Windows 2000 advanced server limited edition

«Windows NT 5.0» redirects here. For the code name of this operating system, see List of Microsoft codenames.

Windows 2000

Version of the Windows NT operating system
Screenshot of Windows 2000 Professional with SP4, showing the Start menu and the Getting Started with Windows window.
Developer	Microsoft
OS family	Microsoft Windows
Working state	No longer supported
Source model	Closed-source Source-available (through Shared Source Initiative)[1]
Released to manufacturing	December 15, 1999; 23 years ago[2]
General availability	February 17, 2000; 23 years ago[3]
Final release	Service Pack 4 with Update Rollup (5.0.2195) / September 13, 2005; 17 years ago[4]
Marketing target	Business and Server
Update method	Windows Update
Platforms	IA-32 (including PC-98) (Alpha, MIPS, PowerPC in alpha, beta, and release candidate versions)
Kernel type	Hybrid (Windows NT kernel)
Userland	Windows API, NTVDM, OS/2 1.x, SFU
Default user interface	Windows shell (Graphical)
License	Proprietary commercial software
Preceded by	Windows NT 4.0 (1996)
Succeeded by	Windows XP (2001, client) Windows Server 2003 (2003, servers)
Official website	microsoft.com/windows2000/ at the Wayback Machine (archived December 3, 2000)
Support status
Mainstream support ended on June 30, 2005 Extended support ended on July 13, 2010[5]

Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It was the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was released to manufacturing on December 15, 1999,^[2] and was officially released to retail on February 17, 2000 and September 26, 2000 for Windows 2000 Datacenter Server. It was Microsoft’s business operating system until the introduction of Windows XP Professional in 2001.

Windows 2000 introduced NTFS 3.0,^[6] Encrypting File System,^[7] as well as basic and dynamic disk storage.^[8] Support for people with disabilities was improved over Windows NT 4.0 with a number of new assistive technologies,^[9] and Microsoft increased support for different languages^[10] and locale information.^[11] The Windows 2000 Server family has additional features, most notably the introduction of Active Directory,^[12] which in the years following became a widely used directory service in business environments.

Four editions of Windows 2000 were released: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server;^[13] the latter was both released to manufacturing and launched months after the other editions.^[14] While each edition of Windows 2000 was targeted at a different market, they shared a core set of features, including many system utilities such as the Microsoft Management Console and standard system administration applications.

Microsoft marketed Windows 2000 as the most secure Windows version ever at the time;^[15] however, it became the target of a number of high-profile virus attacks such as Code Red^[16] and Nimda.^[17] For ten years after its release, it continued to receive patches for security vulnerabilities nearly every month until reaching the end of support on July 13, 2010, the same day that support ended for Windows XP SP2.^[5]

Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Server were succeeded by Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, released in 2001 and 2003, respectively.

Windows 2000 is the final version of Windows NT that supports PC-98, i486 and SGI Visual Workstation 320 and 540, as well as Alpha, MIPS and PowerPC in alpha, beta, and release candidate versions. Its successor, Windows XP, only supports x86 and Itanium processors.

History[edit]

This section is missing information about features (other than the boot screen and sounds) introduced during the development. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (May 2021)

Windows 2000, originally named NT 5.0, is a continuation of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems, replacing Windows NT 4.0. Chairman and CEO Bill Gates was originally «pretty confident» NT 5.0 would ship in the first half of 1998,^[18] revealing that the first set of beta builds had been shipped in early 1997; these builds were identical to Windows NT 4.0. The first official beta was released in September 1997, followed by Beta 2 in August 1998.^[19][20] On October 27, 1998, Microsoft announced that the name of the final version of the operating system would be Windows 2000, a name which referred to its projected release date.^[21] Windows 2000 Beta 3 was released in May 1999.^[19] NT 5.0 Beta 1 was similar to NT 4.0, including a very similarly themed logo. NT 5.0 Beta 2 introduced a new ‘mini’ boot screen, and removed the ‘dark space’ theme in the logo. The NT 5.0 betas had very long startup and shutdown sounds, though these were changed in the early Windows 2000 beta, but during Beta 3, a new piano-made startup and shutdown sounds were made, composed by Steven Ray Allen.^[22] It was featured in the final version as well as in Windows Me. The new login prompt from the final version made its first appearance in Beta 3 build 1946 (the first build of Beta 3). The new, updated icons (for My Computer, Recycle Bin etc.) first appeared in Beta 3 build 1964. The Windows 2000 boot screen in the final version first appeared in Beta 3 build 1983. Windows 2000 did not have an actual codename because, according to Dave Thompson of Windows NT team, «Jim Allchin didn’t like codenames».^[23]

Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 was codenamed «Asteroid»^[24] and Windows 2000 64-bit was codenamed «Janus.»^[25][26] During development, there was a build for the Alpha which was abandoned in the final stages of development (between RC1 and RC2^[27]) after Compaq announced they had dropped support for Windows NT on Alpha. From here, Microsoft issued three release candidates between July and November 1999, and finally released the operating system to partners on December 12, 1999, followed by manufacturing three days later on December 15.^[28] The public could buy the full version of Windows 2000 on February 17, 2000. Three days before this event, which Microsoft advertised as «a standard in reliability,» a leaked memo from Microsoft reported on by Mary Jo Foley revealed that Windows 2000 had «over 63,000 potential known defects.»^[29] After Foley’s article was published, she claimed that Microsoft blacklisted her for a considerable time.^[30] However, Abraham Silberschatz et al. claim in their computer science textbook that «Windows 2000 was the most reliable, stable operating system Microsoft had ever shipped to that point. Much of this reliability came from maturity in the source code, extensive stress testing of the system, and automatic detection of many serious errors in drivers.»^[31] InformationWeek summarized the release «our tests show the successor to NT 4.0 is everything we hoped it would be. Of course, it isn’t perfect either.»^[32] Wired News later described the results of the February launch as «lackluster.»^[33] Novell criticized Microsoft’s Active Directory, the new directory service architecture, as less scalable or reliable than its own Novell Directory Services (NDS) alternative.^[34]

Windows 2000 is the last public release of Windows for PC-98, I486 and SGI Visual Workstation 320 and 540 as Windows XP runs solely on IA-32 only. Windows 2000 was initially planned to replace both Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0. However, this would be changed later, as an updated version of Windows 98 called Windows 98 Second Edition was released in 1999.

On or shortly before February 12, 2004, «portions of the Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 source code were illegally made available on the Internet.»^[35] The source of the leak was later traced to Mainsoft, a Windows Interface Source Environment partner.^[36] Microsoft issued the following statement:

«Microsoft source code is both copyrighted and protected as a trade secret. As such, it is illegal to post it, make it available to others, download it or use it.»

Despite the warnings, the archive containing the leaked code spread widely on the file-sharing networks. On February 16, 2004, an exploit «allegedly discovered by an individual studying the leaked source code»^[35] for certain versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer was reported. On April 15, 2015, GitHub took down a repository containing a copy of the Windows NT 4.0 source code that originated from the leak.^[37]

Microsoft planned to release a 64-bit version of Windows 2000, which would run on 64-bit Intel Itanium microprocessors, in 2000.^[38][39] However, the first officially released 64-bit version of Windows was Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, released alongside the 32-bit editions of Windows XP on October 25, 2001,^[40] followed by the server versions Windows Datacenter Server Limited Edition and later Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition, which were based on the pre-release Windows Server 2003 (then known as Windows .NET Server) codebase.^[41][42] These editions were released in 2002, were shortly available through the OEM channel and then were superseded by the final versions of Server 2003.^[42]

New and updated features[edit]

Windows 2000 introduced many of the new features of Windows 98 and 98 SE into the NT line,^[43] such as the Windows Desktop Update,^[43] Internet Explorer 5 (Internet Explorer 6, which followed in 2001, is also available for Windows 2000),^[43] Outlook Express, NetMeeting, FAT32 support,^[44] Windows Driver Model,^[45] Internet Connection Sharing,^[43] Windows Media Player, WebDAV support^[46] etc. Certain new features are common across all editions of Windows 2000, among them NTFS 3.0,^[6] the Microsoft Management Console (MMC),^[47] UDF support, the Encrypting File System (EFS),^[48] Logical Disk Manager,^[49] Image Color Management 2.0,^[50] support for PostScript 3-based printers,^[50] OpenType (.OTF) and Type 1 PostScript (.PFB) font support^[50] (including a new font—Palatino Linotype—to showcase some OpenType features^[51]), the Data protection API (DPAPI),^[52] an LDAP/Active Directory-enabled Address Book,^[53] usability enhancements and multi-language and locale support. Windows 2000 also introduced USB device class drivers for USB printers, Mass storage class devices,^[54] and improved FireWire SBP-2 support for printers and scanners, along with a Safe removal applet for removable storage devices.^[55] Windows 2000 SP4 added native USB 2.0 support. Windows 2000 is also the first Windows version to support hibernation at the operating system level (OS-controlled ACPI S4 sleep state) unlike Windows 98 which required special drivers from the hardware manufacturer or driver developer.^[56]

A new capability designed to protect critical system files called Windows File Protection was introduced. This protects critical Windows system files by preventing programs other than Microsoft’s operating system update mechanisms such as the Package Installer, Windows Installer and other update components from modifying them.^[57] The System File Checker utility provides users the ability to perform a manual scan of the integrity of all protected system files, and optionally repair them, either by restoring from a cache stored in a separate «DLLCACHE» directory, or from the original install media.

Microsoft recognized that a serious error (a Blue Screen of Death or stop error) could cause problems for servers that needed to be constantly running and so provided a system setting that would allow the server to automatically reboot when a stop error occurred.^[58] Also included is an option to dump any of the first 64 KB of memory to disk (the smallest amount of memory that is useful for debugging purposes, also known as a minidump), a dump of only the kernel’s memory, or a dump of the entire contents of memory to disk, as well as write that this event happened to the Windows 2000 event log.^[58] In order to improve performance on servers running Windows 2000, Microsoft gave administrators the choice of optimizing the operating system’s memory and processor usage patterns for background services or for applications.^[59] Windows 2000 also introduced core system administration and management features as the Windows Installer,^[60] Windows Management Instrumentation^[61] and Event Tracing for Windows (ETW)^[62] into the operating system.

Plug and Play and hardware support improvements[edit]

The most notable improvement from Windows NT 4.0 is the addition of Plug and Play with full ACPI and Windows Driver Model support. Similar to Windows 9x, Windows 2000 supports automatic recognition of installed hardware, hardware resource allocation, loading of appropriate drivers, PnP APIs and device notification events. The addition of the kernel PnP Manager along with the Power Manager are two significant subsystems added in Windows 2000.

Windows 2000 introduced version 3 print drivers (user mode printer drivers)^[63] based on Unidrv, which made it easier for printer manufacturers to write device drivers for printers.^[64] Generic support for 5-button mice is also included as standard ^[65] and installing IntelliPoint allows reassigning the programmable buttons. Windows 98 lacked generic support.^[66] Driver Verifier was introduced to stress test and catch device driver bugs.^[67]

Shell[edit]

Windows 2000 introduces layered windows that allow for transparency, translucency and various transition effects like shadows, gradient fills and alpha-blended GUI elements to top-level windows.^[68] Menus support a new Fade transition effect.

The Start menu in Windows 2000 introduces personalized menus, expandable special folders and the ability to launch multiple programs without closing the menu by holding down the SHIFT key. A Re-sort button forces the entire Start Menu to be sorted by name. The Taskbar introduces support for balloon notifications which can also be used by application developers. Windows 2000 Explorer introduces customizable Windows Explorer toolbars, auto-complete in Windows Explorer address bar and Run box, advanced file type association features, displaying comments in shortcuts as tooltips, extensible columns in Details view (IColumnProvider interface), icon overlays, integrated search pane in Windows Explorer, sort by name function for menus, and Places bar in common dialogs for Open and Save.

Windows Explorer has been enhanced in several ways in Windows 2000. It is the first Windows NT release to include Active Desktop, first introduced as a part of Internet Explorer 4.0 (specifically Windows Desktop Update), and only pre-installed in Windows 98 by that time.^[69] It allowed users to customize the way folders look and behave by using HTML templates, having the file extension HTT. This feature was abused by computer viruses that employed malicious scripts, Java applets, or ActiveX controls in folder template files as their infection vector. Two such viruses are VBS/Roor-C^[70] and VBS.Redlof.a.^[71]

The «Web-style» folders view, with the left Explorer pane displaying details for the object currently selected, is turned on by default in Windows 2000. For certain file types, such as pictures and media files, the preview is also displayed in the left pane.^[72] Until the dedicated interactive preview pane appeared in Windows Vista, Windows 2000 had been the only Windows release to feature an interactive media player as the previewer for sound and video files, enabled by default. However, such a previewer can be enabled in previous versions of Windows with the Windows Desktop Update installed through the use of folder customization templates.^[73] The default file tooltip displays file title, author, subject and comments;^[74] this metadata may be read from a special NTFS stream, if the file is on an NTFS volume, or from an OLE structured storage stream, if the file is a structured storage document. All Microsoft Office documents since Office 4.0^[75] make use of structured storage, so their metadata is displayable in the Windows 2000 Explorer default tooltip. File shortcuts can also store comments which are displayed as a tooltip when the mouse hovers over the shortcut. The shell introduces extensibility support through metadata handlers, icon overlay handlers and column handlers in Explorer Details view.^[76]

The right pane of Windows 2000 Explorer, which usually just lists files and folders, can also be customized. For example, the contents of the system folders aren’t displayed by default, instead showing in the right pane a warning to the user that modifying the contents of the system folders could harm their computer. It’s possible to define additional Explorer panes by using DIV elements in folder template files.^[69] This degree of customizability is new to Windows 2000; neither Windows 98 nor the Desktop Update could provide it.^[77] The new DHTML-based search pane is integrated into Windows 2000 Explorer, unlike the separate search dialog found in all previous Explorer versions. The Indexing Service has also been integrated into the operating system and the search pane built into Explorer allows searching files indexed by its database.^[78]

NTFS 3.0[edit]

Main article: NTFS

Microsoft released the version 3.0 of NTFS^[6] (sometimes incorrectly called «NTFS 5» in relation to the kernel version number) 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.^[79] Reparse points allow the object manager to reset a file namespace lookup and let file system drivers implement changed functionality in a transparent manner.^[80] Reparse points are used to implement volume mount points, junctions, Hierarchical Storage Management, Native Structured Storage and Single Instance Storage.^[80] Volume mount points and directory junctions allow for a file to be transparently referred from one file or directory location to another.

Windows 2000 also introduces a Distributed Link Tracking service to ensure file shortcuts remain working even if the target is moved or renamed. The target object’s unique identifier is stored in the shortcut file on NTFS 3.0 and Windows can use the Distributed Link Tracking service for tracking the targets of shortcuts, so that the shortcut file may be silently updated if the target moves, even to another hard drive.^[81]

Encrypting File System[edit]

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.^[48] EFS works together with the EFS service, Microsoft’s CryptoAPI and the EFS File System Runtime Library (FSRTL).^[82] To date, its encryption has not been compromised.^{[citation needed]}

EFS works by encrypting a file with a bulk symmetric key (also known as the File Encryption Key, or FEK), which is used because it takes less time to encrypt and decrypt large amounts of data than if an asymmetric key cipher were used.^[82] The symmetric key used to encrypt the file is then encrypted with a public key associated with the user who encrypted the file, and this encrypted data is stored in the header of the encrypted file. To decrypt the file, the file system uses the private key of the user to decrypt the symmetric key stored in the file header. It then uses the symmetric key to decrypt the file. Because this is done at the file system level, it is transparent to the user.^[83]

For a user losing access to their key, support for recovery agents that can decrypt files is built into EFS. A Recovery Agent is a user who is authorized by a public key recovery certificate to decrypt files belonging to other users using a special private key. By default, local administrators are recovery agents however they can be customized using Group Policy.

Basic and dynamic disk storage[edit]

Windows 2000 introduced the Logical Disk Manager and the diskpart command line tool for dynamic storage.^[8] All versions of Windows 2000 support three types of dynamic disk volumes (along with basic disks): simple volumes, spanned volumes and striped volumes:

• Simple volume, a volume with disk space from one disk.
• Spanned volumes, where up to 32 disks show up as one, increasing it in size but not enhancing performance. When one disk fails, the array is destroyed. Some data may be recoverable. This corresponds to JBOD and not to RAID-1.
• Striped volumes, also known as RAID-0, store all their data across several disks in stripes. This allows better performance because disk reads and writes are balanced across multiple disks. Like spanned volumes, when one disk in the array fails, the entire array is destroyed (some data may be recoverable).

In addition to these disk volumes, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server support mirrored volumes and striped volumes with parity:

• Mirrored volumes, also known as RAID-1, store identical copies of their data on 2 or more identical disks (mirrored). This allows for fault tolerance; in the event one disk fails, the other disk(s) can keep the server operational until the server can be shut down for replacement of the failed disk.
• Striped volumes with parity, also known as RAID-5, functions similar to striped volumes/RAID-0, except «parity data» is written out across each of the disks in addition to the data. This allows the data to be «rebuilt» in the event a disk in the array needs replacement.

Accessibility[edit]

With Windows 2000, Microsoft introduced the Windows 9x accessibility features for people with visual and auditory impairments and other disabilities into the NT-line of operating systems.^[9] These included:

• StickyKeys: makes modifier keys (ALT, CTRL and SHIFT) become «sticky»: a user can press the modifier key, and then release it before pressing the combination key. (Activated by pressing Shift five times quickly.)
• FilterKeys: a group of keyboard-related features for people with typing issues, including:
  • Slow Keys: Ignore any keystroke not held down for a certain period.
  • Bounce Keys: Ignore repeated keystrokes pressed in quick succession.
  • Repeat Keys: lets users slow down the rate at which keys are repeated via the keyboard’s key-repeat feature.
• Toggle Keys: when turned on, Windows will play a sound when the CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK or SCROLL LOCK key is pressed.
• SoundSentry: designed to help users with auditory impairments, Windows 2000 shows a visual effect when a sound is played through the sound system.
• MouseKeys: lets users move the cursor around the screen via the numeric keypad.
• SerialKeys: lets Windows 2000 support speech augmentation devices.
• High contrast theme: to assist users with visual impairments.
• Microsoft Magnifier: a screen magnifier that enlarges a part of the screen the cursor is over.^[84]

Additionally, Windows 2000 introduced the following new accessibility features:

• On-screen keyboard: displays a virtual keyboard on the screen and allows users to press its keys using a mouse or a joystick.^[85]
• Microsoft Narrator: introduced in Windows 2000, this is a screen reader that utilizes the Speech API 4, which would later be updated to Speech API 5 in Windows XP
• Utility Manager: an application designed to start, stop, and manage when accessibility features start. This was eventually replaced by the Ease of Access Center in Windows Vista.
• Accessibility Wizard: a control panel applet that helps users set up their computer for people with disabilities.

Languages and locales[edit]

Windows 2000 introduced the Multilingual User Interface (MUI).^[10] Besides English, Windows 2000 incorporates support for Arabic, Armenian, Baltic, Central European, Cyrillic, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Indic, Japanese, Korean, simplified Chinese, Thai, traditional Chinese, Turkic, Vietnamese and Western European languages.^[86] It also has support for many different locales.^[11]

Games[edit]

Windows 2000 included version 7.0 of the DirectX API, commonly used by game developers on Windows 98.^[87] The last version of DirectX that was released for Windows 2000 was DirectX 9.0c (Shader Model 3.0), which shipped with Windows XP Service Pack 2. Microsoft published quarterly updates to DirectX 9.0c through the February 2010 release after which support was dropped in the June 2010 SDK. These updates contain bug fixes to the core runtime and some additional libraries such as D3DX, XAudio 2, XInput and Managed DirectX components. The majority of games written for versions of DirectX 9.0c (up to the February 2010 release) can therefore run on Windows 2000.

Windows 2000 included the same games as Windows NT 4.0 did: FreeCell, Minesweeper, Pinball, and Solitaire.^[88]

System utilities[edit]

Windows 2000 introduced the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), which is used to create, save, and open administrative tools.^[47] Each of these is called a console, and most allow an administrator to administer other Windows 2000 computers from one centralised computer. Each console can contain one or many specific administrative tools, called snap-ins.^[47] These can be either standalone (with one function), or an extension (adding functions to an existing snap-in). In order to provide the ability to control what snap-ins can be seen in a console, the MMC allows consoles to be created in author mode or user mode.^[47] Author mode allows snap-ins to be added, new windows to be created, all portions of the console tree to be displayed and consoles to be saved. User mode allows consoles to be distributed with restrictions applied. User mode consoles can grant full access to the user for any change, or they can grant limited access, preventing users from adding snapins to the console though they can view multiple windows in a console. Alternatively users can be granted limited access, preventing them from adding to the console and stopping them from viewing multiple windows in a single console.^[89]

The main tools that come with Windows 2000 can be found in the Computer Management console (in Administrative Tools in the Control Panel).^[90] This contains the Event Viewer—a means of viewing system or application-related events and the Windows equivalent of a log file,^[91] a system information utility, a backup utility, Task Scheduler and management consoles to view open shared folders and shared folder sessions, configure and manage COM+ applications, configure Group Policy,^[92] manage all the local users and user groups, and a device manager.^[93] It contains Disk Management and Removable Storage snap-ins,^[94] a disk defragmenter as well as a performance diagnostic console, which displays graphs of system performance and configures data logs and alerts. It also contains a service configuration console, which allows users to view all installed services and to stop and start them, as well as configure what those services should do when the computer starts. CHKDSK has significant performance improvements.^[95]

Windows 2000 comes with two utilities to edit the Windows registry, REGEDIT.EXE and REGEDT32.EXE.^[96] REGEDIT has been directly ported from Windows 98, and therefore does not support editing registry permissions.^[96] REGEDT32 has the older multiple document interface (MDI) and can edit registry permissions in the same manner that Windows NT’s REGEDT32 program could. REGEDIT has a left-side tree view of the Windows registry, lists all loaded hives and represents the three components of a value (its name, type, and data) as separate columns of a table. REGEDT32 has a left-side tree view, but each hive has its own window, so the tree displays only keys and it represents values as a list of strings. REGEDIT supports right-clicking of entries in a tree view to adjust properties and other settings. REGEDT32 requires all actions to be performed from the top menu bar. Windows XP is the first system to integrate these two programs into a single utility, adopting the REGEDIT behavior with the additional NT features.^[96]

The System File Checker (SFC) also comes with Windows 2000. It is a command line utility that scans system files and verifies whether they were signed by Microsoft and works in conjunction with the Windows File Protection mechanism. It can also repopulate and repair all the files in the Dllcache folder.^[97]

Recovery Console[edit]

The Recovery Console is run from outside the installed copy of Windows to perform maintenance tasks that can neither be run from within it nor feasibly be run from another computer or copy of Windows 2000.^[98] It is usually used to recover the system from problems that cause booting to fail, which would render other tools useless, like Safe Mode or Last Known Good Configuration, or chkdsk. It includes commands like fixmbr, which are not present in MS-DOS.

It has a simple command-line interface, used to check and repair the hard drive(s), repair boot information (including NTLDR), replace corrupted system files with fresh copies from the CD, or enable/disable services and drivers for the next boot.

The console can be accessed in either of the two ways:

1. Booting from the Windows 2000 CD, and choosing to start the Recovery Console from the CD itself instead of continuing with setup. The Recovery Console is accessible as long as the installation CD is available.
2. Preinstalling the Recovery Console on the hard disk as a startup option in Boot.ini, via WinNT32.exe, with the /cmdcons switch.^[99] In this case, it can only be started as long as NTLDR can boot from the system partition.

Windows Scripting Host 2.0[edit]

Windows 2000 introduced Windows Script Host 2.0 which included an expanded object model and support for logon and logoff scripts.

Networking[edit]

• Starting with Windows 2000, the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol directly interfaces with TCP/IP. In Windows NT 4.0, SMB requires the NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT) protocol to work on a TCP/IP network.
• Windows 2000 introduces a client-side DNS caching service. When the Windows DNS resolver receives a query response, the DNS resource record is added to a cache. When it queries the same resource record name again and it is found in the cache, then the resolver does not query the DNS server. This speeds up DNS query time and reduces network traffic.

Server family features[edit]

The Windows 2000 Server family consists of Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Windows 2000 Small Business Server, and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server.

All editions of Windows 2000 Server have the following services and features built in:

• Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) support, facilitating dial-up and VPN connections using IPsec, L2TP or L2TP/IPsec, support for RADIUS authentication in Internet Authentication Service, network connection sharing, Network Address Translation, unicast and multicast routing schemes.
• Remote access security features: Remote Access Policies for setup, verify Caller ID (IP address for VPNs), callback and Remote access account lockout^[100]
• Autodial by location feature using the Remote Access Auto Connection Manager service
• Extensible Authentication Protocol support in IAS (EAP-MD5 and EAP-TLS) later upgraded to PEAPv0/EAP-MSCHAPv2 and PEAP-EAP-TLS in Windows 2000 SP4
• DNS server, including support for Dynamic DNS. Active Directory relies heavily on DNS.
• IPsec support and TCP/IP filtering
• Smart card support
• Microsoft Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK) and Connection Point Services
• Support for distributed file systems (DFS)
• Hierarchical Storage Management support including remote storage,^[101] a service that runs with NTFS and automatically transfers files that are not used for some time to less expensive storage media
• Fault tolerant volumes, namely Mirrored and RAID-5
• Group Policy (part of Active Directory)
• IntelliMirror, a collection of technologies for fine-grained management of Windows 2000 Professional clients that duplicates users’ data, applications, files, and settings in a centralized location on the network. IntelliMirror employs technologies such as Group Policy, Windows Installer, Roaming profiles, Folder Redirection, Offline Files (also known as Client Side Caching or CSC), File Replication Service (FRS), Remote Installation Services (RIS) to address desktop management scenarios such as user data management, user settings management, software installation and maintenance.
• COM+, Microsoft Transaction Server and Distributed Transaction Coordinator
• MSMQ 2.0
• TAPI 3.0
• Integrated Windows Authentication (including Kerberos, Secure channel and SPNEGO (Negotiate) SSP packages for Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI)).
• MS-CHAP v2 protocol
• Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Enterprise Certificate Authority support
• Terminal Services and support for the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)
• Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 and Windows Media Services 4.1
• Network quality of service features^[102]
• A new Windows Time service which is an implementation of Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) as detailed in IETF RFC 1769. The Windows Time service synchronizes the date and time of computers in a domain^[103] running on Windows 2000 Server or later. Windows 2000 Professional includes an SNTP client.

The Server editions include more features and components, including the Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS), Active Directory support and fault-tolerant storage.

Distributed File System[edit]

The Distributed File System (DFS) allows shares in multiple different locations to be logically grouped under one folder, or DFS root. When users try to access a network share off the DFS root, the user is really looking at a DFS link and the DFS server transparently redirects them to the correct file server and share. A DFS root can only exist on a Windows 2000 version that is part of the server family, and only one DFS root can exist on that server.

There can be two ways of implementing a DFS namespace on Windows 2000: either through a standalone DFS root or a domain-based DFS root. Standalone DFS allows for only DFS roots on the local computer, and thus does not use Active Directory. Domain-based DFS roots exist within Active Directory and can have their information distributed to other domain controllers within the domain – this provides fault tolerance to DFS. DFS roots that exist on a domain must be hosted on a domain controller or on a domain member server. The file and root information is replicated via the Microsoft File Replication Service (FRS).^[104]

Active Directory[edit]

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. 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 always be installed on a Windows 2000 Server Standard, Advanced, or Datacenter 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.

Active Directory requires a DNS server that supports SRV resource records, or that an organization’s existing DNS infrastructure be upgraded to support this. There should be one or more domain controllers to hold the Active Directory database and provide Active Directory directory services.

Volume fault tolerance[edit]

Along with support for simple, spanned and striped volumes, the Windows 2000 Server family also supports fault-tolerant volume types. The types supported are mirrored volumes and RAID-5 volumes:

• Mirrored volumes: the volume contains several disks, and when data is written to one it is also written to the other disks. This means that if one disk fails, the data can be totally recovered from the other disk. Mirrored volumes are also known as RAID-1.
• RAID-5 volumes: a RAID-5 volume consists of multiple disks, and it uses block-level striping with parity data distributed across all member disks. Should a disk fail in the array, the parity blocks from the surviving disks are combined mathematically with the data blocks from the surviving disks to reconstruct the data on the failed drive «on-the-fly.»

Deployment[edit]

Windows 2000 system requirements

	Minimum	Recommended
IA-32 PCs
CPU	Pentium 133 MHz	Pentium II 300 MHz
Memory	32 MB (128 MB for Windows 2000 Server)	128 MB (256 MB for Windows 2000 Server)
Free space	1 GB (2 GB for Windows 2000 Server)	5 GB
Graphics hardware	800×600 VGA or better monitor	1024×768 VGA or better monitor
Input device(s)	Keyboard and/or mouse

Windows 2000 can be deployed to a site via various methods. It can be installed onto servers via traditional media (such as CD) or via distribution folders that reside on a shared folder. Installations can be attended or unattended. During a manual installation, the administrator must specify configuration options. Unattended installations are scripted via an answer file, or a predefined script in the form of an INI file that has all the options filled in. An answer file can be created manually or using the graphical Setup manager. The Winnt.exe or Winnt32.exe program then uses that answer file to automate the installation. Unattended installations can be performed via a bootable CD, using Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), via the System Preparation Tool (Sysprep), via the Winnt32.exe program using the /syspart switch or via Remote Installation Services (RIS). The ability to slipstream a service pack into the original operating system setup files is also introduced in Windows 2000.^[105]

The Sysprep method is started on a standardized reference computer – though the hardware need not be similar – and it copies the required installation files from the reference computer to the target computers. The hard drive does not need to be in the target computer and may be swapped out to it at any time, with the hardware configured later. The Winnt.exe program must also be passed a /unattend switch that points to a valid answer file and a /s file that points to one or more valid installation sources.

Sysprep allows the duplication of a disk image on an existing Windows 2000 Server installation to multiple servers. This means that all applications and system configuration settings will be copied across to the new installations, and thus, the reference and target computers must have the same HALs, ACPI support, and mass storage devices – though Windows 2000 automatically detects «plug and play» devices. The primary reason for using Sysprep is to quickly deploy Windows 2000 to a site that has multiple computers with standard hardware. (If a system had different HALs, mass storage devices or ACPI support, then multiple images would need to be maintained.)

Systems Management Server can be used to upgrade multiple computers to Windows 2000. These must be running Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98 or Windows 95 OSR2.x along with the SMS client agent that can receive software installation operations. Using SMS allows installations over a wide area and provides centralised control over upgrades to systems.

Remote Installation Services (RIS) are a means to automatically install Windows 2000 Professional (and not Windows 2000 Server) to a local computer over a network from a central server. Images do not have to support specific hardware configurations and the security settings can be configured after the computer reboots as the service generates a new unique security ID (SID) for the machine. This is required so that local accounts are given the right identifier and do not clash with other Windows 2000 Professional computers on a network.^[106]
RIS requires that client computers are able to boot over the network via either a network interface card that has a Pre-Boot Execution Environment (PXE) boot ROM installed or that the client computer has a network card installed that is supported by the remote boot disk generator. The remote computer must also meet the Net PC specification. The server that RIS runs on must be Windows 2000 Server and it must be able to access a network DNS Service, a DHCP service and the Active Directory services.^[107]

Editions[edit]

Microsoft released various editions of Windows 2000 for different markets and business needs: Professional, Server, Advanced Server and Datacenter Server. Each was packaged separately.

Windows 2000 Professional was designed as the desktop operating system for businesses and power users. It is the client version of Windows 2000. It offers greater security and stability than many of the previous Windows desktop operating systems. It supports up to two processors, and can address up to 4 GB of RAM. The system requirements are a Pentium processor (or equivalent) of 133 MHz or greater, at least 32 MB of RAM, 650 MB of hard drive space, and a CD-ROM drive (recommended: Pentium II, 128 MB of RAM, 2 GB of hard drive space, and CD-ROM drive).^[108] However, despite the official minimum processor requirements, it is still possible to install Windows 2000 on 4th-generation x86 CPUs such as the 80486.

Windows 2000 Server shares the same user interface with Windows 2000 Professional, but contains additional components for the computer to perform server roles and run infrastructure and application software. A significant new component introduced in the server versions is Active Directory, which is an enterprise-wide directory service based on LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). Additionally, Microsoft integrated Kerberos network authentication, replacing the often-criticised NTLM (NT LAN Manager) authentication system used in previous versions. This also provided a purely transitive-trust relationship between Windows 2000 Server domains in a forest (a collection of one or more Windows 2000 domains that share a common schema, configuration, and global catalog, being linked with two-way transitive trusts). Furthermore, Windows 2000 introduced a Domain Name Server which allows dynamic registration of IP addresses. Windows 2000 Server supports up to 4 processors and 4 GB of RAM, with a minimum requirement of 128 MB of RAM and 1 GB hard disk space, however requirements may be higher depending on installed components.^[108]

Windows 2000 Advanced Server is a variant of Windows 2000 Server operating system designed for medium-to-large businesses. It offers the ability to create clusters of servers, support for up to 8 CPUs, a main memory amount of up to 8 GB on Physical Address Extension (PAE) systems and the ability to do 8-way SMP. It supports TCP/IP load balancing and builds on Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) in Windows NT Enterprise Server 4.0, adding enhanced functionality for two-node clusters.^[109] System requirements are similar to those of Windows 2000 Server,^[108] however they may need to be higher to scale to larger infrastructure.

Windows 2000 Datacenter Server is a variant of Windows 2000 Server designed for large businesses that move large quantities of confidential or sensitive data frequently via a central server.^[110] Like Advanced Server, it supports clustering, failover and load balancing. Its minimum system requirements are similar to those of Advanced Server,^[108] but it was designed to be capable of handing advanced, fault-tolerant and scalable hardware—for instance computers with up to 32 CPUs and 32 GBs RAM, with rigorous system testing and qualification, hardware partitioning, coordinated maintenance and change control. Windows 2000 Datacenter Server was released to manufacturing on August 11, 2000^[111] and launched on September 26, 2000.^[112] This edition was based on Windows 2000 with Service Pack 1^[110] and was not available at retail.^[113]

Service packs[edit]

Service pack	Release date
Service Pack 1 (SP1)	August 15, 2000
Service Pack 2 (SP2)	May 16, 2001
Service Pack 3 (SP3)	August 29, 2002
Service Pack 4 (SP4)	June 26, 2003
SP4 Update Rollup	September 13, 2005

Windows 2000 has received four full service packs and one rollup update package following SP4, which is the last service pack. Microsoft phased out all development of its Java Virtual Machine (JVM) from Windows 2000 in SP3. Internet Explorer 5.01 has also been upgraded to the corresponding service pack level.

Service Pack 4 with Update Rollup was released on September 13, 2005, nearly four years following the release of Windows XP and sixteen months prior to the release of Windows Vista.

Microsoft had originally intended to release a fifth service pack for Windows 2000, but Microsoft cancelled this project early in its development, and instead released Update Rollup 1 for SP4, a collection of all the security-related hotfixes and some other significant issues.^[114] The Update Rollup does not include all non-security related hotfixes and is not subjected to the same extensive regression testing as a full service pack. Microsoft states that this update will meet customers’ needs better than a whole new service pack, and will still help Windows 2000 customers secure their PCs, reduce support costs, and support existing computer hardware.^[115]

Upgradeability[edit]

Several Windows 2000 components are upgradable to latest versions, which include new versions introduced in later versions of Windows, and other major Microsoft applications are available. These latest versions for Windows 2000 include:

• ActiveSync 4.5
• DirectX 9.0c (5 February 2010 Redistributable)
• Internet Explorer 6 SP1 and Outlook Express 6 SP1
• Microsoft Agent 2.0
• Microsoft Data Access Components 2.81
• Microsoft NetMeeting 3.01 and Microsoft Office 2003 on Windows 2000 SP3 and SP4 (and Microsoft Office XP on Windows 2000 versions below SP3.)
• MSN Messenger 7.0 (Windows Messenger)
• MSXML 6.0 SP2
• .NET Framework 2.0 SP2
• Tweak UI 1.33
• Visual C++ 2008
• Visual Studio 2005
• Windows Desktop Search 2.66
• Windows Script Host 5.7
• Windows Installer 3.1
• Windows Media Format Runtime and Windows Media Player 9 Series (including Windows Media Encoder 7.1 and the Windows Media 8 Encoding Utility)

Security[edit]

During the Windows 2000 period, the nature of attacks on Windows servers changed: more attacks came from remote sources via the Internet. This has led to an overwhelming number of malicious programs exploiting the IIS services – specifically a notorious buffer overflow tendency.^[116] This tendency is not operating-system-version specific, but rather configuration-specific: it depends on the services that are enabled.^[116] Following this, a common complaint is that «by default, Windows 2000 installations contain numerous potential security problems. Many unneeded services are installed and enabled, and there is no active local security policy.»^[117] In addition to insecure defaults, according to the SANS Institute, the most common flaws discovered are remotely exploitable buffer overflow vulnerabilities.^[118] Other criticized flaws include the use of vulnerable encryption techniques.^[119]

Code Red and Code Red II were famous (and much discussed) worms that exploited vulnerabilities of the Windows Indexing Service of Windows 2000’s Internet Information Services (IIS).^[16] In August 2003, security researchers estimated that two major worms called Sobig and Blaster infected more than half a million Microsoft Windows computers.^[120] The 2005 Zotob worm was blamed for security compromises on Windows 2000 machines at ABC, CNN, the New York Times Company, and the United States Department of Homeland Security.^[121]

On September 8, 2009, Microsoft skipped patching two of the five security flaws that were addressed in the monthly security update, saying that patching one of the critical security flaws was «infeasible.»^[122] According to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-048: «The architecture to properly support TCP/IP protection does not exist on Microsoft Windows 2000 systems, making it infeasible to build the fix for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 to eliminate the vulnerability. To do so would require re-architecting a very significant amount of the Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 operating system, there would be no assurance that applications designed to run on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 would continue to operate on the updated system.» No patches for this flaw were released for the newer Windows XP (32-bit) and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition either, despite both also being affected;^[123] Microsoft suggested turning on Windows Firewall in those versions.^[124]

Support lifecycle[edit]

Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Server were superseded by newer Microsoft operating systems: Windows 2000 Server products by Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 Professional by Windows XP Professional.

The Windows 2000 family of operating systems moved from mainstream support to the extended support phase on June 30, 2005. Microsoft says that this marks the progression of Windows 2000 through the Windows lifecycle policy. Under mainstream support, Microsoft freely provides design changes if any, service packs and non-security related updates in addition to security updates, whereas in extended support, service packs are not provided and non-security updates require contacting the support personnel by e-mail or phone. Under the extended support phase, Microsoft continued to provide critical security updates every month for all components of Windows 2000 (including Internet Explorer 5.0 SP4) and paid per-incident support for technical issues. Because of Windows 2000’s age, updated versions of components such as Windows Media Player 11 and Internet Explorer 7 have not been released for it. In the case of Internet Explorer, Microsoft said in 2005 that, «some of the security work in IE 7 relies on operating system functionality in XP SP2 that is non-trivial to port back to Windows 2000.»^[125]

While users of Windows 2000 Professional and Server were eligible to purchase the upgrade license for Windows Vista Business or Windows Server 2008, neither of these operating systems can directly perform an upgrade installation from Windows 2000; a clean installation must be performed instead or a two-step upgrade through XP/2003. Microsoft has dropped the upgrade path from Windows 2000 (and earlier) to Windows 7. Users of Windows 2000 must buy a full Windows 7 license.

Although Windows 2000 is the last NT-based version of Microsoft Windows which does not include product activation, Microsoft has introduced Windows Genuine Advantage for certain downloads and non-critical updates from the Download Center for Windows 2000.

Windows 2000 reached the end of its lifecycle (EoL) on July 13, 2010 (alongside Service Pack 2 of Windows XP). It will not receive new security updates and new security-related hotfixes after this date.^[5][126] In Japan, over 130,000 servers and 500,000 PCs in local governments were affected; many local governments said that they will not update as they do not have funds to cover a replacement.^[127]

As of 2011, Windows Update still supports the Windows 2000 updates available on Patch Tuesday in July 2010, e.g., if older optional Windows 2000 features are enabled later. Microsoft Office products under Windows 2000 have their own product lifecycles. While Internet Explorer 6 for Windows XP did receive security patches up until it lost support, this is not the case for IE6 under Windows 2000. The Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool installed monthly by Windows Update for XP and later versions can be still downloaded manually for Windows 2000.^[128]

Microsoft in 2020 announced that it would disable the Windows Update service for SHA-1 endpoints and since Windows 2000 did not get an update for SHA-2, Windows Update Services are no longer available on the OS as of late July 2020.^[129] However, as of April 2021, the old updates for Windows 2000 are still available on the Microsoft Update Catalog, or through Legacy Update, a community-driven third party replacement for the Windows 2000 update servers.
^[130]

Total cost of ownership[edit]

In October 2002, Microsoft commissioned IDC to determine the total cost of ownership (TCO) for enterprise applications on Windows 2000 versus the TCO of the same applications on Linux. IDC’s report is based on telephone interviews of IT executives and managers of 104 North American companies in which they determined what they were using for a specific workload for file, print, security and networking services.
IDC determined that the four areas where Windows 2000 had a better TCO than Linux – over a period of five years for an average organization of 100 employees – were file, print, network infrastructure and security infrastructure. They determined, however, that Linux had a better TCO than Windows 2000 for web serving. The report also found that the greatest cost was not in the procurement of software and hardware, but in staffing costs and downtime. While the report applied a 40% productivity factor during IT infrastructure downtime, recognizing that employees are not entirely unproductive, it did not consider the impact of downtime on the profitability of the business. The report stated that Linux servers had less unplanned downtime than Windows 2000 servers. It found that most Linux servers ran less workload per server than Windows 2000 servers and also that none of the businesses interviewed used 4-way SMP Linux computers. The report also did not take into account specific application servers – servers that need low maintenance and are provided by a specific vendor. The report did emphasize that TCO was only one factor in considering whether to use a particular IT platform, and also noted that as management and server software improved and became better packaged the overall picture shown could change.^[131]

See also[edit]

• Architecture of Windows NT
• BlueKeep (security vulnerability)
• Comparison of operating systems
• DEC Multia, one of the DEC Alpha computers capable of running Windows 2000 beta
• Microsoft Servers, Microsoft’s network server software brand
• Windows Neptune, a cancelled consumer edition based on Windows 2000

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Bolosky, William J.; Corbin, Scott; Goebel, David; & Douceur, John R. «Single Instance Storage in Windows 2000.» Microsoft Research & Balder Technology Group, Inc. (white paper).
• Bozman, Jean; Gillen, Al; Kolodgy, Charles; Kusnetzky, Dan; Perry, Randy; & Shiang, David (October 2002). «Windows 2000 Versus Linux in Enterprise Computing: An assessment of business value for selected workloads.» IDC, sponsored by Microsoft Corporation. White paper.
• Finnel, Lynn (2000). MCSE Exam 70–215, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server. Microsoft Press. ISBN 1-57231-903-8.
• Microsoft. Running Nonnative Applications in Windows 2000 Professional^{[permanent dead link]}. Windows 2000 Resource Kit. Retrieved May 4, 2005.
• Microsoft. «Active Directory Data Storage.» Retrieved May 9, 2005.
• Minasi, Mark (1999). Installing Windows 2000 of Mastering Windows 2000 Server. Sybex. Chapter 3 – Installing Windows 2000 On Workstations with Remote Installation Services.
• Russinovich, Mark (October 1997). «Inside NT’s Object Manager.» Windows IT Pro.
• Russinovich, Mark (2002). «Inside Win2K NTFS, Part 1.» Windows IT Pro (formerly Windows 2000 Magazine).
• Saville, John (January 9, 2000). «What is Native Structure Storage?.» Windows IT Pro (formerly Windows 2000 Magazine).
• Siyan, Kanajit S. (2000). «Windows 2000 Professional Reference.» New Riders. ISBN 0-7357-0952-1.
• Solomon, David; & Russinovich, Mark E. (2000). Inside Microsoft Windows 2000 (Third Edition). Microsoft Press. ISBN 0-7356-1021-5.
• Tanenbaum, Andrew S. (2001), Modern Operating Systems (2nd Edition), Prentice-Hall
• Trott, Bob (October 27, 1998). «It’s official: NT 5.0 becomes Windows 2000.» InfoWorld.
• Wallace, Rick (2000). MCSE Exam 70–210, Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional. Microsoft Press. ISBN 1-57231-901-1.

External links[edit]

• Windows 2000 End-of-Life
• Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
• Windows 2000 Update Rollup 1 Version 2

The community for beta and abandonware collectors.

Windows АУЕ — КРУТА

Были выпущены четыре выпуска Windows 2000: Professional, Server, Advanced Server и Datacenter Server; последний был выпущен в производство и начался через несколько месяцев после других выпусков. Хотя каждая версия Windows 2000 была нацелена на другой рынок, они поделились основным набором функций, включая множество системных утилит, таких как Microsoft Management Console и стандартные приложения для системного администрирования.

Windows 2000 представляет NTFS 3.0, Encrypting File System, а также базовое и динамическое хранилище на диске. Поддержка людей с ограниченными возможностями была улучшена по сравнению с Windows NT 4.0 с помощью ряда новых вспомогательных технологий, а Microsoft увеличила поддержку разных языков и местной информации. Семейство Windows 2000 Server имеет дополнительные функции, включая возможность предоставления услуг Active Directory.

Windows 2000 можно установить с помощью ручной или автоматической установки. Неавтоматизированные установки полагаются на использование файлов ответов для заполнения информации об установке и могут выполняться с помощью загрузочного компакт-диска с использованием Microsoft Systems Management Server с помощью инструмента подготовки системы.

Microsoft продавала Windows 2000 как самую безопасную версию Windows в то время; однако он стал объектом ряда громких вирусных атак, таких как Code Red и Nimda. В течение десяти лет после его выпуска он продолжал получать исправления для уязвимостей безопасности почти каждый месяц, пока не достигнет конца своего жизненного цикла 13 июля 2010 года.

История[]

Windows 2000 является продолжением семейства Microsoft Windows NT операционных систем, замена Windows NT 4.0. Оригинальное название для операционной системы была Windows NT 5.0 и его бета-1 была выпущена в сентябре 1997 года, а затем Beta 2 в августе 1998 года. 27 октября 1998 года Microsoft объявила о том, что имя окончательной версии операционной системы будет Windows 2000, имя, которое называют его запланированной даты выпуска. Windows 2000 Beta 3 был выпущен в январе 1999 года. NT 5.0 Beta 2 представила новый экран загрузки «мини», и снял «темное пространство» тему в логотипе. В NT 5.0 бета было очень долгое включение и выключение звуков, хотя они были изменены в начале бета-тестирования Windows 2000, но в бета-версии 3, были сделаны новые фортепианные сделал запуск и выключение звука, показан в окончательной версии, а также в ОС Windows ME. Новый логин-приглашение из финальной версии сделал свое первое появление в Beta 3 Build 1946 (первая сборка бета-3). Новые обновленные значки (для My Computer, Recycle Bin и т. Д.) Впервые появились в Beta 3 build 1976. Экран загрузки Windows 2000 в окончательной версии появился в Beta 3 build 1994. Windows 2000 не имела кодового имени, поскольку, согласно Дэйву Томпсону из команды Windows NT, «Джим Олчин не любил кодовые имена».

Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 был под кодовым названием «Астероид», а 64-разрядная версия Windows 2000 была под кодовым названием «Янус». Во время разработки была сборка для Alpha, которая была оставлена после RC1 после того, как Compaq объявила, что отказалась от поддержки Windows NT на Alpha. Отсюда Microsoft выпустила три выпуска кандидатов в период с июля по ноябрь 1999 года и, наконец, выпустила операционную систему для партнеров 12 декабря 1999 года. Публика могла купить полную версию Windows 2000 17 февраля 2000 года. За три дня до этого события, которое Microsoft объявила как «стандарт по надежности», пропущенная записка от Microsoft, о которой сообщает Мэри Джо Фоли, показала, что Windows 2000 имеет «более 63 000 потенциальных дефектов». После публикации статьи Фоли, она заявила, что Microsoft занесла ее в черный список в течение значительного времени. Однако Абрахам Сильбершац и др. утверждают в своем учебнике по компьютерной науке, что «Windows 2000 была самой надежной и стабильной операционной системой, которую когда-либо поставляла Microsoft. Большая часть этой надежности приходилась на зрелость в исходном коде, обширные стресс-тесты системы и автоматическое обнаружение многих серьезные ошибки в драйверах. Информационная неделя подвела итоги выпуска «наши тесты показывают, что преемник NT 4.0 — это все, на что мы надеялись, конечно. Конечно, это тоже не идеально». Wired News позже описала результаты февральского запуска как «тусклые». Novell критиковал Microsoft Active Directory, новую архитектуру службы каталогов, менее масштабируемую или надежную, чем ее альтернатива Novell Directory Services (NDS).

Сначала Windows 2000 была заменена как Windows 98, так и Windows NT 4.0. Однако это изменилось позже. Вместо этого в 1999 году была выпущена обновленная версия Windows 98 под названием Windows 98 Second Edition; За этим последовали Windows ME (последние выпущенные на базе DOS Windows) летом 2000 года. 

«Исходный код Microsoft защищен авторским правом и защищен как коммерческая тайна. Таким образом, опубликовать его запрещено, сделать его доступным для других, загрузить или использовать».

Несмотря на предупреждения, архив, содержащий пропущенный код, широко распространен в сетях обмена файлами. 16 февраля 2004 года был опубликован эксплойт, «предположительно обнаруженный человеком, изучающим пропущенный исходный код» для определенных версий Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Microsoft планировала выпустить 64-битную версию Windows 2000, которая будет работать на 64-разрядных микропроцессорах Intel Itanium в 2000 году. Однако первыми официально выпущенными 64-разрядными версиями Windows были Windows Datacenter Server Limited Edition и более поздние версии Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition, которые были основаны на предварительной версии Windows Server 2003 (тогда называемой Windows .NET Server). Эти выпуски были выпущены в 2002 году, вскоре были доступны через OEM-канал, а затем были заменены окончательными версиями Windows Server 2003.

Новые и обновленные функции[]

Windows 2000 представила множество новых функций Windows 98 и Windows 98 SE в строке NT, таких как Windows Desktop Update, Internet Explorer 5 (Internet Explorer 6, которая появилась в 2001 году, также доступна для Windows 2000), Outlook Express, поддержка NetMeeting, FAT32, модель драйвера Windows, общий доступ к подключению к Интернету, проигрыватель Windows Media, поддержка WebDAV и т. Д. Некоторые новые функции являются общими для всех выпусков Windows 2000, в том числе NTFS 3.0, консоль управления Microsoft (MMC), поддержка UDF, шифровальная файловая система (EFS), диспетчер логических дисков, управление цветом изображений 2.0, поддержка PostScript 3- основанные на принтере, поддержка OpenType (.OTF) и Type 1 PostScript (.PFB) (включая новый шрифт Palatino Linotype — для демонстрации некоторых функций OpenType), API защиты данных (DPAPI), адреса с поддержкой LDAP / Active Directory Book, удобство использования и поддержка нескольких языков и локалей. Windows 2000 также представила драйверы класса USB-устройств для USB-принтеров, устройств класса массового хранения и улучшенную поддержку FireWire SBP-2 для принтеров и сканеров, а также безопасный апплет удаления для устройств хранения. Windows 2000 также является первой версией Windows, поддерживающей спящий режим на уровне операционной системы (состояние спящего режима ACPI S4 под управлением ОС), в отличие от Windows 98, для которого требуются специальные драйверы от производителя оборудования или разработчика драйверов.

Была введена новая возможность, предназначенная для защиты важных системных файлов под названием Windows File Protection. Это защищает критические системные файлы Windows, предотвращая изменения программ, отличных от механизмов обновления операционной системы Microsoft, таких как установщик пакетов, установщик Windows и другие компоненты обновления. Утилита System File Checker предоставляет пользователям возможность выполнять ручное сканирование целостности всех защищенных системных файлов и, при необходимости, их восстановление, либо путем восстановления из кеша, хранящегося в отдельном каталоге DLLCACHE, либо с исходного носителя установки.

Microsoft признала, что серьезная ошибка (синий экран смерти) или стоп-ошибка могут вызвать проблемы для серверов, которые должны быть постоянно запущены, и поэтому предоставляется системный параметр, который позволит серверу автоматически перезагружаться при возникновении ошибки остановки. Также включен вариант сброса любого из первых 64 КБ памяти на диск (наименьший объем памяти, который полезен для целей отладки, также известный как minidump), дамп только памяти ядра или свалка все содержимое памяти на диск, а также записать, что это событие произошло с журналом событий Windows 2000. Чтобы повысить производительность на серверах под управлением Windows 2000, Microsoft предоставила администраторам возможность оптимизировать использование памяти операционной системы и моделей использования процессора для фоновых служб или приложений. Windows 2000 также представила основные функции администрирования и управления системой в качестве установщика Windows, инструментария управления Windows и отслеживания событий для Windows (ETW) в операционной системе.

Поддержка Plug and Play и аппаратная поддержка[]

Наиболее заметным улучшением от Windows NT 4.0 является добавление Plug and Play с полной поддержкой ACPI и Windows Driver Model. Подобно Windows 9x, Windows 2000 поддерживает автоматическое распознавание установленного оборудования, распределение аппаратного ресурса, загрузку соответствующих драйверов, API-интерфейсов PnP и событий уведомления устройства. Добавление ядра PnP Manager вместе с Power Manager — две значимые подсистемы, добавленные в Windows 2000.

Windows 2000 представила драйверы печати версии 3 (драйверы принтера в режиме пользователя). Общая поддержка 5-кнопочных мышей также включена в стандартную комплектацию, и установка IntelliPoint позволяет переназначить программируемые кнопки. Windows 98 не имела общей поддержки. Driver Verifier был введен для тестирования стресс-тестов и ошибок драйверов устройств-уловов.

Оболочка[]

В Windows 2000 предусмотрены многоуровневые окна, которые обеспечивают прозрачность и различные эффекты перехода, такие как тени, градиентные заливки и альфа-смешанные элементы графического интерфейса в окна верхнего уровня. Меню поддерживают новый эффект перехода Fade.

Меню «Пуск» в Windows 2000 вводит персонализированные меню, расширяемые специальные папки и возможность запуска нескольких программ, не закрывая меню, удерживая клавишу SHIFT. Кнопка «Повторная сортировка» заставляет все меню «Пуск» сортироваться по имени. На панели задач представлена ​​поддержка уведомлений о шарах, которые также могут использоваться разработчиками приложений. Windows 2000 Explorer представляет настраиваемые панели инструментов Windows Explorer, автоматически заполняется в адресной строке проводника Windows и в поле «Выполнить», расширенные возможности объединения типов файлов, отображение комментариев в ярлыках в виде подсказок, расширяемых столбцов в окне «Детали» (интерфейс IColumnProvider), наложения значков, интегрированная панель поиска в проводнике Windows, сортировку по имени для меню и панель «Адреса» в общих диалоговом окне «Открыть и сохранить».

Проводник Windows был расширен несколькими способами в Windows 2000. Это первая версия Windows NT для включения Active Desktop, впервые представленная как часть Internet Explorer 4.0 (в частности, Windows Desktop Update) и только предварительно установленная в Windows 98 в это время. Это позволило пользователям настроить способ поиска и поведения папок с помощью HTML-шаблонов с расширением файла HTT. Эта функция злоупотреблялась компьютерными вирусами, в которых в качестве файлов для заражения использовались вредоносные скрипты, апплеты Java или элементы управления ActiveX в файлах шаблонов папок. Два таких вируса — VBS/Roor-C и VBS.Redlof.a.

В папке «Веб-стиль» с левой панелью Explorer, отображающей детали для выбранного в данный момент объекта, по умолчанию включен в Windows 2000. Для определенных типов файлов, таких как изображения и мультимедийные файлы, предварительный просмотр также отображается в левой панели. Пока в Windows Vista не появилась специальная панель интерактивного предварительного просмотра, Windows 2000 была единственной версией Windows, в которой для интерактивного медиа-плеера использовался предварительный просмотр звуковых и видеофайлов, включенных по умолчанию. Однако такой предварительный просмотр можно включить в предыдущих версиях Windows с помощью Windows Desktop Update, установленного с использованием шаблонов настройки папок. Всплывающая подсказка по умолчанию отображает название файла, автора, тему и комментарии; эти метаданные могут считываться из специального потока NTFS, если файл находится на томе NTFS или из потока структурированного хранилища OLE, если файл является структурированным документом хранения. Все документы Microsoft Office, начиная с Office 4.0, используют структурированное хранилище, поэтому их метаданные отображаются во всплывающей подсказке по умолчанию Windows 2000 Explorer. Ярлыки файлов также могут хранить комментарии, которые отображаются в виде подсказки, когда мышь наводится на ярлык. Оболочка представляет поддержку расширяемости с помощью обработчиков метаданных, обработчиков наложений и обработчиков столбцов в представлении «Сведения о проводнике».

В правой панели Windows 2000 Explorer, которая обычно просто перечисляет файлы и папки, также можно настроить. Например, содержимое системных папок по умолчанию не отображается, вместо этого в правой панели отображается предупреждение пользователю, что изменение содержимого системных папок может нанести вред их компьютеру. Можно определить дополнительные панели проводника, используя элементы DIV в файлах шаблонов папок. Эта степень настраиваемости является новой для Windows 2000; ни Windows 98, ни Desktop Update не могли бы предоставить его. Новая панель поиска на основе DHTML интегрирована в Windows 2000 Explorer, в отличие от отдельного диалогового окна поиска, найденного во всех предыдущих версиях Проводника. Служба индексирования также была интегрирована в операционную систему, и панель поиска, встроенная в Проводник, позволяет искать файлы, индексированные своей базой данных.

NTFS 3.0[]

Microsoft выпустила версию 3.0 NTFS (иногда неправильно называемую NTFS 5 по отношению к номеру версии ядра) как часть Windows 2000; это введенные дисковые квоты (предоставленные QuotaAdvisor), шифрование на уровне файловой системы, разреженные файлы и точки повторной обработки. Разреженные файлы позволяют эффективно хранить наборы данных, которые очень большие, но содержат много областей, которые имеют только нули. Точки повторной обработки позволяют диспетчеру объекта сбрасывать поиск пространства имен файлов и позволяют драйверам файловой системы реализовывать измененные функции прозрачным образом. Точки монтирования тома и переходы каталогов позволяют прозрачно передавать файл из одного файла или местоположения каталога в другой.

Windows 2000 также представляет службу отслеживания распределенных ссылок, чтобы гарантировать, что ярлыки файлов остаются работоспособными, даже если цель перемещена или переименована. Уникальный идентификатор целевого объекта хранится в файле ярлыков в NTFS 3.0, а Windows может использовать службу отслеживания распределенных ссылок для отслеживания целей ярлыков, так что файл ярлыка может быть тихо обновлен, если цель перемещается, даже на другой жесткий диск.

Шифрование файловой системы[]

Шифрование файловой системы (EFS) привело к сильному шифрованию на уровне файловой системы для Windows. Это позволяет любой папке или диску на томе NTFS прозрачно шифроваться пользователем. EFS работает вместе со службой EFS, CryptoAPI от Microsoft и библиотекой Runtime для файловой системы EFS (FSRTL). На сегодняшний день его шифрование не было скомпрометировано.

EFS работает путем шифрования файла с объемным симметричным ключом (также называемым файловым ключом шифрования или FEK), который используется, поскольку для шифрования и дешифрования больших объемов данных требуется меньше времени, чем при использовании асимметричного шифрования ключа. Симметричный ключ, используемый для шифрования файла, затем зашифровывается открытым ключом, связанным с пользователем, который зашифровал файл, и эти зашифрованные данные хранятся в заголовке зашифрованного файла. Чтобы расшифровать файл, файловая система использует закрытый ключ пользователя для дешифрования симметричного ключа, хранящегося в заголовке файла. Затем он использует симметричный ключ для дешифрования файла. Поскольку это делается на уровне файловой системы, он прозрачен для пользователя.

Для пользователя, теряющего доступ к своему ключу, в EFS встроена поддержка агентов восстановления, которые могут расшифровывать файлы. Агентом восстановления является пользователь, которому разрешен сертификат восстановления открытого ключа для дешифрования файлов, принадлежащих другим пользователям, с использованием специального закрытого ключа. По умолчанию локальные администраторы являются агентами восстановления, однако их можно настроить с помощью групповой политики.

Базовое и динамическое дисковое хранилище[]

Windows 2000 представила Диспетчер логических дисков и инструмент командной строки diskpart для динамического хранения. Все версии Windows 2000 поддерживают три типа динамических томов диска (вместе с основными дисками): простые тома, длинные тома и чередующиеся тома:

• Простой том, объем с дисковым пространством с одного диска.
• Длинные тома, где до 32 дисков отображаются как единое целое, увеличивая его размер, но не повышая производительность. Когда один диск выходит из строя, массив уничтожается. Некоторые данные могут быть восстановлены. Это соответствует JBOD, а не RAID-1.
• Чередующиеся тома, также известные как RAID-0, сохраняют все свои данные на нескольких дисках в полосах. Это позволяет повысить производительность, поскольку чтение и запись дисков сбалансированы на нескольких дисках. Подобно разросшимся томам, когда один диск в массиве терпит неудачу, весь массив уничтожается (некоторые данные могут быть восстановлены).

В дополнение к этим дисковым томам, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server и Windows 2000 Datacenter Server поддерживают зеркальные тома и чередующиеся тома с четностью:

• Зеркальные тома, также известные как RAID-1, хранят идентичные копии своих данных на двух или более одинаковых дисках (зеркальные). Это позволяет отказоустойчивость; в случае сбоя одного диска другой диск(и) может поддерживать работу сервера до тех пор, пока сервер не будет отключен для замены неисправного диска.
• Чередующиеся тома с четностью, также известные как RAID-5, функционируют подобно чередующимся томам / RAID-0, за исключением того, что «данные четности» записываются на каждый из дисков в дополнение к данным. Это позволяет «перестроить» данные в случае необходимости замены диска в массиве.

Доступность[]

В Windows 2000 Microsoft представила возможности доступности Windows 9x для людей с визуальными и слуховыми нарушениями и другими нарушениями в операционной системе NT. К ним относятся:

• StickyKeys: делает ключи-модификаторы (ALT, CTRL и SHIFT) «липкими»: пользователь может нажать клавишу модификатора, а затем отпустить его перед нажатием комбинации. (Активируется нажатием Shift пять раз быстрее.)
• FilterKeys: группа связанных с клавиатурой функций для людей с проблемами ввода, в том числе:
  • Slow Keys: Игнорируют любое нажатие клавиши, которое не удерживается на определенный период.
  • Bounce Keys: Игнорируют повторяющиеся нажатия клавиш, быстро нажатые.
  • Repeat Keys: Позволяют пользователям замедлять скорость повторения клавиш с помощью функции повтора клавиатуры.
• Toggle Keys: при включении Windows воспроизводит звук при нажатии кнопки CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK или SCROLL LOCK.
• SoundSentry: для работы с слуховыми нарушениями Windows 2000 демонстрирует визуальный эффект при воспроизведении звука через звуковую систему.
• MouseKeys: позволяет пользователям перемещать курсор по экрану с помощью цифровой клавиатуры.
• SerialKeys: позволяет Windows 2000 поддерживать устройства расширения речи.
• Высокая контрастная тема: помочь пользователям с нарушениями зрения.
• Microsoft Magnifier: экранная лупа, которая увеличивает часть экрана, над которой курсор закончился.

Кроме того, Windows 2000 представила следующие новые возможности доступа:

• Экранная клавиатура: отображает виртуальную клавиатуру на экране и позволяет пользователям нажимать клавиши с помощью мыши или джойстика.
• Microsoft Narrator: представленный в Windows 2000, это программа для чтения с экрана, которая использует Speech API 4, который позже будет обновлен до Speech API 5 в Windows XP
• Utility Manager: приложение, предназначенное для запуска, остановки и управления при запуске функций доступности. В конечном итоге это было заменено в Windows Vista с помощью Центра простоты доступа.
• Мастер специальных возможностей: апплет панели управления, который помогает пользователям настраивать свой компьютер для людей с ограниченными возможностями.

Языки и локали[]

Windows 2000 представил многоязычный пользовательский интерфейс (MUI). Помимо английского, Windows 2000 включает поддержку языков арабского, армянского, балтийского, среднеевропейского, кириллического, грузинского, греческого, иврита, индийского, корейского, упрощенного китайского, тайского, традиционного китайского, тюркского, вьетнамского и западноевропейского языков. Он также поддерживает множество разных мест.

Игры[]

В Windows 2000 включена версия 7.0 DirectX API, обычно используемая разработчиками игр в Windows 98. Последняя версия DirectX, поддерживаемая Windows 2000, — это DirectX 9.0c (Shader Model 3.0), поставляемая с Windows XP с пакетом обновления 2 (SP2). Microsoft опубликовала ежеквартальные обновления для DirectX 9.0c через февраль 2010 года, после чего поддержка была отброшена в июне 2010 года SDK. Эти обновления содержат исправления ошибок для основной среды выполнения и некоторые дополнительные библиотеки, такие как D3DX, XAudio 2, XInput и управляемые компоненты DirectX. Поэтому большинство игр, написанных для версий DirectX 9.0c (вплоть до выпуска в феврале 2010 года), могут работать в Windows 2000.

Windows 2000 включала те же игры, что и Windows NT 4.0: FreeCell, Minesweeper, Pinball и Solitaire.

Системные утилиты[]

Windows 2000 представила консоль управления Microsoft (MMC), которая используется для создания, сохранения и открытия административных инструментов. Каждый из них называется консолью, и большинство из них позволяют администратору администрировать другие компьютеры под управлением Windows 2000 с одного централизованного компьютера. Каждая консоль может содержать один или несколько специальных административных инструментов, называемых оснастками. Они могут быть как автономными (с одной функцией), так и расширением (добавление функций к существующей оснастке). Чтобы обеспечить возможность контролировать, какие оснастки можно увидеть на консоли, MMC позволяет создавать консоли в режиме автора или в пользовательском режиме. Авторежим позволяет добавлять оснастки, создавать новые окна, все части дерева консоли, которые будут отображаться, и консоли для сохранения. Пользовательский режим позволяет распределять консоли с установленными ограничениями. Консоли пользовательского режима могут предоставить полный доступ к пользователю для любых изменений или предоставить ограниченный доступ, не позволяя пользователям добавлять оснастки в консоль, хотя они могут просматривать несколько окон в консоли. В качестве альтернативы пользователям может быть предоставлен ограниченный доступ, что не позволяет им добавлять в консоль и не позволяет им просматривать несколько окон в одной консоли.

Основные инструменты, поставляемые с Windows 2000, можно найти в консоли управления компьютером (в разделе «Администрирование» на панели управления). Это средство просмотра событий — средство просмотра событий и эквивалент Windows файла журнала, утилиты системной информации, утилиты резервного копирования, планировщика заданий и консолей управления для просмотра открытых общих папок и сеансов общих папок, настройки и управления приложениями COM+, настройки групповой политики, управлять всеми локальными пользователями и группами пользователей и менеджером устройств. Он содержит оснастки «Управление дисками» и «Съемные носители», дефрагментатор диска, а также консоль диагностики производительности, которая отображает графики производительности системы и настраивает журналы данных и предупреждения. Он также содержит консоль конфигурации службы, которая позволяет пользователям просматривать все установленные службы и останавливать и запускать их, а также настраивать, что эти службы должны делать при запуске компьютера. CHKDSK имеет значительные улучшения в производительности.

Windows 2000 поставляется с двумя утилитами для редактирования реестра Windows, REGEDIT.EXE и REGEDT32.EXE. REGEDIT был напрямую перенесен из Windows 98 и, следовательно, не поддерживает редактирование разрешений реестра. REGEDIT имеет левое древовидное представление реестра Windows, перечисляет все загруженные кусты и представляет три компонента значения (его имя, тип и данные) в виде отдельных столбцов таблицы. REGEDT32 имеет левое дерево, но каждый куст имеет свое собственное окно, поэтому дерево отображает только ключи и представляет значения как список строк. REGEDIT поддерживает щелчок правой кнопкой мыши записей в древовидной структуре для настройки свойств и других параметров. REGEDT32 требует, чтобы все действия выполнялись из верхней панели меню. Windows XP является первой системой для интеграции этих двух программ в единую утилиту, применяя поведение REGEDIT с дополнительными функциями NT. Средство проверки системных файлов (SFC) также поставляется с Windows 2000. Это утилита командной строки, которая сканирует системные файлы и проверяет, были ли они подписаны Microsoft и работает в сочетании с механизмом защиты файлов Windows. Он также может перезаписывать и восстанавливать все файлы в папке Dllcache.

Консоль восстановления[]

Консоль восстановления запускается из-за пределов установленной копии Windows для выполнения задач обслуживания, которые не могут быть запущены из нее и не могут выполняться с другого компьютера или копии Windows 2000. Он обычно используется для восстановления системы из-за проблем, вызвавших сбои при загрузке, что сделает другие инструменты бесполезными, например Safe Mode или Last Known Good Configuration, или chkdsk. Он включает команды типа «fixmbr», которых нет в MS-DOS.

Он имеет простой интерфейс командной строки, используемый для проверки и ремонта жестких дисков, восстановления информации о загрузке (включая NTLDR), замены поврежденных системных файлов свежими копиями с компакт-диска или включения / отключения служб и драйверов для следующей загрузки.

К консоли можно получить доступ одним из двух способов:

1. Загрузка с компакт-диска Windows 2000 и выбор запуска консоли восстановления с самого компакт-диска, а не продолжение установки. Консоль восстановления доступна, пока доступен установочный компакт-диск.
2. Предварительная установка консоли восстановления на жестком диске в качестве опции запуска в Boot.ini через WinNT32.exe с помощью переключателя / cmdcons. В этом случае его можно запустить только в том случае, если NTLDR может загрузиться из системного раздела.

Windows Scripting Host 2.0[]

Windows 2000 представил Windows Script Host 2.0, который включал расширенную объектную модель и поддержку сценариев входа в систему и выхода из системы.

Сетевое оборудование[]

• Начиная с Windows 2000 протокол протокола сообщений сервера (SMB) напрямую взаимодействует с TCP / IP. В Windows NT 4.0 SMB требует, чтобы протокол NetBIOS по протоколу TCP / IP (NBT) работал в сети TCP / IP.
• Windows 2000 представляет клиентскую службу кэширования DNS. Когда получатель ответа DNS Windows получает ответ на запрос, запись ресурса DNS добавляется в кэш. Когда он снова запрашивает одно и то же имя записи ресурса и обнаруживается в кеше, тогда резольвер не запрашивает DNS-сервер. Это ускоряет время запроса DNS и снижает сетевой трафик.

Функции семейства серверов[]

Семейство серверов Windows 2000 состоит из Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Windows 2000 Small Business Server и Windows 2000 Datacenter Server.

Все выпуски Windows 2000 Server имеют следующие службы и функции:

• Поддержка маршрутизации и удаленного доступа (RRAS), облегчающая коммутируемые и VPN-соединения с использованием IPsec, L2TP или L2TP / IPsec, поддержку проверки подлинности RADIUS в службе проверки подлинности Интернета, совместное использование сетевых соединений, трансляции сетевых адресов, одноадресные и многоадресные схемы маршрутизации.
• Функции безопасности удаленного доступа: политики удаленного доступа для настройки, проверки идентификатора вызывающего абонента (IP-адрес для VPN), обратного вызова и блокировки учетной записи удаленного доступа
• Функция автоопределения по местоположению с помощью службы автоматического подключения удаленного доступа
• Расширяемая поддержка протокола аутентификации в IAS (EAP-MD5 и EAP-TLS) позже обновлена до PEAPv0 / EAP-MSCHAPv2 и PEAP-EAP-TLS в Windows 2000 SP4
• DNS-сервер, включая поддержку динамического DNS. Active Directory в значительной степени зависит от DNS.
• Поддержка IPsec и фильтрация TCP / IP
• Поддержка смарт-карт
• Комплект администрирования Microsoft Connection Manager (CMAK) и службы точки подключения
• Поддержка распределенных файловых систем (DFS)
• Поддержка иерархического управления хранением данных, включая удаленное хранилище, службу, которая работает с NTFS, и автоматически передает файлы, которые в течение некоторого времени не используются на менее дорогих носителях данных
• Отказоустойчивые тома, а именно Mirrored и RAID-5
• Групповая политика (часть Active Directory)
• IntelliMirror — набор технологий для тонкого управления клиентами Windows 2000 Professional, который дублирует данные, приложения, файлы и настройки пользователей в централизованном месте в сети. IntelliMirror использует такие технологии, как групповая политика, установщик Windows, профили роуминга, перенаправление папок, автономные файлы (также называемые кешированием на стороне клиента или CSC), служба репликации файлов (FRS), службы удаленной установки (RIS) для решения сценариев управления рабочим столом, таких как управление пользовательскими данными, управление пользовательскими настройками, установку и обслуживание программного обеспечения.
• COM +, Microsoft Transaction Server и распределенный координатор транзакции
• MSMQ 2.0
• TAPI 3.0
• Интегрированная проверка подлинности Windows (в том числе пакеты протокола Kerberos, Secure channel и SPNEGO (Negotiate) для интерфейса поставщика поддержки безопасности (SSPI)).
• Протокол MS-CHAP v2
• Поддержка инфраструктуры открытых ключей (PKI) и Enterprise Certificate Authority
• Службы терминалов и поддержка протокола удаленного рабочего стола (RDP)
• Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 и Windows Media Services 4.1
• Функции качества сети
• Новая служба времени Windows, которая представляет собой реализацию протокола SNTP, подробно описанного в IETF RFC 1769. Служба времени Windows синхронизирует дату и время компьютеров в домене, работающем на Windows 2000 Server или более поздней. Windows 2000 Professional включает в себя SNTP-клиент.

Серверные выпуски включают в себя больше функций и компонентов, включая Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS), поддержку Active Directory и отказоустойчивое хранилище.

Распределенная файловая система[]

Распределенная файловая система (DFS) позволяет группировать в разных местах логические группы в одной папке или в корне DFS. Когда пользователи пытаются получить доступ к сетевому ресурсу от корня DFS, пользователь действительно ищет ссылку DFS, и сервер DFS прозрачно перенаправляет их на правильный файловый сервер и делится ими. Корень DFS может существовать только в версии Windows 2000, которая является частью семейства серверов, и на этом сервере может существовать только один корень DFS.

Существует два способа реализации пространства имен DFS в Windows 2000: либо через автономный корень DFS, либо с корнем DFS на основе домена. Автономная DFS позволяет использовать только корни DFS на локальном компьютере и, таким образом, не использует Active Directory. Корни DFS на основе домена существуют в Active Directory и могут передавать их информацию другим контроллерам домена в домене — это обеспечивает отказоустойчивость к DFS. Корни DFS, существующие в домене, должны размещаться на контроллере домена или на сервере-члене домена. Файлы и корневая информация реплицируются через службу репликации файлов Microsoft (FRS).

Active Directory[]

Новый способ организации сетевых доменов Windows или групп ресурсов, называемых Active Directory, представлен в Windows 2000 для замены более ранней модели домена Windows NT. Иерархический характер Active Directory позволил администраторам встроенный способ управления политиками пользователей и компьютеров и учетными записями пользователей, а также автоматически развертывать программы и обновления с большей степенью масштабируемости и централизации, чем в предыдущих версиях Windows. Пользовательская информация, хранящаяся в Active Directory, также предоставляет пользователям удобную функцию телефонной книги. Домены Active Directory могут варьироваться от небольших установок с несколькими сотнями объектов до больших установок с миллионами. Active Directory может организовывать и связывать группы доменов со смежным пространством имен доменов для формирования деревьев. Группы деревьев за пределами одного и того же пространства имен могут быть связаны между собой для образования лесов.

Службы Active Directory всегда могут быть установлены на компьютере под управлением Windows 2000 Server, Advanced Server или Datacenter Server и не могут быть установлены на компьютере под управлением Windows 2000 Professional. Однако Windows 2000 Professional является первой клиентской операционной системой, способной использовать новые функции Active Directory. В рамках миграции организации клиенты Windows NT продолжали функционировать до тех пор, пока все клиенты не будут обновлены до Windows 2000 Professional, после чего домен Active Directory может быть переключен в собственный режим и максимальная достигнутая функциональность.

Для поддержки Active Directory необходим DNS-сервер, который поддерживает записи ресурсов SRV, или что существующая DNS-инфраструктура организации должна быть обновлена для поддержки этого. Для хранения базы данных Active Directory должен быть один или несколько контроллеров домена и предоставлять службы каталогов Active Directory.

Отклонение тома[]

Наряду с поддержкой простых, натянутых и чередующихся томов, семейство серверов Windows 2000 также поддерживает отказоустойчивые типы томов. Поддерживаемые типы — это зеркальные тома и тома RAID-5:

• Зеркальные тома: том содержит несколько дисков, а когда данные записываются на один, он также записывается на другие диски. Это означает, что если один диск выходит из строя, данные могут быть полностью восстановлены с другого диска. Зеркальные тома также называются RAID-1.
• Тома RAID-5: том RAID-5 состоит из нескольких дисков, и он использует разбиение на уровне блоков с данными четности, распределенными по всем элементам-дискам. Если диск выходит из строя в массиве, блоки четности от оставшихся дисков объединяются математически с блоками данных из оставшихся дисков для восстановления данных на неисправном диске «на лету».

Размещение[]

Системные требования Windows 2000[]

	Минимальные	Рекомендуемые
Компьютеры IA-32
Процессор	Pentium 133 MHz	Pentium II 300 MHz
Память	32 МБ (128 МБ для сервера)	128 МБ
Жесткий диск	1 ГБ (2 ГБ для сервера)	5 ГБ
Графическое оборудование	800 × 600 VGA или лучше монитор	1024 × 768 VGA или лучше монитор
Устройство(а) ввода	Клавиатура или мышь	Клавиатура или мышь

Windows 2000 можно развернуть на сайт с помощью различных методов. Он может быть установлен на серверы через традиционные носители (например, CD) или через папки распространения, которые находятся в общей папке. Установки могут быть посещены или без присмотра. Во время ручной установки администратор должен указать параметры конфигурации. Автоматические установки выполняются сценарием через файл ответов или предопределенный сценарий в виде INI-файла, который имеет все параметры, заполненные. Файл ответов можно создать вручную или с помощью графического менеджера установки. Затем программа Winnt.exe или Winnt32.exe использует этот файл ответов для автоматизации установки. Автоматическую установку можно выполнить с помощью загрузочного компакт-диска с помощью Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) через средство подготовки системы (Sysprep) с помощью программы Winnt32.exe с помощью переключателя / syspart или через службы удаленной установки (RIS). Возможность запуска пакета обновления в исходные файлы установки операционной системы также представлена в Windows 2000.

Метод Sysprep запускается на стандартном эталонном компьютере, хотя аппаратное обеспечение не должно быть похоже — и копирует необходимые установочные файлы с эталонного компьютера на целевые компьютеры. Жесткий диск не обязательно должен находиться на целевом компьютере и может быть заменен на него в любое время, при этом аппаратное обеспечение настроено позже. Программе Winnt.exe также должен быть передан переключатель / unattend, который указывает на действительный файл ответов и файл / s, который указывает на один или несколько допустимых источников установки.

Sysprep позволяет дублировать образ диска на существующую установку Windows 2000 Server на несколько серверов. Это означает, что все приложения и настройки конфигурации системы будут скопированы на новые установки, и поэтому целевые и целевые компьютеры должны иметь одинаковые HAL, поддержку ACPI и массовые устройства хранения данных, хотя Windows 2000 автоматически обнаруживает устройства технологии Plug-and-Play. Основной причиной использования Sysprep является быстрое развертывание Windows 2000 на сайт с несколькими компьютерами со стандартным оборудованием. (Если в системе были разные HAL, запоминающие устройства с большой памятью или поддержка ACPI, тогда необходимо поддерживать несколько изображений.)

Сервер Systems Management Server может использоваться для обновления нескольких компьютеров до Windows 2000. Они должны работать под управлением Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98 или Windows 95 OSR2.x вместе с агентом клиента SMS, который может получать операции установки программного обеспечения. Использование SMS позволяет устанавливать объекты на широкой территории и обеспечивает централизованный контроль над обновлениями до систем.

Службы удаленной установки (RIS) — это средство автоматической установки Windows 2000 Professional (а не Windows 2000 Server) на локальный компьютер через сеть с центрального сервера. Изображения не должны поддерживать определенные конфигурации оборудования, а параметры безопасности можно настроить после перезагрузки компьютера, так как служба генерирует новый уникальный идентификатор безопасности (SID) для машины. Это необходимо для того, чтобы локальным учетным записям был предоставлен правильный идентификатор и они не конфликтуют с другими компьютерами Windows 2000 Professional в сети. RIS требует, чтобы клиентские компьютеры могли загружаться через сеть с помощью карты сетевого интерфейса с установленным загрузочным ПЗУ предварительной загрузки (PXE) или на клиентском компьютере установлена сетевая карта, поддерживаемая удаленным загрузочным диском генератор. Удаленный компьютер должен также соответствовать спецификации Net PC. Сервер, на котором выполняется RIS, должен быть Windows 2000 Server и должен иметь доступ к сетевой службе DNS, службе DHCP и службам Active Directory.

Издания[]

Microsoft выпустила различные версии Windows 2000 для разных рынков и бизнес-потребностей: Professional, Server, Advanced Server и Datacenter Server. Каждый из них был упакован отдельно.

Windows 2000 Professional была разработана как настольная операционная система для предприятий и опытных пользователей. Это клиентская версия Windows 2000. Она обеспечивает большую безопасность и стабильность, чем многие предыдущие настольные операционные системы Windows. Он поддерживает до двух процессоров и может поддерживать до 4 ГБ оперативной памяти. Системные требования — это процессор Pentium (или эквивалент), равный 133 МГц или выше, не менее 32 МБ ОЗУ, 650 МБ пространства на жестком диске и привод CD-ROM (рекомендуется: Pentium II, 128 МБ ОЗУ, 2 ГБ пространства на жестком диске и CD-ROM).

Windows 2000 Server использует один и тот же пользовательский интерфейс с Windows 2000 Professional, но содержит дополнительные компоненты для компьютера для выполнения ролей сервера и запуска инфраструктуры и прикладного программного обеспечения. Важным новым компонентом, представленным в версиях сервера, является Active Directory, которая является общедоступной службой каталогов на основе LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). Кроме того, встроенная сетевая аутентификация Kerberos Microsoft заменила часто критичную систему проверки подлинности NTLM (NT LAN Manager), используемую в предыдущих версиях. Это также обеспечило чисто транзитивно-доверительное отношение между доменами Windows 2000 в лесу (коллекция из одного или нескольких доменов Windows 2000, которые имеют общую схему, конфигурацию и глобальный каталог, связанные с двусторонними транзитивными трастами). Кроме того, в Windows 2000 появился сервер доменных имен, который позволяет динамически регистрировать IP-адреса. Windows 2000 Server поддерживает до 4 процессоров и 4 ГБ оперативной памяти с минимальным требованием 128 МБ ОЗУ и 1 ГБ дискового пространства, однако требования могут быть выше в зависимости от установленных компонентов.

Windows 2000 Advanced Server — это вариант операционной системы Windows 2000 Server, разработанный для средних и крупных предприятий. Он предлагает кластерную инфраструктуру для обеспечения высокой доступности и масштабируемости приложений и сервисов, включая поддержку до 8 процессоров, объем основной памяти до 8 гигабайт (ГБ) в системах расширения физических адресов (PAE) и возможность выполнять 8-way SMP. Он поддерживает балансировку нагрузки TCP / IP и расширенные кластеры с двумя узлами на основе Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) в Windows NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition. Системные требования аналогичны требованиям Windows 2000 Server, однако, возможно, они должны быть более масштабными для более крупной инфраструктуры.

Windows 2000 Datacenter Server — это вариант Windows 2000 Server, предназначенный для крупных предприятий, которые часто перемещают большое количество конфиденциальных или конфиденциальных данных через центральный сервер. Как и Advanced Server, он поддерживает кластеризацию, переход на другой ресурс и балансировку нагрузки. Его минимальные системные требования являются нормальными, но он был разработан для обеспечения передового, отказоустойчивого и масштабируемого оборудования — например, компьютеров с 32 процессорами и 32 ГБ оперативной памяти, с строгим тестированием и квалификацией системы, разделением оборудования, скоординированным обслуживанием и контроль изменений. Системные требования аналогичны требованиям Windows 2000 Advanced Server, однако, возможно, они должны быть более масштабируемыми для более крупной инфраструктуры. Windows 2000 Datacenter Server был выпущен для производства 11 августа 2000 года и запущен 26 сентября 2000 года. Это издание было основано на Windows 2000 с пакетом обновления 1 (SP1) и недоступно в розничной торговле.

Пакеты обновления[]

Windows 2000 получила четыре полных пакета обновления и один пакет обновления для обновления после SP4, который является последним пакетом обновления. Это были: SP1 15 августа 2000 года, SP2 16 мая 2001 года, SP3 29 августа 2002 года и SP4 26 июня 2003 года. Microsoft прекратила все разработки своей виртуальной машины Java (JVM) из Windows 2000 в SP3. Internet Explorer 5.01 также был обновлен до соответствующего уровня пакета обновления.

Первоначально Microsoft планировала выпустить пятый пакет обновления для Windows 2000, но Microsoft отменила этот проект на ранней стадии разработки и вместо этого выпустила накопительный пакет обновления 1 для SP4, набор всех связанных с безопасностью исправлений и некоторые другие важные проблемы. Накопительный пакет обновления не включает все исправления, не связанные с безопасностью, и не подвергается такому же обширному регрессионному тестированию, что и полный пакет обновления. Microsoft заявляет, что это обновление удовлетворит потребности клиентов лучше, чем целый новый пакет обновления, и все равно поможет клиентам Windows 2000 обеспечить безопасность своих ПК, снизить затраты на поддержку и поддерживать существующее компьютерное оборудование.

Безопасность[]

На протяжении периода Windows 2000 характер атак на серверы Windows изменился: больше атак поступало из удаленных источников через Интернет. Это привело к подавляющему числу вредоносных программ, использующих сервисы IIS, в частности, к печально известной тенденции переполнения буфера. Эта тенденция не зависит от операционной системы, а скорее зависит от конфигурации: она зависит от служб, которые включены. После этого общая жалоба заключается в том, что «по умолчанию установки Windows 2000 содержат множество потенциальных проблем безопасности. Многие ненужные службы установлены и включены, и нет активной политики локальной безопасности». В дополнение к небезопасным дефолтам, по данным Института SANS, наиболее распространенными недостатками являются уязвимости переполнения буфера с удаленным использованием. Другие критические недостатки включают использование уязвимых методов шифрования.

Code Red и Code Red II были известными (и много обсуждали) червями, которые использовали уязвимости службы индексирования Windows для служб IIS Windows 2000. В августе 2003 года исследователи безопасности подсчитали, что два основных червя, называемых Sobig и Blaster, заразили более полумиллиона компьютеров Microsoft Windows. Червь Zotob 2005 года был обвинен в компрометации безопасности на машинах Windows 2000 в ABC, CNN, New York Times Company и Департаменте национальной безопасности Соединенных Штатов.

8 сентября 2009 года Microsoft пропустила исправление двух из пяти недостатков безопасности, которые были рассмотрены в ежемесячном обновлении для системы безопасности, заявив, что исправление одного из критических недостатков безопасности было «неосуществимым». Согласно бюллетеню Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-048: «Архитектура для надлежащей поддержки защиты TCP / IP не существует в системах Microsoft Windows 2000, что делает невозможным создание исправления для Microsoft Windows 2000 с пакетом обновления 4 для устранения этой уязвимости. Для этого потребуется повторная архивирование очень значительного количества операционной системы Microsoft Windows 2000 с пакетом обновления 4, […] не было бы уверенности, что приложения, предназначенные для работы в Microsoft Windows 2000 с пакетом обновления 4, будут продолжать работать обновленная система ». Однако исправлений для этого недостатка не было выпущено для более новых версий Windows XP (32-разрядная версия) и Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, несмотря на то, что оба они были затронуты; Microsoft предложила включить брандмауэр Windows в этих версиях.

Жизненный цикл поддержки[]

Windows 2000 была заменена новыми операционными системами Microsoft: продуктами Windows 2000 Server от Windows Server 2003 и Windows 2000 Professional от Windows XP Professional.

Семейство операционных систем Windows 2000 перешло от основной поддержки к расширенной фазе поддержки 30 июня 2005 года. Microsoft заявляет, что это означает прогрессирование Windows 2000 с помощью политики жизненного цикла Windows. В рамках основной поддержки Microsoft свободно предоставляет изменения в дизайне, если таковые имеются, пакеты обновления и обновления, не связанные с безопасностью, в дополнение к обновлениям безопасности, тогда как при расширенной поддержке пакеты обновления не предоставляются, а обновления, не связанные с безопасностью, требуют обращения к персоналу службы поддержки по электронной почте или телефон. В рамках расширенной фазы поддержки Microsoft продолжала предоставлять критические обновления безопасности каждый месяц для всех компонентов Windows 2000 (включая Internet Explorer 5.0 SP4) и для поддержки технических проблем, связанных с инцидентом. Из-за возраста Windows 2000 обновленные версии таких компонентов, как Windows Media Player 11 и Internet Explorer 7, не были выпущены для него. В случае с Internet Explorer Microsoft заявила в 2005 году, что «некоторые из работ по обеспечению безопасности в IE 7 зависят от функциональности операционной системы в XP SP2, которая нетривиальна для переноса обратно в Windows 2000».

Хотя пользователи Windows 2000 Professional и Server имеют право приобрести лицензию на обновление для Windows Vista Business или Windows Server 2008, ни одна из этих операционных систем не может непосредственно выполнить установку обновления из Windows 2000; вместо этого следует выполнить чистую установку или двухэтапное обновление через XP / 2003. Microsoft удалила путь обновления с Windows 2000 (и ранее) до Windows 7. Пользователи Windows 2000 должны приобрести полную лицензию Windows 7.

Хотя Windows 2000 является последней версией Microsoft Windows на базе NT, которая не включает активацию продукта, Microsoft представила Windows Genuine Advantage для определенных загрузок и некритических обновлений из Центра загрузки для Windows 2000.

Windows 2000 завершила свой жизненный цикл 13 июля 2010 года. После этой даты он не получит новые обновления для системы безопасности и новые исправления, связанные с безопасностью. В Японии было затронуто более 130 000 серверов и 500 000 ПК в местных органах власти; многие местные органы власти заявили, что они не будут обновляться, поскольку у них нет средств для замены.

Начиная с 2011 года Windows Update по-прежнему поддерживает обновления Windows 2000, доступные в патче вторник в июле 2010 года, например, если более поздние дополнительные функции Windows 2000 включены позже. Продукты Microsoft Office под Windows 2000 имеют собственные жизненные циклы продуктов. В то время как Internet Explorer 6 для Windows XP получал исправления безопасности до тех пор, пока не потерял поддержку, это не относится к IE6 под Windows 2000. Средство удаления вредоносных программ Windows, установленное ежемесячно с помощью Центра обновления Windows для XP и более поздних версий, может быть загружено вручную для Windows 2000.

Общая стоимость владения[]

В октябре 2002 года Microsoft поручила IDC определить общую стоимость владения (TCO) для корпоративных приложений в Windows 2000 по сравнению с совокупной стоимостью владения одними и теми же приложениями в Linux. Отчет IDC основан на телефонных интервью ИТ-менеджеров и менеджеров из 104 североамериканских компаний, в которых они определили, что они используют для конкретной рабочей нагрузки для файлов, печати, безопасности и сетевых услуг. IDC определила, что четыре области, в которых Windows 2000 имела лучшую совокупную стоимость владения, чем Linux, — в течение пяти лет для средней организации из 100 сотрудников — были файловой, печатной, сетевой инфраструктурой и инфраструктурой безопасности. Однако они определили, что Linux имеет лучшую TCO, чем Windows 2000 для веб-сервисов. В докладе также было обнаружено, что наибольшая стоимость заключается не в закупках программного и аппаратного обеспечения, а в расходах на персонал и простоев. Хотя в отчете был применен 40% фактор производительности во время простоя ИТ-инфраструктуры, признав, что сотрудники не совсем непродуктивны, он не учитывал влияние простоев на прибыльность бизнеса. В докладе говорилось, что серверы Linux имеют меньше незапланированных простоев, чем серверы Windows 2000. Он обнаружил, что на большинстве серверов Linux меньше рабочей нагрузки на сервер, чем на серверах Windows 2000, а также на то, что ни один из опрошенных компаний не использовал 4-сторонние компьютеры SMP Linux. В отчете также не учитывались конкретные серверы приложений — серверы, которые нуждаются в низком обслуживании и предоставляются конкретным поставщиком. В отчете подчеркивалось, что ТШО является лишь одним из факторов, рассматривающих вопрос о том, использовать ли конкретную ИТ-платформу, а также отметил, что по мере совершенствования программного обеспечения и программного обеспечения для управления и улучшения качества общая картина может измениться.

«Windows NT 5.0» redirects here. For the code name of this operating system, see List of Microsoft codenames.

Windows 2000

Version of the Windows NT operating system
Screenshot of Windows 2000 Professional with SP4, showing the Start menu and the Getting Started with Windows window.
Developer	Microsoft
OS family	Microsoft Windows
Working state	No longer supported
Source model	Closed-source Source-available (through Shared Source Initiative)[1]
Released to manufacturing	December 15, 1999; 23 years ago[2]
General availability	February 17, 2000; 23 years ago[3]
Final release	Service Pack 4 with Update Rollup (5.0.2195) / September 13, 2005; 18 years ago[4]
Marketing target	Business and Server
Update method	Windows Update
Platforms	IA-32 (including PC-98) (Alpha in alpha, beta, and release candidate versions)
Kernel type	Hybrid (Windows NT kernel)
Userland	Windows API, NTVDM, OS/2 1.x, SFU
Default user interface	Windows shell (Graphical)
License	Proprietary commercial software
Preceded by	Windows NT 4.0 (1996)
Succeeded by	Windows XP (2001, client) Windows Server 2003 (2003, servers)
Official website	microsoft.com/windows2000/ at the Wayback Machine (archived December 3, 2000)
Support status
Mainstream support ended on June 30, 2005 Extended support ended on July 13, 2010[5]

Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and designed for businesses. It was the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was released to manufacturing on December 15, 1999,^[2] and was officially released to retail on February 17, 2000 and September 26, 2000 for Windows 2000 Datacenter Server. It was Microsoft’s business operating system until the introduction of Windows XP Professional in 2001.

Windows 2000 introduced NTFS 3.0,^[6] Encrypting File System,^[7] as well as basic and dynamic disk storage.^[8] Support for people with disabilities was improved over Windows NT 4.0 with a number of new assistive technologies,^[9] and Microsoft increased support for different languages^[10] and locale information.^[11] The Windows 2000 Server family has additional features, most notably the introduction of Active Directory,^[12] which in the years following became a widely used directory service in business environments.

Four editions of Windows 2000 were released: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server;^[13] the latter was both released to manufacturing and launched months after the other editions.^[14] While each edition of Windows 2000 was targeted at a different market, they shared a core set of features, including many system utilities such as the Microsoft Management Console and standard system administration applications.

Microsoft marketed Windows 2000 as the most secure Windows version ever at the time;^[15] however, it became the target of a number of high-profile virus attacks such as Code Red^[16] and Nimda.^[17] For ten years after its release, it continued to receive patches for security vulnerabilities nearly every month until reaching the end of support on July 13, 2010, the same day that support ended for Windows XP SP2.^[5]

Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Server were succeeded by Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, released in 2001 and 2003, respectively.

Windows 2000 is the final version of Windows NT that supports PC-98, i486 and SGI Visual Workstation 320 and 540, as well as Alpha^{[citation needed]} in alpha, beta, and release candidate versions. Its successor, Windows XP, only supports x86, x64 and Itanium processors.

History[edit]

This section is missing information about features (other than the boot screen and sounds) introduced during the development. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (May 2021)

Windows 2000, originally named NT 5.0, is a continuation of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems, replacing Windows NT 4.0. Chairman and CEO Bill Gates was originally «pretty confident» NT 5.0 would ship in the first half of 1998,^[18] revealing that the first set of beta builds had been shipped in early 1997; these builds were identical to Windows NT 4.0. The first official beta was released in September 1997, followed by Beta 2 in August 1998.^[19][20] On October 27, 1998, Microsoft announced that the name of the final version of the operating system would be Windows 2000, a name which referred to its projected release date.^[21] Windows 2000 Beta 3 was released in May 1999.^[19] NT 5.0 Beta 1 was similar to NT 4.0, including a very similarly themed logo. NT 5.0 Beta 2 introduced a new ‘mini’ boot screen, and removed the ‘dark space’ theme in the logo. The NT 5.0 betas had very long startup and shutdown sounds, though these were changed in the early Windows 2000 beta, but during Beta 3, a new piano-made startup and shutdown sounds were made, composed by Steven Ray Allen.^[22] It was featured in the final version as well as in Windows Me. The new login prompt from the final version made its first appearance in Beta 3 build 1946 (the first build of Beta 3). The new, updated icons (for My Computer, Recycle Bin etc.) first appeared in Beta 3 build 1964. The Windows 2000 boot screen in the final version first appeared in Beta 3 build 1983. Windows 2000 did not have an actual codename because, according to Dave Thompson of Windows NT team, «Jim Allchin didn’t like codenames».^[23]

Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 was codenamed «Asteroid»^[24] and Windows 2000 64-bit was codenamed «Janus.»^[25][26] During development, there was a build for the Alpha which was abandoned in the final stages of development (between RC1 and RC2^[27]) after Compaq announced they had dropped support for Windows NT on Alpha. From here, Microsoft issued three release candidates between July and November 1999, and finally released the operating system to partners on December 12, 1999, followed by manufacturing three days later on December 15.^[28] The public could buy the full version of Windows 2000 on February 17, 2000. Three days before this event, which Microsoft advertised as «a standard in reliability,» a leaked memo from Microsoft reported on by Mary Jo Foley revealed that Windows 2000 had «over 63,000 potential known defects.»^[29] After Foley’s article was published, she claimed that Microsoft blacklisted her for a considerable time.^[30] However, Abraham Silberschatz et al. claim in their computer science textbook that «Windows 2000 was the most reliable, stable operating system Microsoft had ever shipped to that point. Much of this reliability came from maturity in the source code, extensive stress testing of the system, and automatic detection of many serious errors in drivers.»^[31] InformationWeek summarized the release «our tests show the successor to NT 4.0 is everything we hoped it would be. Of course, it isn’t perfect either.»^[32] Wired News later described the results of the February launch as «lackluster.»^[33] Novell criticized Microsoft’s Active Directory, the new directory service architecture, as less scalable or reliable than its own Novell Directory Services (NDS) alternative.^[34]

Windows 2000 is the last public release of Windows for PC-98, I486 and SGI Visual Workstation 320 and 540 as Windows XP runs solely on IA-32 only. Windows 2000 was initially planned to replace both Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0. However, this would be changed later, as an updated version of Windows 98 called Windows 98 Second Edition was released in 1999.

On or shortly before February 12, 2004, «portions of the Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 source code were illegally made available on the Internet.»^[35] The source of the leak was later traced to Mainsoft, a Windows Interface Source Environment partner.^[36] Microsoft issued the following statement:

«Microsoft source code is both copyrighted and protected as a trade secret. As such, it is illegal to post it, make it available to others, download it or use it.»

Despite the warnings, the archive containing the leaked code spread widely on the file-sharing networks. On February 16, 2004, an exploit «allegedly discovered by an individual studying the leaked source code»^[35] for certain versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer was reported. On April 15, 2015, GitHub took down a repository containing a copy of the Windows NT 4.0 source code that originated from the leak.^[37]

Microsoft planned to release a 64-bit version of Windows 2000, which would run on 64-bit Intel Itanium microprocessors, in 2000.^[38][39] However, the first officially released 64-bit version of Windows was Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, released alongside the 32-bit editions of Windows XP on October 25, 2001,^[40] followed by the server versions Windows Datacenter Server Limited Edition and later Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition, which were based on the pre-release Windows Server 2003 (then known as Windows .NET Server) codebase.^[41][42] These editions were released in 2002, were shortly available through the OEM channel and then were superseded by the final versions of Server 2003.^[42]

New and updated features[edit]

Windows 2000 introduced many of the new features of Windows 98 and 98 SE into the NT line,^[43] such as the Windows Desktop Update,^[43] Internet Explorer 5 (Internet Explorer 6, which followed in 2001, is also available for Windows 2000),^[43] Outlook Express, NetMeeting, FAT32 support,^[44] Windows Driver Model,^[45] Internet Connection Sharing,^[43] Windows Media Player, WebDAV support^[46] etc. Certain new features are common across all editions of Windows 2000, among them NTFS 3.0,^[6] the Microsoft Management Console (MMC),^[47] UDF support, the Encrypting File System (EFS),^[48] Logical Disk Manager,^[49] Image Color Management 2.0,^[50] support for PostScript 3-based printers,^[50] OpenType (.OTF) and Type 1 PostScript (.PFB) font support^[50] (including a new font—Palatino Linotype—to showcase some OpenType features^[51]), the Data protection API (DPAPI),^[52] an LDAP/Active Directory-enabled Address Book,^[53] usability enhancements and multi-language and locale support. Windows 2000 also introduced USB device class drivers for USB printers, Mass storage class devices,^[54] and improved FireWire SBP-2 support for printers and scanners, along with a Safe removal applet for removable storage devices.^[55] Windows 2000 SP4 added native USB 2.0 support. Windows 2000 is also the first Windows version to support hibernation at the operating system level (OS-controlled ACPI S4 sleep state) unlike Windows 98 which required special drivers from the hardware manufacturer or driver developer.^[56]

A new capability designed to protect critical system files called Windows File Protection was introduced. This protects critical Windows system files by preventing programs other than Microsoft’s operating system update mechanisms such as the Package Installer, Windows Installer and other update components from modifying them.^[57] The System File Checker utility provides users the ability to perform a manual scan of the integrity of all protected system files, and optionally repair them, either by restoring from a cache stored in a separate «DLLCACHE» directory, or from the original install media.

Microsoft recognized that a serious error (a Blue Screen of Death or stop error) could cause problems for servers that needed to be constantly running and so provided a system setting that would allow the server to automatically reboot when a stop error occurred.^[58] Also included is an option to dump any of the first 64 KB of memory to disk (the smallest amount of memory that is useful for debugging purposes, also known as a minidump), a dump of only the kernel’s memory, or a dump of the entire contents of memory to disk, as well as write that this event happened to the Windows 2000 event log.^[58] In order to improve performance on servers running Windows 2000, Microsoft gave administrators the choice of optimizing the operating system’s memory and processor usage patterns for background services or for applications.^[59] Windows 2000 also introduced core system administration and management features, such as the Windows Installer,^[60] Windows Management Instrumentation^[61] and Event Tracing for Windows (ETW)^[62] into the operating system.

Plug and Play and hardware support improvements[edit]

The most notable improvement from Windows NT 4.0 is the addition of Plug and Play with full ACPI and Windows Driver Model support. Similar to Windows 9x, Windows 2000 supports automatic recognition of installed hardware, hardware resource allocation, loading of appropriate drivers, PnP APIs and device notification events. The addition of the kernel PnP Manager along with the Power Manager are two significant subsystems added in Windows 2000.

Windows 2000 introduced version 3 print drivers (user mode printer drivers)^[63] based on Unidrv, which made it easier for printer manufacturers to write device drivers for printers.^[64] Generic support for 5-button mice is also included as standard^[65] and installing IntelliPoint allows reassigning the programmable buttons. Windows 98 lacked generic support.^[66] Driver Verifier was introduced to stress test and catch device driver bugs.^[67]

Shell[edit]

Windows 2000 introduces layered windows that allow for transparency, translucency and various transition effects like shadows, gradient fills and alpha-blended GUI elements to top-level windows.^[68] Menus support a new Fade transition effect.

The Start menu in Windows 2000 introduces personalized menus, expandable special folders and the ability to launch multiple programs without closing the menu by holding down the SHIFT key. A Re-sort button forces the entire Start Menu to be sorted by name. The Taskbar introduces support for balloon notifications which can also be used by application developers. Windows 2000 Explorer introduces customizable Windows Explorer toolbars, auto-complete in Windows Explorer address bar and Run box, advanced file type association features, displaying comments in shortcuts as tooltips, extensible columns in Details view (IColumnProvider interface), icon overlays, integrated search pane in Windows Explorer, sort by name function for menus, and Places bar in common dialogs for Open and Save.

Windows Explorer has been enhanced in several ways in Windows 2000. It is the first Windows NT release to include Active Desktop, first introduced as a part of Internet Explorer 4.0 (specifically Windows Desktop Update), and only pre-installed in Windows 98 by that time.^[69] It allowed users to customize the way folders look and behave by using HTML templates, having the file extension HTT. This feature was abused by computer viruses that employed malicious scripts, Java applets, or ActiveX controls in folder template files as their infection vector. Two such viruses are VBS/Roor-C^[70] and VBS.Redlof.a.^[71]

The «Web-style» folders view, with the left Explorer pane displaying details for the object currently selected, is turned on by default in Windows 2000. For certain file types, such as pictures and media files, the preview is also displayed in the left pane.^[72] Until the dedicated interactive preview pane appeared in Windows Vista, Windows 2000 had been the only Windows release to feature an interactive media player as the previewer for sound and video files, enabled by default. However, such a previewer can be enabled in previous versions of Windows with the Windows Desktop Update installed through the use of folder customization templates.^[73] The default file tooltip displays file title, author, subject and comments;^[74] this metadata may be read from a special NTFS stream, if the file is on an NTFS volume, or from an OLE structured storage stream, if the file is a structured storage document. All Microsoft Office documents since Office 4.0^[75] make use of structured storage, so their metadata is displayable in the Windows 2000 Explorer default tooltip. File shortcuts can also store comments which are displayed as a tooltip when the mouse hovers over the shortcut. The shell introduces extensibility support through metadata handlers, icon overlay handlers and column handlers in Explorer Details view.^[76]

The right pane of Windows 2000 Explorer, which usually just lists files and folders, can also be customized. For example, the contents of the system folders aren’t displayed by default, instead showing in the right pane a warning to the user that modifying the contents of the system folders could harm their computer. It’s possible to define additional Explorer panes by using DIV elements in folder template files.^[69] This degree of customizability is new to Windows 2000; neither Windows 98 nor the Desktop Update could provide it.^[77] The new DHTML-based search pane is integrated into Windows 2000 Explorer, unlike the separate search dialog found in all previous Explorer versions. The Indexing Service has also been integrated into the operating system and the search pane built into Explorer allows searching files indexed by its database.^[78]

NTFS 3.0[edit]

Main article: NTFS

Microsoft released the version 3.0 of NTFS^[6] (sometimes incorrectly called «NTFS 5» in relation to the kernel version number) 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.^[79] Reparse points allow the object manager to reset a file namespace lookup and let file system drivers implement changed functionality in a transparent manner.^[80] Reparse points are used to implement volume mount points, junctions, Hierarchical Storage Management, Native Structured Storage and Single Instance Storage.^[80] Volume mount points and directory junctions allow for a file to be transparently referred from one file or directory location to another.

Windows 2000 also introduces a Distributed Link Tracking service to ensure file shortcuts remain working even if the target is moved or renamed. The target object’s unique identifier is stored in the shortcut file on NTFS 3.0 and Windows can use the Distributed Link Tracking service for tracking the targets of shortcuts, so that the shortcut file may be silently updated if the target moves, even to another hard drive.^[81]

Encrypting File System[edit]

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.^[48] EFS works together with the EFS service, Microsoft’s CryptoAPI and the EFS File System Runtime Library (FSRTL).^[82] To date, its encryption has not been compromised.^{[citation needed]}

EFS works by encrypting a file with a bulk symmetric key (also known as the File Encryption Key, or FEK), which is used because it takes less time to encrypt and decrypt large amounts of data than if an asymmetric key cipher were used.^[82] The symmetric key used to encrypt the file is then encrypted with a public key associated with the user who encrypted the file, and this encrypted data is stored in the header of the encrypted file. To decrypt the file, the file system uses the private key of the user to decrypt the symmetric key stored in the file header. It then uses the symmetric key to decrypt the file. Because this is done at the file system level, it is transparent to the user.^[83]

For a user losing access to their key, support for recovery agents that can decrypt files is built into EFS. A Recovery Agent is a user who is authorized by a public key recovery certificate to decrypt files belonging to other users using a special private key. By default, local administrators are recovery agents however they can be customized using Group Policy.

Basic and dynamic disk storage[edit]

Windows 2000 introduced the Logical Disk Manager and the diskpart command line tool for dynamic storage.^[8] All versions of Windows 2000 support three types of dynamic disk volumes (along with basic disks): simple volumes, spanned volumes and striped volumes:

• Simple volume, a volume with disk space from one disk.
• Spanned volumes, where up to 32 disks show up as one, increasing it in size but not enhancing performance. When one disk fails, the array is destroyed. Some data may be recoverable. This corresponds to SPAN and not to RAID-1.
• Striped volumes, also known as RAID-0, store all their data across several disks in stripes. This allows better performance because disk reads and writes are balanced across multiple disks. Like spanned volumes, when one disk in the array fails, the entire array is destroyed (some data may be recoverable).

In addition to these disk volumes, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server support mirrored volumes and striped volumes with parity:

• Mirrored volumes, also known as RAID-1, store identical copies of their data on 2 or more identical disks (mirrored). This allows for fault tolerance; in the event one disk fails, the other disk(s) can keep the server operational until the server can be shut down for replacement of the failed disk.
• Striped volumes with parity, also known as RAID-5, functions similar to striped volumes/RAID-0, except «parity data» is written out across each of the disks in addition to the data. This allows the data to be «rebuilt» in the event a disk in the array needs replacement.

Accessibility[edit]

With Windows 2000, Microsoft introduced the Windows 9x accessibility features for people with visual and auditory impairments and other disabilities into the NT-line of operating systems.^[9] These included:

• StickyKeys: makes modifier keys (ALT, CTRL and SHIFT) become «sticky»: a user can press the modifier key, and then release it before pressing the combination key. (Activated by pressing Shift five times quickly.)
• FilterKeys: a group of keyboard-related features for people with typing issues, including:
  • Slow Keys: Ignore any keystroke not held down for a certain period.
  • Bounce Keys: Ignore repeated keystrokes pressed in quick succession.
  • Repeat Keys: lets users slow down the rate at which keys are repeated via the keyboard’s key-repeat feature.
• Toggle Keys: when turned on, Windows will play a sound when the CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK or SCROLL LOCK key is pressed.
• SoundSentry: designed to help users with auditory impairments, Windows 2000 shows a visual effect when a sound is played through the sound system.
• MouseKeys: lets users move the cursor around the screen via the numeric keypad.
• SerialKeys: lets Windows 2000 support speech augmentation devices.
• High contrast theme: to assist users with visual impairments.
• Microsoft Magnifier: a screen magnifier that enlarges a part of the screen the cursor is over.^[84]

Additionally, Windows 2000 introduced the following new accessibility features:

• On-screen keyboard: displays a virtual keyboard on the screen and allows users to press its keys using a mouse or a joystick.^[85]
• Microsoft Narrator: introduced in Windows 2000, this is a screen reader that utilizes the Speech API 4, which would later be updated to Speech API 5 in Windows XP
• Utility Manager: an application designed to start, stop, and manage when accessibility features start. This was eventually replaced by the Ease of Access Center in Windows Vista.
• Accessibility Wizard: a control panel applet that helps users set up their computer for people with disabilities.

Languages and locales[edit]

Windows 2000 introduced the Multilingual User Interface (MUI).^[10] Besides English, Windows 2000 incorporates support for Arabic, Armenian, Baltic, Central European, Cyrillic, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Indic, Japanese, Korean, simplified Chinese, Thai, traditional Chinese, Turkic, Vietnamese and Western European languages.^[86] It also has support for many different locales.^[11]

Games[edit]

Windows 2000 included version 7.0 of the DirectX API, commonly used by game developers on Windows 98.^[87] The last version of DirectX that was released for Windows 2000 was DirectX 9.0c (Shader Model 3.0), which shipped with Windows XP Service Pack 2. Microsoft published quarterly updates to DirectX 9.0c through the February 2010 release after which support was dropped in the June 2010 SDK. These updates contain bug fixes to the core runtime and some additional libraries such as D3DX, XAudio 2, XInput and Managed DirectX components. The majority of games written for versions of DirectX 9.0c (up to the February 2010 release) can therefore run on Windows 2000.

Windows 2000 included the same games as Windows NT 4.0 did: FreeCell, Minesweeper, Pinball, and Solitaire.^[88]

System utilities[edit]

Windows 2000 introduced the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), which is used to create, save, and open administrative tools.^[47] Each of these is called a console, and most allow an administrator to administer other Windows 2000 computers from one centralised computer. Each console can contain one or many specific administrative tools, called snap-ins.^[47] These can be either standalone (with one function), or an extension (adding functions to an existing snap-in). In order to provide the ability to control what snap-ins can be seen in a console, the MMC allows consoles to be created in author mode or user mode.^[47] Author mode allows snap-ins to be added, new windows to be created, all portions of the console tree to be displayed and consoles to be saved. User mode allows consoles to be distributed with restrictions applied. User mode consoles can grant full access to the user for any change, or they can grant limited access, preventing users from adding snapins to the console though they can view multiple windows in a console. Alternatively users can be granted limited access, preventing them from adding to the console and stopping them from viewing multiple windows in a single console.^[89]

The main tools that come with Windows 2000 can be found in the Computer Management console (in Administrative Tools in the Control Panel).^[90] This contains the Event Viewer—a means of viewing system or application-related events and the Windows equivalent of a log file,^[91] a system information utility, a backup utility, Task Scheduler and management consoles to view open shared folders and shared folder sessions, configure and manage COM+ applications, configure Group Policy,^[92] manage all the local users and user groups, and a device manager.^[93] It contains Disk Management and Removable Storage snap-ins,^[94] a disk defragmenter as well as a performance diagnostic console, which displays graphs of system performance and configures data logs and alerts. It also contains a service configuration console, which allows users to view all installed services and to stop and start them, as well as configure what those services should do when the computer starts. CHKDSK has significant performance improvements.^[95]

Windows 2000 comes with two utilities to edit the Windows registry, REGEDIT.EXE and REGEDT32.EXE.^[96] REGEDIT has been directly ported from Windows 98, and therefore does not support editing registry permissions.^[96] REGEDT32 has the older multiple document interface (MDI) and can edit registry permissions in the same manner that Windows NT’s REGEDT32 program could. REGEDIT has a left-side tree view of the Windows registry, lists all loaded hives and represents the three components of a value (its name, type, and data) as separate columns of a table. REGEDT32 has a left-side tree view, but each hive has its own window, so the tree displays only keys and it represents values as a list of strings. REGEDIT supports right-clicking of entries in a tree view to adjust properties and other settings. REGEDT32 requires all actions to be performed from the top menu bar. Windows XP is the first system to integrate these two programs into a single utility, adopting the REGEDIT behavior with the additional NT features.^[96]

The System File Checker (SFC) also comes with Windows 2000. It is a command line utility that scans system files and verifies whether they were signed by Microsoft and works in conjunction with the Windows File Protection mechanism. It can also repopulate and repair all the files in the Dllcache folder.^[97]

Recovery Console[edit]

The Recovery Console is run from outside the installed copy of Windows to perform maintenance tasks that can neither be run from within it nor feasibly be run from another computer or copy of Windows 2000.^[98] It is usually used to recover the system from problems that cause booting to fail, which would render other tools useless, like Safe Mode or Last Known Good Configuration, or chkdsk. It includes commands like fixmbr, which are not present in MS-DOS.

It has a simple command-line interface, used to check and repair the hard drive(s), repair boot information (including NTLDR), replace corrupted system files with fresh copies from the CD, or enable/disable services and drivers for the next boot.

The console can be accessed in either of the two ways:

1. Booting from the Windows 2000 CD, and choosing to start the Recovery Console from the CD itself instead of continuing with setup. The Recovery Console is accessible as long as the installation CD is available.
2. Preinstalling the Recovery Console on the hard disk as a startup option in Boot.ini, via WinNT32.exe, with the /cmdcons switch.^[99] In this case, it can only be started as long as NTLDR can boot from the system partition.

Windows Scripting Host 2.0[edit]

Windows 2000 introduced Windows Script Host 2.0 which included an expanded object model and support for logon and logoff scripts.

Networking[edit]

• Starting with Windows 2000, the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol directly interfaces with TCP/IP. In Windows NT 4.0, SMB requires the NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT) protocol to work on a TCP/IP network.
• Windows 2000 introduces a client-side DNS caching service. When the Windows DNS resolver receives a query response, the DNS resource record is added to a cache. When it queries the same resource record name again and it is found in the cache, then the resolver does not query the DNS server. This speeds up DNS query time and reduces network traffic.

Server family features[edit]

The Windows 2000 Server family consists of Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Windows 2000 Small Business Server, and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server.

All editions of Windows 2000 Server have the following services and features built in:

• Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) support, facilitating dial-up and VPN connections using IPsec, L2TP or L2TP/IPsec, support for RADIUS authentication in Internet Authentication Service, network connection sharing, Network Address Translation, unicast and multicast routing schemes.
• Remote access security features: Remote Access Policies for setup, verify Caller ID (IP address for VPNs), callback and Remote access account lockout^[100]
• Autodial by location feature using the Remote Access Auto Connection Manager service
• Extensible Authentication Protocol support in IAS (EAP-MD5 and EAP-TLS) later upgraded to PEAPv0/EAP-MSCHAPv2 and PEAP-EAP-TLS in Windows 2000 SP4
• DNS server, including support for Dynamic DNS. Active Directory relies heavily on DNS.
• IPsec support and TCP/IP filtering
• Smart card support
• Microsoft Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK) and Connection Point Services
• Support for distributed file systems (DFS)
• Hierarchical Storage Management support including remote storage,^[101] a service that runs with NTFS and automatically transfers files that are not used for some time to less expensive storage media
• Fault tolerant volumes, namely Mirrored and RAID-5
• Group Policy (part of Active Directory)
• IntelliMirror, a collection of technologies for fine-grained management of Windows 2000 Professional clients that duplicates users’ data, applications, files, and settings in a centralized location on the network. IntelliMirror employs technologies such as Group Policy, Windows Installer, Roaming profiles, Folder Redirection, Offline Files (also known as Client Side Caching or CSC), File Replication Service (FRS), Remote Installation Services (RIS) to address desktop management scenarios such as user data management, user settings management, software installation and maintenance.
• COM+, Microsoft Transaction Server and Distributed Transaction Coordinator
• MSMQ 2.0
• TAPI 3.0
• Integrated Windows Authentication (including Kerberos, Secure channel and SPNEGO (Negotiate) SSP packages for Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI)).
• MS-CHAP v2 protocol
• Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Enterprise Certificate Authority support
• Terminal Services and support for the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)
• Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 and Windows Media Services 4.1
• Network quality of service features^[102]
• A new Windows Time service which is an implementation of Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) as detailed in IETF RFC 1769. The Windows Time service synchronizes the date and time of computers in a domain^[103] running on Windows 2000 Server or later. Windows 2000 Professional includes an SNTP client.

The Server editions include more features and components, including the Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS), Active Directory support and fault-tolerant storage.

Distributed File System[edit]

The Distributed File System (DFS) allows shares in multiple different locations to be logically grouped under one folder, or DFS root. When users try to access a network share off the DFS root, the user is really looking at a DFS link and the DFS server transparently redirects them to the correct file server and share. A DFS root can only exist on a Windows 2000 version that is part of the server family, and only one DFS root can exist on that server.

There can be two ways of implementing a DFS namespace on Windows 2000: either through a standalone DFS root or a domain-based DFS root. Standalone DFS allows for only DFS roots on the local computer, and thus does not use Active Directory. Domain-based DFS roots exist within Active Directory and can have their information distributed to other domain controllers within the domain – this provides fault tolerance to DFS. DFS roots that exist on a domain must be hosted on a domain controller or on a domain member server. The file and root information is replicated via the Microsoft File Replication Service (FRS).^[104]

Active Directory[edit]

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. 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 always be installed on a Windows 2000 Server Standard, Advanced, or Datacenter 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.

Active Directory requires a DNS server that supports SRV resource records, or that an organization’s existing DNS infrastructure be upgraded to support this. There should be one or more domain controllers to hold the Active Directory database and provide Active Directory directory services.

Volume fault tolerance[edit]

Along with support for simple, spanned and striped volumes, the Windows 2000 Server family also supports fault-tolerant volume types. The types supported are mirrored volumes and RAID-5 volumes:

• Mirrored volumes: the volume contains several disks, and when data is written to one it is also written to the other disks. This means that if one disk fails, the data can be totally recovered from the other disk. Mirrored volumes are also known as RAID-1.
• RAID-5 volumes: a RAID-5 volume consists of multiple disks, and it uses block-level striping with parity data distributed across all member disks. Should a disk fail in the array, the parity blocks from the surviving disks are combined mathematically with the data blocks from the surviving disks to reconstruct the data on the failed drive «on-the-fly.»

Deployment[edit]

Windows 2000 system requirements

	Minimum	Recommended
IA-32 PCs
CPU	Pentium 133 MHz	Pentium II 300 MHz
Memory	32 MB (128 MB for Windows 2000 Server)	128 MB (256 MB for Windows 2000 Server)
Free space	1 GB (2 GB for Windows 2000 Server)	5 GB
Graphics hardware	800×600 VGA or better monitor	1024×768 VGA or better monitor
Input device(s)	Keyboard and/or mouse

Windows 2000 can be deployed to a site via various methods. It can be installed onto servers via traditional media (such as CD) or via distribution folders that reside on a shared folder. Installations can be attended or unattended. During a manual installation, the administrator must specify configuration options. Unattended installations are scripted via an answer file, or a predefined script in the form of an INI file that has all the options filled in. An answer file can be created manually or using the graphical Setup manager. The Winnt.exe or Winnt32.exe program then uses that answer file to automate the installation. Unattended installations can be performed via a bootable CD, using Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), via the System Preparation Tool (Sysprep), via the Winnt32.exe program using the /syspart switch or via Remote Installation Services (RIS). The ability to slipstream a service pack into the original operating system setup files is also introduced in Windows 2000.^[105]

The Sysprep method is started on a standardized reference computer – though the hardware need not be similar – and it copies the required installation files from the reference computer to the target computers. The hard drive does not need to be in the target computer and may be swapped out to it at any time, with the hardware configured later. The Winnt.exe program must also be passed a /unattend switch that points to a valid answer file and a /s file that points to one or more valid installation sources.

Sysprep allows the duplication of a disk image on an existing Windows 2000 Server installation to multiple servers. This means that all applications and system configuration settings will be copied across to the new installations, and thus, the reference and target computers must have the same HALs, ACPI support, and mass storage devices – though Windows 2000 automatically detects «plug and play» devices. The primary reason for using Sysprep is to quickly deploy Windows 2000 to a site that has multiple computers with standard hardware. (If a system had different HALs, mass storage devices or ACPI support, then multiple images would need to be maintained.)

Systems Management Server can be used to upgrade multiple computers to Windows 2000. These must be running Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98 or Windows 95 OSR2.x along with the SMS client agent that can receive software installation operations. Using SMS allows installations over a wide area and provides centralised control over upgrades to systems.

Remote Installation Services (RIS) are a means to automatically install Windows 2000 Professional (and not Windows 2000 Server) to a local computer over a network from a central server. Images do not have to support specific hardware configurations and the security settings can be configured after the computer reboots as the service generates a new unique security ID (SID) for the machine. This is required so that local accounts are given the right identifier and do not clash with other Windows 2000 Professional computers on a network.^[106]
RIS requires that client computers are able to boot over the network via either a network interface card that has a Pre-Boot Execution Environment (PXE) boot ROM installed or that the client computer has a network card installed that is supported by the remote boot disk generator. The remote computer must also meet the Net PC specification. The server that RIS runs on must be Windows 2000 Server and it must be able to access a network DNS Service, a DHCP service and the Active Directory services.^[107]

Editions[edit]

Microsoft released various editions of Windows 2000 for different markets and business needs: Professional, Server, Advanced Server and Datacenter Server. Each was packaged separately.

Windows 2000 Professional was designed as the desktop operating system for businesses and power users. It is the client version of Windows 2000. It offers greater security and stability than many of the previous Windows desktop operating systems. It supports up to two processors, and can address up to 4 GB of RAM. The system requirements are a Pentium processor (or equivalent) of 133 MHz or greater, at least 32 MB of RAM, 650 MB of hard drive space, and a CD-ROM drive (recommended: Pentium II, 128 MB of RAM, 2 GB of hard drive space, and CD-ROM drive).^[108] However, despite the official minimum processor requirements, it is still possible to install Windows 2000 on 4th-generation x86 CPUs such as the 80486.

Windows 2000 Server shares the same user interface with Windows 2000 Professional, but contains additional components for the computer to perform server roles and run infrastructure and application software. A significant new component introduced in the server versions is Active Directory, which is an enterprise-wide directory service based on LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). Additionally, Microsoft integrated Kerberos network authentication, replacing the often-criticised NTLM (NT LAN Manager) authentication system used in previous versions. This also provided a purely transitive-trust relationship between Windows 2000 Server domains in a forest (a collection of one or more Windows 2000 domains that share a common schema, configuration, and global catalog, being linked with two-way transitive trusts). Furthermore, Windows 2000 introduced a Domain Name Server which allows dynamic registration of IP addresses. Windows 2000 Server supports up to 4 processors and 4 GB of RAM, with a minimum requirement of 128 MB of RAM and 1 GB hard disk space, however requirements may be higher depending on installed components.^[108]

Windows 2000 Advanced Server is a variant of Windows 2000 Server operating system designed for medium-to-large businesses. It offers the ability to create clusters of servers, support for up to 8 CPUs, a main memory amount of up to 8 GB on Physical Address Extension (PAE) systems and the ability to do 8-way SMP. It supports TCP/IP load balancing and builds on Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) in Windows NT Enterprise Server 4.0, adding enhanced functionality for two-node clusters.^[109] System requirements are similar to those of Windows 2000 Server,^[108] however they may need to be higher to scale to larger infrastructure.

Windows 2000 Datacenter Server is a variant of Windows 2000 Server designed for large businesses that move large quantities of confidential or sensitive data frequently via a central server.^[110] Like Advanced Server, it supports clustering, failover and load balancing. Its minimum system requirements are similar to those of Advanced Server,^[108] but it was designed to be capable of handing advanced, fault-tolerant and scalable hardware—for instance computers with up to 32 CPUs and 32 GBs RAM, with rigorous system testing and qualification, hardware partitioning, coordinated maintenance and change control. Windows 2000 Datacenter Server was released to manufacturing on August 11, 2000^[111] and launched on September 26, 2000.^[112] This edition was based on Windows 2000 with Service Pack 1^[110] and was not available at retail.^[113]

Service packs[edit]

Service pack	Release date
Service Pack 1 (SP1)	August 15, 2000
Service Pack 2 (SP2)	May 16, 2001
Service Pack 3 (SP3)	August 29, 2002
Service Pack 4 (SP4)	June 26, 2003
SP4 Update Rollup	September 13, 2005

Windows 2000 has received four full service packs and one rollup update package following SP4, which is the last service pack. Microsoft phased out all development of its Java Virtual Machine (JVM) from Windows 2000 in SP3. Internet Explorer 5.01 has also been upgraded to the corresponding service pack level.

Service Pack 4 with Update Rollup was released on September 13, 2005, nearly four years following the release of Windows XP and sixteen months prior to the release of Windows Vista.

Microsoft had originally intended to release a fifth service pack for Windows 2000, but cancelled this project early in its development, and instead released Update Rollup 1 for SP4, a collection of all the security-related hotfixes and some other significant issues.^[114] The Update Rollup does not include all non-security related hotfixes and is not subjected to the same extensive regression testing as a full service pack. Microsoft states that this update will meet customers’ needs better than a whole new service pack, and will still help Windows 2000 customers secure their PCs, reduce support costs, and support existing computer hardware.^[115]

Upgradeability[edit]

Several Windows 2000 components are upgradable to latest versions, which include new versions introduced in later versions of Windows, and other major Microsoft applications are available. These latest versions for Windows 2000 include:

• ActiveSync 4.5
• DirectX 9.0c (5 February 2010 Redistributable)
• Internet Explorer 6 SP1 and Outlook Express 6 SP1
• Microsoft Agent 2.0
• Microsoft Data Access Components 2.81
• Microsoft NetMeeting 3.01 and Microsoft Office 2003 on Windows 2000 SP3 and SP4 (and Microsoft Office XP on Windows 2000 versions below SP3.)
• MSN Messenger 7.0 (Windows Messenger)
• MSXML 6.0 SP2
• .NET Framework 2.0 SP2
• Tweak UI 1.33
• Visual C++ 2008
• Visual Studio 2005
• Windows Desktop Search 2.66
• Windows Script Host 5.7
• Windows Installer 3.1
• Windows Media Format Runtime and Windows Media Player 9 Series (including Windows Media Encoder 7.1 and the Windows Media 8 Encoding Utility)

Security[edit]

During the Windows 2000 period, the nature of attacks on Windows servers changed: more attacks came from remote sources via the Internet. This has led to an overwhelming number of malicious programs exploiting the IIS services – specifically a notorious buffer overflow tendency.^[116] This tendency is not operating-system-version specific, but rather configuration-specific: it depends on the services that are enabled.^[116] Following this, a common complaint is that «by default, Windows 2000 installations contain numerous potential security problems. Many unneeded services are installed and enabled, and there is no active local security policy.»^[117] In addition to insecure defaults, according to the SANS Institute, the most common flaws discovered are remotely exploitable buffer overflow vulnerabilities.^[118] Other criticized flaws include the use of vulnerable encryption techniques.^[119]

Code Red and Code Red II were famous (and much discussed) worms that exploited vulnerabilities of the Windows Indexing Service of Windows 2000’s Internet Information Services (IIS).^[16] In August 2003, security researchers estimated that two major worms called Sobig and Blaster infected more than half a million Microsoft Windows computers.^[120] The 2005 Zotob worm was blamed for security compromises on Windows 2000 machines at ABC, CNN, the New York Times Company, and the United States Department of Homeland Security.^[121]

On September 8, 2009, Microsoft skipped patching two of the five security flaws that were addressed in the monthly security update, saying that patching one of the critical security flaws was «infeasible.»^[122] According to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-048: «The architecture to properly support TCP/IP protection does not exist on Microsoft Windows 2000 systems, making it infeasible to build the fix for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 to eliminate the vulnerability. To do so would require re-architecting a very significant amount of the Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 operating system, there would be no assurance that applications designed to run on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 would continue to operate on the updated system.» No patches for this flaw were released for the newer Windows XP (32-bit) and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition either, despite both also being affected;^[123] Microsoft suggested turning on Windows Firewall in those versions.^[124]

Support lifecycle[edit]

Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Server were superseded by newer Microsoft operating systems: Windows 2000 Server products by Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 Professional by Windows XP Professional.

The Windows 2000 family of operating systems moved from mainstream support to the extended support phase on June 30, 2005. Microsoft says that this marks the progression of Windows 2000 through the Windows lifecycle policy. Under mainstream support, Microsoft freely provides design changes if any, service packs and non-security related updates in addition to security updates, whereas in extended support, service packs are not provided and non-security updates require contacting the support personnel by e-mail or phone. Under the extended support phase, Microsoft continued to provide critical security updates every month for all components of Windows 2000 (including Internet Explorer 5.0 SP4) and paid per-incident support for technical issues. Because of Windows 2000’s age, updated versions of components such as Windows Media Player 11 and Internet Explorer 7 have not been released for it. In the case of Internet Explorer, Microsoft said in 2005 that, «some of the security work in IE 7 relies on operating system functionality in XP SP2 that is non-trivial to port back to Windows 2000.»^[125]

While users of Windows 2000 Professional and Server were eligible to purchase the upgrade license for Windows Vista Business or Windows Server 2008, neither of these operating systems can directly perform an upgrade installation from Windows 2000; a clean installation must be performed instead or a two-step upgrade through XP/2003. Microsoft has dropped the upgrade path from Windows 2000 (and earlier) to Windows 7. Users of Windows 2000 must buy a full Windows 7 license.

Although Windows 2000 is the last NT-based version of Microsoft Windows which does not include product activation, Microsoft has introduced Windows Genuine Advantage for certain downloads and non-critical updates from the Download Center for Windows 2000.

Windows 2000 reached the end of its lifecycle (EoL) on July 13, 2010 (alongside Service Pack 2 of Windows XP). It will not receive new security updates and new security-related hotfixes after this date.^[5][126] In Japan, over 130,000 servers and 500,000 PCs in local governments were affected; many local governments said that they will not update as they do not have funds to cover a replacement.^[127]

As of 2011, Windows Update still supports the Windows 2000 updates available on Patch Tuesday in July 2010, e.g., if older optional Windows 2000 features are enabled later. Microsoft Office products under Windows 2000 have their own product lifecycles. While Internet Explorer 6 for Windows XP did receive security patches up until it lost support, this is not the case for IE6 under Windows 2000. The Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool installed monthly by Windows Update for XP and later versions can be still downloaded manually for Windows 2000.^[128]

Microsoft in 2020 announced that it would disable the Windows Update service for SHA-1 endpoints and since Windows 2000 did not get an update for SHA-2, Windows Update Services are no longer available on the OS as of late July 2020.^[129] However, as of April 2021, the old updates for Windows 2000 are still available on the Microsoft Update Catalog,^[130] or through Legacy Update, a community-driven third party replacement for the Windows 2000 update servers.

Total cost of ownership[edit]

In October 2002, Microsoft commissioned IDC to determine the total cost of ownership (TCO) for enterprise applications on Windows 2000 versus the TCO of the same applications on Linux. IDC’s report is based on telephone interviews of IT executives and managers of 104 North American companies in which they determined what they were using for a specific workload for file, print, security and networking services.
IDC determined that the four areas where Windows 2000 had a better TCO than Linux – over a period of five years for an average organization of 100 employees – were file, print, network infrastructure and security infrastructure. They determined, however, that Linux had a better TCO than Windows 2000 for web serving. The report also found that the greatest cost was not in the procurement of software and hardware, but in staffing costs and downtime. While the report applied a 40% productivity factor during IT infrastructure downtime, recognizing that employees are not entirely unproductive, it did not consider the impact of downtime on the profitability of the business. The report stated that Linux servers had less unplanned downtime than Windows 2000 servers. It found that most Linux servers ran less workload per server than Windows 2000 servers and also that none of the businesses interviewed used 4-way SMP Linux computers. The report also did not take into account specific application servers – servers that need low maintenance and are provided by a specific vendor. The report did emphasize that TCO was only one factor in considering whether to use a particular IT platform, and also noted that as management and server software improved and became better packaged the overall picture shown could change.^[131]

See also[edit]

• Architecture of Windows NT
• BlueKeep (security vulnerability)
• Comparison of operating systems
• DEC Multia, one of the DEC Alpha computers capable of running Windows 2000 beta
• Microsoft Servers, Microsoft’s network server software brand
• Windows Neptune, a cancelled consumer edition based on Windows 2000

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Bolosky, William J.; Corbin, Scott; Goebel, David; & Douceur, John R. «Single Instance Storage in Windows 2000.» Microsoft Research & Balder Technology Group, Inc. (white paper).
• Bozman, Jean; Gillen, Al; Kolodgy, Charles; Kusnetzky, Dan; Perry, Randy; & Shiang, David (October 2002). «Windows 2000 Versus Linux in Enterprise Computing: An assessment of business value for selected workloads.» IDC, sponsored by Microsoft Corporation. White paper.
• Finnel, Lynn (2000). MCSE Exam 70–215, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server. Microsoft Press. ISBN 1-57231-903-8.
• Microsoft. Running Nonnative Applications in Windows 2000 Professional^{[permanent dead link]}. Windows 2000 Resource Kit. Retrieved May 4, 2005.
• Microsoft. «Active Directory Data Storage.» Retrieved May 9, 2005.
• Minasi, Mark (2000). «Chapter 3 – Installing Windows 2000 On Workstations with Remote Installation Services». Mastering Windows 2000 Server (Second ed.). Sybex. ISBN 0-7821-2774-6. Archived from the original on March 11, 2005.
• Russinovich, Mark (October 1997). «Inside NT’s Object Manager.» Windows IT Pro.
• Russinovich, Mark (2002). «Inside Win2K NTFS, Part 1.» Windows IT Pro (formerly Windows 2000 Magazine).
• Saville, John (January 9, 2000). «What is Native Structure Storage?.» Windows IT Pro (formerly Windows 2000 Magazine).
• Siyan, Kanajit S. (2000). Windows 2000 Professional Reference. New Riders. ISBN 0-7357-0952-1.
• Solomon, David; Russinovich, Mark E (2000). «System Architecture». Inside Microsoft Windows 2000 (Third ed.). Microsoft Press. ISBN 0-7356-1021-5. Archived from the original on March 23, 2005.
• Tanenbaum, Andrew S. (2001). Modern Operating Systems (2nd ed.). Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-031358-0.
• Trott, Bob (October 27, 1998). «It’s official: NT 5.0 becomes Windows 2000.» InfoWorld.
• Wallace, Rick (2000). MCSE Exam 70–210, Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional. Microsoft Press. ISBN 1-57231-901-1.

External links[edit]

• Windows 2000 End-of-Life
• Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
• Windows 2000 Update Rollup 1 Version 2

News

Under the Hood of Advanced Server Limited Edition

Microsoft Corp. unveiled a new version 1.2 release of its Windows 2000 Advanced Server Limited Edition (ASLE) operating system last month. The software giant says that ASLE 1.2 is designed to take advantage of some of the performance improvements – including a higher clock-speed and an improved bus architecture – boasted by Intel Corp.’s Itanium 2 microprocessor.

ASLE 1.2 may benefit just as much from the efforts of two prominent vendors – Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) and Unisys Corp. – which have developed unique system architectures to support mixed IA-64, IA-32 and (in the case of HP) PA-RISC environments.

First, the basics. ASLE 1.2 is the second rev of Microsoft’s 64-bit server operating system. ASLE 1.0, Microsoft’s first foray into 64-bit computing, shipped in August 2001, and was followed in October by a 64-bit version of the software giant’s Windows XP Professional operating system. Sixty-four-bit ASLE is generally positioned for large database or compute-intensive environments; 64-bit Windows XP Professional is marketed as a Windows platform for high-performance workstations.

According to Velle Kolde, lead product manager in the Windows .NET Server group, ASLE 1.2 – which is based on the forthcoming Windows .NET Server code-base – is optimized to take advantage of a variety of Itanium 2-specific capabilities. “We’ve actually gone in and optimized the kernel to take advantage of the Itanium 2 chips, so the Microsoft system compiler takes advantage of all of the Itanium 2 features, [such as] parallel execution, speculative data loads, cache pre-caching, register locations, software pipe-lining.”

Kolde acknowledges that some of these features were implemented in Itanium 1, but says that ASLE 1.0 wasn’t optimized to take advantage of them. Besides, he argues, the higher clockspeeds and improved performance of Itanium 2 give ASLE 1.2 a real shot in the arm: “The entire system is compiled for these optimizations, a lot of which were not present, or were not optimized, in the earlier versions [Itanium 1 and ASLE 1.0].”

To further sweeten the value proposition, Kolde says that customers who purchase ASLE 1.2 will be entitled to a free upgrade to 64-bit Windows .NET Server when it ships later this year.

Growing Pains

Even the most optimistic of Itanium supporters acknowledges that Itanium v1.0 was more of a proof-of-concept than anything else.

“The product was very late. So by the time it hit the streets, it was definitely not awesome. It was, depending on how you measure, anywhere from two years to four years late,” says Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with microprocessor consultancy InSight64. “You almost have to look at the Merced-based Itanium platform as a proof of concept and software development vehicle much more so than any sort of practical vehicle.”

Not surprisingly, Itanium 1 uptick was less than phenomenal.

Itanium 2, on the other hand, is almost unequivocally regarded as the real deal. According to InSight64’s Brookwood, Itanium is faster than any of the 64-bit RISC processors that power top-of-the-line high-end servers from IBM Corp., HP and Sun Microsystems Inc.

“Itanium is faster than the IBM Power 4, it’s faster than HP PA-RISC, it’s dramatically faster than SPARC, It’s faster than Alpha,” he says. “On processor benchmarks, in particular, the SPEC benchmarks, Itanium 2 running on HP workstations and servers set a new record. So it is faster than any other 64-bit processor on the SPEC list.”

As a result, vendors and analysts alike expect to see customers deploy Itanium 2-based systems in production environments. Microsoft’s Kolde, for example, anticipates that ALSE 1.2 uptick could take place in data-intensive applications – such as data-warehousing and large, in-memory databases – and in compute-intensive applications, especially encryption.

“The end user license that comes with ASLE [1.2] is a full production license, and customers receive full support from both the vendor and Microsoft, including QFEs and hotfixes,” Kolde asserts.

Achilles Heel

Like its predecessor, however, Itanium 2 suffers from a single, perhaps catastrophic shortcoming: It must run 32-bit (IA-32) software in emulation mode, which – depending on the application – can result in a significant performance hit. While a situation of this kind isn’t necessarily a problem on a platform such as, for example, HP-UX – which, after all, has been ported over from HP’s 64-bit PA-RISC architecture – it amounts to nothing less than an Achilles heel in Windows environments, which are powered almost exclusively by 32-bit applications designed for IA-32.

“There are some faster 32-bit processors, in particular Intel Pentium IV Xeons running at 2.5 GHz,” allows InSight64’s Brookwood. “Consequently, Intel’s 32-bit servers are still a little faster on SPEC than Itanium 2.”

As a result, concedes Microsoft’s Kolde, customers who adopt ASLE 1.2 must be judicious about the applications that they choose to deploy on it.

“If a customer wants to run a native 32-bit application [on ASLE 1.2], they’re going to get the best price-performance by running it on a 32-bit server. The way you’re really going to get the benefit of a 64-bit Itanium server is to buy native Itanium applications,” he says. “Running 32-bit apps on 64-bit, it depends on the precise applications, on how it is running. But if it is running in an emulation layer it probably won’t be as quick as running it natively.”

To date, however, Microsoft still hasn’t managed to ship an official release version of a 64-bit application, its 64-bit ASLE and Windows XP Professional operating systems notwithstanding. Currently, a 64-bit version of the software giant’s SQL Server 2000 database – code-named “Liberty” – is still in the works. If Microsoft’s Kolde is correct, Liberty should ship along with 64-bit Windows .NET Server, which is slated to debut in lock-step with the IA-32 version of Windows .NET Server at the end of this year. Moreover, Microsoft hasn’t announced plans to develop 64-bit versions of its other .NET family applications. The upshot of it all is that – while organizations can deploy a pre-release version of Liberty right now – they’re almost certainly going to have to run 32-bit applications on Itanium 2, as well.

Because it’s newer and economies-of-scale haven’t yet come into play, however, your garden-variety IA-64 server is a lot more expensive proposition than its IA-32 equivalent. As a result, says Robert Dorin, a research director with consultancy Aberdeen Group (www.aberdeen.com ), unless an organization maintains or plans to develop an application that requires a 64-bit memory space, IA-32 remains the better value proposition, with superior performance and application compatibility, to boot.

A compelling alternative?

Not so fast, says Unisys VP of enterprise systems Mark Feverston – there’s another option. “We offer both IA-32 and IA-64 support in the ES7000,” he says, referring to Unisys’ high-end ES7000 16- and 32-way enterprise server. “In fact, we can offer both architectures in the same platform.”

Customers can configure the ES7000 with a mix of IA-32 and IA-64 processors. Because of the ES7000’s advanced workload-partitioning capabilities, it can be subdivided into many logical partitions – similar to mainframe LPARs – that each hosts an instance of an operating system. In this respect, Feverston notes, it’s possible to deploy a mix of 64- and 32-bit operating systems and applications on the same hardware. Not surprisingly, he continues, an approach of this kind makes a lot of sense as a strategy for server consolidation. But its real value could occur as a solution for mixed IA-64 and IA-32 development efforts.

“We also think that it’s going to be a very strong development platform in the IA-64 place. People say ‘I can’t go cold turkey to IA-64,’ so they partition an operating environment off, which allows them the luxury of having IA-32 partitions running the application, and the IA-64 partition running the database.”

This also gives an IT organization the leeway to move to IA-64 incrementally. “If there’s a cost benefit value to migrating to IA-64, then you do it. You can replace IA-32 and come back with Itanium,” Feverston says.

Unisys is currently the only vendor that offers the ability to mix-and-match IA-64 and IA-32 hardware. But HP, which has been an aggressive proponent of IA-64 since its inception, will eventually ship servers that boast similar capabilities, albeit with dissimilar architectures. In 16 months, says InSight64’s Brookwood, HP will debut a new version of PA-RISC that should enable customers to mix and match PA-RISC and Itanium 2 processors in the same server. The result, Brookwood argues, is that HP’s heterogeneous servers will be well-suited as platforms for server consolidation and as gateways for incremental IA-64 adoption. The goal, Brookwood allows, is to transition customers off of PA-RISC.

“If you are a customer and you need to transition to IA-64, HP has made it about as painless as anybody could,” he says.