a minimum of 1.0 GB free space. (Additional free
Disk hard disk space is required if you are installing over a network.)
CPUSup Windows 2000 Server supports up to four CPUs on one machine
port

Windows 2000 Advanced Server

Minimum Requirements
Processo 133 MHz or higher Pentium-compatible CPU
r
Memory 256 MB of RAM recommended minimum (128 MB minimum supported; 8
GB maximum)
Hard 2 GB hard disk with a minimum of 1.0 GB free space. (Additional free
Disk hard disk space is required if you are installing over a network.)
CPUSupp Windows 2000 Advanced Server supports up to eight CPUs on one
ort machine

Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

Minimum Requirements
Compute 8-way capable or higher server (supports up to 32-way) *Note: Fault-
r tolerant system configurations are required to have at least 8
processors within the hardware solution
Processo Pentium III Xeon processors or higher
r
Memory 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM recommended
Hard Disk 2 gigabyte (GB) hard disk with a minimum of 1 GB free space.
(Additional free hard disk space is required if you are installing over a
network.)

Advantages of Windows server 2000:

 Windows 2000 Server is developed and sold by Microsoft. The
company continually provides supports and updates. Users who are
familiar with Windows will find themselves comfortably using Windows
2000 Server. Most people using Windows 2000 Server hosting utilize
Active Server Pages (ASP) technology. This is the main reason why
people are turning to Windows 2000 Server hosting. Users can develop
web site using familiar interface of Microsoft tools such as Microsoft
FrontPage, Visual Interdev, and Microsoft Access. With ASP users can
develop a database-driven web site using Microsoft Access and
Microsoft SQL as the database.
What are the disadvantages of Windows 2000 Server?
Unlike Unix, Windows 2000 Server requires more system resource. You
need a powerful machine to run Windows 2000 Server. The Windows
2000 Server does not have a good reputation in term of server stability.
The Windows 2000 Server needs reboot more frequent than Unix. If
you are using Windows 2000 Server hosting services, you may find
yourself investing a lot of money in the development tools. Most of
them are Microsoft products. The costs of applications that can run on
your web site are usually higher than that of Unix. For example, you
can find a lot of free scripts to run web board, chat room, web stats,
email (and more) for your Unix-based web site, but you won't find
many free applications in Windows 2000 Server world.

Windows Server 2003:

 Windows Server 2003 (also referred to as Win2K3) is a server
operating system produced by Microsoft. Introduced on 24 April 2003
as the successor to Windows 2000 Server, it is considered by Microsoft
to be the cornerstone of its Windows Server System line of business
server products.
According to Microsoft, Windows Server 2003 is more scalable
and delivers better performance than its predecessor, Windows 2000.
Features of Windows Server 2008:

• Internet Information Services (IIS) v6.0 - A significantly improved

version of IIS.
• Increased default security over previous versions, due to the
built-in firewall and having most services disabled by default.
• Significant improvements to Message Queuing.
• Manage Your Server - a role management administrative tool that
allows an administrator to choose what functionality the server
should provide.
• Improvements to Active Directory, such as the ability to
deactivate classes from the schema, or to run multiple instances
of the directory server (ADAM)
• Improvements to Group Policy handling and administration
• Provides a backup system to restore lost files
• Improved disk management, including the ability to back up from
shadows of files, allowing the backup of open files.
• Improved scripting and command line tools, which are part of
Microsoft's initiative to bring a complete command shell to the
next version of Windows.
• Support for a hardware-based "watchdog timer", which can
restart the server if the operating system does not respond within
a certain amount of time.

Editions:

• Web Edition
• Standard Edition
 • Enterprise Edition
• Datacenter Edition

Web Edition:
Windows Server 2003, Web Edition is mainly for building and
hosting Web applications, Web pages, and XML Web services. It is
designed to be used primarily as an IIS 6.0 Web server and provides a
platform for rapidly developing and deploying XML Web services and
applications that use ASP.NET technology, a key part of the .NET
Framework.
This edition does not require Client Access Licenses and Terminal
Server mode is not included on Web Edition. However, Remote Desktop
for Administration is available on Windows Server 2003, Web Edition.
The .NET Framework version 2.0 is not included with Windows
Server 2003, Web Edition, but can be installed as a separate update
from Windows Update.

Standard Edition:
Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition is aimed towards small to
medium sized businesses. Standard Edition supports file and printer
sharing, offers secure Internet connectivity, and allows centralized
desktop application deployment.
The initial release of Windows Server 2003 was available solely
for 32-bit processors; a 64-bit version supporting the x86-64
architecture (AMD64 and EM64T, called collectively x64 by Microsoft)
was released in April 2005.The 32-bit version will run on up to 4
processors with up to 4 GB RAM; the 64-bit version is capable of
addressing up to 32 GB of RAM and also supports Non-Uniform Memory
Access, something the 32-bit version does not do.

Enterprise Edition
Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition is aimed towards
medium to large businesses. It is a full-function server operating
system that supports up to eight processors and provides enterprise-
class features such as eight-node clustering using Microsoft Cluster
Server (MSCS) software and support for up to 32 GB of memory
through PAE (added with the /PAE boot string).

Datacenter Edition
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition is designed for
infrastructures demanding high security and reliability. Windows Server
2003 is available for x86, Itanium, and x86_64 processors. It supports a
maximum of up to 32 processors on 32-bit or 64 processors on 64-bit
hardware. 32-bit architecture also limits memory addressability to 64
GB, while the 64-bit versions support up to 1 TB. Windows Server 2003,
Datacenter Edition, also allows limiting processor and memory usage
on a per-application basis.
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition has better support for
Storage Area Networks (SAN). It features a service which uses Windows
sockets to emulate TCP/IP communication over native SAN service
providers, thereby allowing a SAN to be accessed over any TCP/IP
channel. With this, any application that can communicate over TCP/IP
can use a SAN, without any modification to the application.

Other Features
Distributed File System (DFS):
DFS allows multiple network shares to be aggregated as a virtual
file system.

Support for SAN and iSCSI:

Computers can connect to a Storage Server over the LAN, and
there is no need for a separate fibre channel network. Thus a Storage
Area Network can be created over the LAN itself. iSCSI uses the SCSI
protocol to transfer data as a block of bytes, rather than as a file. This
increases performance of the Storage network in some scenarios, such
as using a database server.

Virtual Disc Service:

 It allows NAS devices, RAID devices and SAN shares to be
exposed and managed as if they were normal hard drives.

Updates of Windows server 2003:

SERVICE PACK 1:
On 30 March 2005, Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Windows
Server 2003. Among the improvements are many of the same updates
that were provided to Windows XP users with Service Pack 2.
Features:

• Security Configuration Wizard

• Hot Patching
This feature is set to extend Windows Server 2003's ability
to take DLL, Driver, and non-kernel patches without a reboot.
• IIS 6.0 Metabase Auditing
• Windows Firewall
• Windows Media Player version 10
• Internet Explorer 6 SV1 (e.g. 'IE6 SP2')
WINDOWS SERVER 2003 R2:
Windows Server 2003 R2, an update of Windows Server 2003,
was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005. It is distributed
on two CDs, with one CD being the Windows Server 2003 SP1 CD. The
other CD adds many optionally installable features for Windows Server
2003. The R2 update was released for all x86 and x64 versions, but not
for Itanium versions.
Advantages of Windows Server 2003:
With its familiar Windows interface, Windows Server 2003 is easy
to use. New streamlined wizards simplify the setup of specific server
roles and routine server management tasks so that even servers
without a dedicated administrator are easy to manage. Maintaining
Active Directory is easier with new features, such as the ability to
rename domains and redefine schema, giving administrators the
flexibility to handle organizational changes that may occur. In addition,
cross-forest trusts let administrators connect Active Directory forests,
providing autonomy without sacrificing integration. Lastly, improved
deployment tools, such as Remote Installation Services, help
administrators quickly create system images and deploy servers.
Features:

• Secure Connected Infrastructure

• Enterprise-Class Reliability, Availability, Scalability, and
Performance
• Lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) Through Consolidation and
the Latest Technology
• Create Dynamic Intranet and Internet Web Sites
• Fast Development with Integrated Application Server
• Work Smarter By Turning Your File Server into a Powerful
Collaboration Server
• Automate Operations with Script-based and Policy-based
Management Tools
• Increase Document Protection and Availability via Intelligent File
Storage
• Easy to Find, Share, and Reuse XML Web Services.

System Requirements of Windows server 2003:

Requirement Standard Enterprise Datacenter Web Edition

Edition Edition Edition
Minimum CPU 133 MHz 133 MHz for 400 MHz for 133 MHz
Speed x86-based x86-based
computers computers

733 MHz for 733 MHz for

Itanium-based Itanium-based
computers* computers*
Recommended 550 MHz 733 MHz 733 MHz 550 MHz
CPU Speed
Minimum RAM 128 MB 128 MB 512 MB 128 MB
Recommended 256 MB 256 MB 1 GB 256 MB
Minimum RAM

Maximum RAM 4 GB 32 GB for x86- 64 GB for x86- 2 GB

based based
computers computers

512 GB for 512 GB for

Itanium-based Itanium-based
computers* computers*
Multiprocessor Up to 4 Up to 8 Minimum 8 Up to 2
Support ** required

Maximum 64
Disk Space for 1.5 GB 1.5 GB for x86- 1.5 GB for x86- 1.5 GB
Setup based based
computers computers

2.0 GB for 2.0 GB for

Itanium-based Itanium-based
computers* computers*

* Important: The 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003, Enterprise

Edition and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition are only
compatible with 64-bit Intel Itanium-based systems. They cannot be
successfully installed on 32-bit systems.

** Windows Server 2003 may not use multiple processors with some
Intel Pentium Pro or Pentium II Processors. For more information, please
review Windows Server 2003 May Not Use Multiple Processors with
Some Pentium Pro or Pentium II Processors – 319091
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 is the most recent release of Microsoft
Windows' server line of operating systems. Released to manufacturing
on 4 February 2008 and officially released on 27 February 2008, it is
the successor to Windows Server 2003, released nearly five years
earlier. Like Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 is built on the
Windows NT 6.0 kernel. A second release, named Windows Server 2008
R2, is currently under development and has been released in a Release
Candidate version.
System requirements:
System requirements for Windows Server 2008 are as follows

Minimum Recommended
Processor 1 GHz (x86) or 1.4 2 GHz or faster
GHz (x64)
Memory 512 MB RAM (may 2 GB RAM or higher
limit performance
Maximum (32-bit
and some features)
systems): 4 GB RAM
(Standard) or 64 GB
RAM (Enterprise,
Datacenter)
Maximum (64-bit
systems): 32 GB
RAM (Standard) or 2
TB RAM (Enterprise,
Datacenter and
Itanium-Based
Systems)
Video adapter and Super VGA (800 x Super VGA (800 x
monitor 600) 600) or higher
resolution
Hard drive disk free 10 GB 40 GB or higher
space
Computers with
more than 16 GB of
RAM require more
disk space for
paging and dump
files.
Drives DVD-ROM DVD-ROM or better
Devices
Devices Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution
monitor, keyboard and mouse

Planning for the Windows server 2003 Installation:

When you run the Windows Server 2003 Setup program, you
must provide information about how to install and configure the
operating system. Thorough planning can make your installation of
Windows Server 2003 more efficient by helping you to avoid potential
problems during installation. An understanding of the configuration
options will also help to ensure that you have properly configured your
system.
1. Verifying Minimum Hardware Requirements:
The first step of the installation is verifying that your hardware
meets the system requirements. Keep in mind that, although there is a
minimum requirement for the CPU and RAM, there is also a
recommended CPU and RAM configuration. For the sake of
performance, you should usually stay away from the minimum
requirements and stick to the recommended settings (or better).
2. Determining the Type of Server to Install
You have the choice of making your server a domain controller
(DC), a member server, or a standalone server. After you determine the
tasks the server will perform, you can determine the role you will
assign to it.
 Domain controllers and member servers play a role in a new or
existing domain. Standalone servers are not joined to a particular
domain.
3. Gathering the Information Necessary to Proceed
During the installation of Windows Server 2003, you will have to
tell the Setup Wizard how you want your server configured. The wizard
will take the information you provide and will configure the server
settings to meet your specifications.
Taking the time to gather the information described in the
following sections before starting your installation will likely make your
installation go faster and easier.
4. Selecting the Computer Name
Each computer on a network must have a name that is unique
within that network. Many companies have a standard naming
convention for their servers and workstations. If not, you can use the
following information as a guideline for creating your own. Although
the computer name can contain up to 63 characters, workstations and
servers that are pre–Windows 2000 recognize only the first 15
characters. It is widely considered a best practice to use only Internet-
standard characters in your computer name. This includes the letters
A–Z (upper- and lowercase), the numbers 0–9, and the hyphen (-).
Although it's true that implementing the Microsoft domain name
system (DNS) service in your environment could allow you to use some
non-Internet standard characters (such as Unicode characters and the
underscore), you should keep in mind that this is likely to cause
problems with any non-Microsoft DNS servers on your network. You
should think carefully and test thoroughly before straying from the
standard Internet characters noted in the preceding paragraph.

5. Name of the Workgroup or Domain

 During the server installation, the Setup Wizard will ask for the
name of the workgroup or domain that the server will be joining. You
can either enter the name of an existing organizational structure or
enter a new name, creating a new workgroup or domain.
Users new to Microsoft networking may ask, "What is the
difference between a workgroup and a domain?" Simply put, a domain
is a collection of computers and supporting hardware that share the
same security database. Grouping the equipment in this manner allows
you to set up centralized security and administration. Conversely, a
workgroup has no centralized security or administration. Each server or
workstation is configured independently and locally for all security and
administration settings.
Network Protocol and IP Address of the Server
When installing Windows Server 2003, you must install and
configure a network protocol that will allow it to communicate with
other machines on the network. Currently, the most commonly used
protocol is called TCP/IP, which stands for Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol. This protocol allows computers throughout
the Internet to communicate. After you install the TCP/IP protocol, you
need to configure an IP address for the server. You can choose one of
the following three methods to assign an IP address:
Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA)— APIPA can be used if you
have a small network that does not have a Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol (DHCP) server, which is used for dynamic IP addresses. A
unique IP address is assigned to the network adapter using the
LINKLOCAL IP address space. The address always starts with 169.254
and is in the format 169.254.x.x. Note that if an APIPA is in use, and a
DHCP server is brought up on the network, the computer will detect
this and will use the address that is assigned by the DHCP service
instead.
Dynamic IP address— A dynamic IP address is assigned by a DHCP
server. This allows a server to assign IP addresses and configuration
information to clients. Some examples of the information that is
distributed include IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, domain
name system (DNS) server address, and Windows Internet Naming
Service (WINS) server address. As the dynamic portion of the name
suggests, this address is assigned to the computer for a configurable
length of time, known as a lease. When the lease expires, the
workstation must again request an IP address from the DHCP server. It
may or may not get the same address that it had previously. Although
servers and workstations can both be configured to use this method of
addressing, it is generally used for workstations rather than servers.
Static IP address— Using a static IP address is the most common
decision for a server configuration. By static, we mean that the address
will not change unless you change the configuration of the server. This
point is important because clients and resources that need to access
the server must know the address to be able to connect to it. If the IP
address changed regularly, connecting to it would be difficult.

Backing up Files
Whether you are performing a new installation on a previously
used server or upgrading an existing server, you should perform a
complete backup of the data and operating system before you begin
your new installation. This way, you have a fallback plan if the
installation fails or the server does not perform the way you
anticipated.
When performing a new installation on a previously used server,
you overwrite any data that was stored there. In this scenario, you will
have to use your backup tape to restore any data that you want to
preserve.
On the other hand, if you are going to upgrade an existing server,
a known good backup will allow you to recover to your previous state if
the upgrade does not go as planned.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Server_2003

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Server_2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Server_System

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_operating_systems