Getting Started with Windows Server 2003

This introductory chapter was intended to highlight the new features, functions, migration tools, and management utilities in Windows Server 2003 that will help administrators take advantage of the capabilities of the new operating system. If Windows Server 2003 is seen as just a simple upgrade to Windows NT4 or Windows 2000, an organization will not benefit from the operating system enhancements. However, when fully leveraged with the capabilities of the Windows Server 2003 operating system, an organization can improve services to its employees through the use of new tools and technologies built into the operating system.

Best Practices

To ultimately improve Windows security, tune and optimize Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 for a secured networking environment.
Better manage files and printers through the use of new Windows 2003 R2 tools such as File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) and Print Management Console (PMC).
Take advantage of the key standards built into Windows Server 2003, including, but not limited to, IPv6, XML Web services, and IETF Security Standards.
Consider using the domain rename utility to rename a domain rather than build the domain from scratch.
Migrate user accounts, computer accounts, access control lists (ACLs), and trusts from NT4 or Windows 2000 to a Windows Server 2003 domain using the Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT) version 2.0.
Use Terminal Services in Windows Server 2003 to provide users access to local hard drives as well as to redirect the audio from a centralized Terminal server to a remote system.
Use Software Update Service (SUS) to automatically scan and download updates and patches to a centralized server for testing prior to distributing to all servers and client machines.
The Group Policy Management Console Feature Pack is a must for all administrators to install and use for their administration of Group Policies in a Windows 2003 environment.
Get better directory interoperability with Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS), Active Directory in Application Mode (ADAM), and Identity Management for Unix (IdMU).
An administrator should get familiar with all of the Feature Packs and Windows 2003 tools available for download. These tools in many cases update the tools that were included with the original version of Windows 2003, or are completely new tools that provide needed functionality to the tasks of upgrading, updating, administering, and managing a Windows 2003 environment.
The Windows 2003 Resource Kit now provides free tools to Windows 2003 administrators that can drastically improve mundane administrative tasks by simplifying management tasks into scripts, command-line queries, or quick lookup views.
Combine group policy with SUS to automatically distribute and manage regularly updating servers with Service Packs, patches, and security updates.

Chapter 2. Planning, Prototyping, Migrating, and Deploying Windows Server 2003 Best Practices

In This Chapter

Determining the Scope of Your Project

Identifying the Business Goals and Objectives to Implement Windows Server 2003

Identifying the Technical Goals and Objectives to Implement Windows Server 2003

The Discovery Phase: Understanding the Existing Environment

The Design Phase: Documenting the Vision and the Plan

The Migration Planning Phase: Documenting the Process for Migration

The Prototype Phase: Creating and Testing the Plan

The Pilot Phase: Validating the Plan to a Limited Number of Users

The Migration/Implementation Phase: Conducting the Migration or Installation

Far too many organizations implement a new application or upgrade to the new version of an operating system without fully understanding the goals and objectives of the upgrade and the breadth and scope of benefits the implementation will provide. While the migration is completed successfully from a technical implementation perspective, far too frequently users don't acknowledge significant improvements from the implementation, and the business goals and objectives of the organization's executives are not realized. This lack of vision of the implementation's benefits can jeopardize funding of future projects and affect the satisfaction of the user community.

This chapter examines how a structured four-step process for migrating to the Windows Server 2003 environment can enhance the success of the project. Consisting of discovery, design, testing, and implementation phases, this methodology can be scaled to meet the needs of the wide variety of organizations and businesses that use Microsoft technologies. The results of this methodology are three very important documents created to map out the implementation process: the design document, the migration document, and the migration plan.

The examples used in this chapter assume that the environments being migrated are primarily NT4 or Windows 2000 based, but the concepts and process can certainly apply to other environments.

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Morimoto R., Noel M., Lewis A.

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