Overview of Windows 2000 Advanced Server

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The Windows 2000 Server family currently includes Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server. Windows 2000 Server offers core functionality appropriate to small-sized and medium-sized organizations that have numerous workgroups and branch offices and that need essential services including file, print, communications, infrastructure, and Web. Windows 2000 Advanced Server is designed to meet mission-critical needs, such as large data warehouses, online transaction processing (OLTP), messaging, e-commerce, or Web hosting services for medium and large organizations, and Internet service providers (ISPs).

Windows 2000 Advanced Server has evolved from Microsoft® Windows NT® Server 4.0, Enterprise Edition. It provides a comprehensive clustering infrastructure for high availability and scalability of applications and services, including main memory support up to 8 Gigabytes (GB) on Intel Page Address Extension (PAE) systems. Designed for demanding enterprise applications, Advanced Server supports new systems with up to 8-way symmetric multiprocessingI> (SMP. SMP enables any one of the multiple processors in a computer to run any operating system or application threads simultaneously with the other processors in the system. Windows Advanced Server is well-suited to database-intensive work, and provides high availability server ing and load balancing for excellent system and application availability.

Windows 2000 Advanced Server includes the full feature set of Windows 2000 Server and adds the high availability and scalability required for enterprise and larger departmental solutions. Key features of Advanced Server include:

  • Network (TCP/IP) Load Balancing

  • Enhanced two-node server clusters based on the Microsoft Windows Cluster Server (MSCS) previously released in the Windows NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition

  • Up to 8 GB main memory on Intel PAE Systems

  • Up to 8-way SMP

note-iconNote

If you are uncertain about whether you have an Intel PAE computer system, contact your hardware vendor.