Planning for Member Server Upgrade and Installation

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One of the main advantages of installing or upgrading to Windows 2000 Server is having the Active Directory#8482; directory service. However, even if you delay installing Active Directory, you can still upgrade member servers to Windows 2000 Server. This way you can access the new and improved component features and services such as Routing and Remote Access and Terminal Services.

Servers within a Windows 2000 domain can have one of two roles: as a domain controller or as a member server . A member server is a Microsoft server that can have accounts in a Microsoft® Windows NT® version 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, or a Windows 2000 domain. However, if they are members of a Windows 2000 domain, they do not contain any Active Directory objects. Member servers share common security features such as domain policies and user rights.

Member servers can act as:

  • File servers

  • Print servers

  • Web servers

  • Proxy servers

  • Routing and Remote Access servers

  • Application servers, which include:

    • Component servers

    • Terminal servers

    • Certificate servers

    • Database servers

    • E-mail servers