Windows 2000 comes in four versions:

Windows 2000 Professional - supports up to 10 users (for PCs)
Windows 2000 Server - supports up to 200 users (for small business and basic file and print sharing - supports up to 4GB of RAM)
Windows 2000 Advanced Server - supports 200 to 2000 users (for running departmental applications and small databases - supports up to 8GB of RAM)
Windows 2000 Datacenter - supports 2000+ users and up to 32 processors (for enterprise wide and web applications and corporate databases - supports up to 64GB of RAM)


Windows 2000 server has the following capabilities:

Sharing and managing resources
Security
Scalability & compatibility
Reliability
Distributability
Fault tolerance
Internet integration

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server can be implemented using peer-to-peer or server-based networking.

Windows 2000 Server has the traditional features such as file and print sharing but it also has new features such as advanced security, web and network communications and network management capabilities. It also has another important new feature know as the Active Directory which is a special purpose database. It is the heart of Windows 2000 because it is an information source that is used to keep information about things such as users, computers, printers and folders.



Minimum Hardware requirements to install Windows 2000 Professional

Processor - 486 CPU or faster (Pentium recommended)
Display - VGA or better
Memory (Ram) - 32 MB (64 recommended)
Hard Disk Space - 500 MB (1Gig recommended)
Floppy disk drive - High density 3.5 inch
CD-Rom Drive - 12x Speed or above for installations not performed over Network
Network Interface Card - Required to connect to Network
Pointing Device - Required



Minimum Requirements to install Windows 2000 Server

Processor - Pentium 166 MHz or faster
Display - VGA or better
Memory (Ram) - 64 MB for 5 or fewer clients and 128 MB for larger Networks
Hard Disk Space - 686 MB for system files (2 GB recommended)
Floppy disk drive - High density 3.5 inch
CD-Rom Drive - 12x Speed or above for installations not performed over Network
Network Interface Card - Required to connect to the Network
Pointing Device - Required



Windows 2000 Server Compatibility

Firstly check Microsoft's Hardware compatibility list (HCL) for Windows 2000 server a document that comes with the Widows 2000 software and is located in the Support folder on the Windows 2000 CD Rom. The more recent version is available on the Microsoft Web Site.



File System Compatibility

Windows 2000 Server primarily supports two file systems FAT and NTFS. It also supports conversion of the OS/2 High Performance File System (HPFS) to NTFS.

FAT

The File Allocation Table file system is the older file system that was initially designed for computers with small disk systems. FAT was developed to use MS-DOS and is compatible with Windows NT and Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, OS/2 and various UNIX operating systems.

FAT 16 drives up in a series of allocation units (previously called clusters) to form a partition . An allocation unit may consist of 2, 4 or 8 sectors on a disk. Files are created from one or more allocation units. The operating system keeps track of used or unused allocation units in a disk area called the allocation table, which is kept in the beginning allocation units of the partition.

Fat 32 system is supported by Windows 95,98 and 2000, in Windows 95 and Windows 98 it enables smaller allocation units than Fat16 and can support partitions of 2GB to 2TB (Terabytes). In Windows 2000 it also allows smaller allocation units than at Fat 16, but the largest Fat 32 partition is limited to 3 GB or smaller. In all three operating systems, the largest FAT 32 file size is 4 GB. Fat 32 does include support for long file names.

NTFS

The New Technology Filing System is the native Windows NT and Windows 2000 file system, a modern system designed for the needs of a network server environment. Windows NT 4.O uses NTFS ver4 and Windows 2000 uses NTFS 5.

NTFS incorporates such features as , long file names, file compression, large file capacity, file activity tracking, ability to encrypt files, as well as volume striping and volume extensions.

NTFS enables up to 256 characters that can be used in filenames. NTFS is a secure operating system which is administered by an administrator, additionally file access can be tailored to the particular requirements of an organisation. For example, the system files on a server can be protected so that only the system administrator has access. A folder of databases can be read only protected so as no changes can be made by the user.