Windows 2000 Installation PreparationYou need to take the following factors into consideration when installing Windows 2000 Server (as a clean installation or an upgrade installation):
The following sections expand upon these topics. You must ensure that you are fully prepared in these areas before installing Windows 2000 Server. Hardware CompatibilityHardware compatibility is perhaps the most important of all requirements that you have to meet before attempting an installation. Windows 2000 has very strict hardware requirements. If you do not meet them, at best some of your components will not function properly and, at worst, the operating system will not install at all. Two hardware criteria are required to install and operate Windows 2000 Server:
Table 2.1. Minimum Requirements for Windows 2000 Server Operating System Installation
Minimum Hardware RequirementsThe minimum hardware requirements refer to the processor type and speed, the amount of disk space, and the amount of memory available. In the past, Microsoft published only minimum installation requirements. For example, the minimum hardware required to install the operating system would be provided. However, Microsoft-published minimums now reflect the minimum hardware recommended to run servers in specific configurations. As a result, you may be able to install Windows 2000 Server with less than these minimum recommendations, but the servers you install will probably not function effectively in a production environment.
It is important to note that the minimum hardware requirements have increased dramatically since Windows NT 4.0 was released. If you are planning an upgrade of a Windows NT 4.0 Server to Windows 2000 Server, it is likely you may need to upgrade the server's hardware before attempting the upgrade. To keep up to date with any changes that may come out to the minimum requirements, be sure to visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/evaluation/sysreqs/default.asp. The Hardware Compatibility List (HCL)The Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) is Microsoft's published list of Windows 2000 “ tested hardware components. Items that are listed in the HCL are guaranteed to function (at least to a bare minimum) with Windows 2000. If you want to ensure that all your hardware will function properly under Windows 2000, you should consult the current version of the HCL, which can be found on the Internet at http://www.microsoft.com/hwdq/hcl/search.asp. Although many hardware products appear on the HCL (which means they have been tested and found to function with Windows 2000), not all products are listed. If the manufacturer has a driver available for the device that has been created for Windows 2000, the device should function properly. However, any problems with the driver or its effects on your server should be addressed to the manufacturer, not Microsoft. Software CompatibilityIn addition to confirming that your hardware is compatible with Windows 2000, you should also make sure your software is Windows 2000 compatible. Some applications that operated well under DOS, Windows 9 x , or Windows NT 4.0 will no longer function (or function properly) under Windows 2000. In the era of Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 9 x , Microsoft published guidelines for the creation of software for these platforms. Although the guidelines were clear in terms of what the operating systems would allow developers to do, they often left loopholes that developers took advantage of to improve the performance of their applications. Microsoft has not changed their guidelines as much as they have closed up the loopholes. This means that software written to the old guidelines should still work on both old and new platforms. However, software written to take advantage of loopholes that existed in the old guidelines might not work on newer platforms, such as Windows 2000. To check for software compatibility, you can do two things: First, you can consult the software compatibility Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/howtobuy/upgrading/compat/search/software.asp. This Web site allows you to search for your software products based on manufacturer, product name , category, or key word(s). After the search, a list will be returned indicating the status of that software. The possible statuses are
Second, do not be dismayed (at least not yet) if you do not find your software product on the Web site. Contact the software vendor or test it yourself to see whether you can prove compatibility on your own. In many cases, software that is not on the Web site works just fine. Be aware, however, that if software is not on the list, it is not supported by Microsoft, which may create difficulties later. Some vendors do not want to spend the time and money involved to have their products certified for Windows 2000 even though they function properly, but caution is an approach that will always yield positive results. Disk Size and PartitionsTo install Windows 2000 Server on your computer, you have to have disk space ”and a reasonable amount of extra space just to be safe. Table 2.1 showed that you need at least 1GB free on a hard disk that is at least 2GB in size. Furthermore, all of that free space must be on the same contiguous partition, so two 600MB empty partitions on a 3GB hard disk won't work. If this is a typical Windows 2000 installation, you will usually want to install the operating system on the active partition (usually the C: drive), but this is not required. If you plan to dual-boot your Windows 2000 Server with another operating system, you must install Windows 2000 Server onto another partition. If you do this, Microsoft is going to use different terms to describe the partition from which your computer starts up and the one on which the Windows 2000 operating system files are stored, as defined in the following:
In most cases, it is recommended that you install Windows 2000 on the same partition as you are booting from (the active partition). This would mean that the Boot and System partitions would be in the same location, which would be called the System/Boot partition. The only case where this would not be done is when you plan to dual-boot (or multiple boot) Windows 2000 with one or more other operating systems ”a practice that is recommended only for test systems. When you have decided on which partition to install Windows 2000, you may want to format it. You don't have to format it in advance because the installation process includes a utility to create new partitions as well as to format them. If you do choose to preformat the partition, you have the following format choices: NTFS, FAT16, and FAT32. These format types are discussed in detail in Chapter 3, "Installing, Configuring, and Trouble-shooting Access to Resources." A quick summary of the available options is presented here:
Current Operating System UpgradabilityIn the event that you want to upgrade a machine running another operating system to Windows 2000, you have a number of paths you can follow. The working definition this book uses for upgrade is "the ability to install a new operating system without having to completely reconfigure the resulting system." Upgrades to Windows 2000 Server can be done directly from Windows NT Server 4.0 and Windows NT Server 3.51. Because of the new fluidity of domain controller roles, the current role of the server is not significant. In the case of other operating systems (such as DOS, for example), you will have to choose whether to remove (or install over) the existing operating system or to dual-boot with it. Dual-boot means that you will choose which of the operating systems you will boot from at system startup and that all software will have to be installed separately for each operating system. Just as a quick reference, the following operating systems do not support a direct upgrade to Windows 2000 Server: MS-DOS, Windows 3. x , Windows 9 x , Windows NT Server 3.51 with the Citrix software installed, or Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server 4.0. After taking the preceding steps, you will be ready to install Windows 2000 Server on your computer. |