Inside Windows Server 1002003 [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

New Features in Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 includes several new features and tools for handling domain deployments and improving interoperability. They are as follows:

• Active Directory Migration Tool (

  ADMT )

  improvements.
  The new version of ADMT supports password migration, retains access to user profiles, and greatly simplifies re-permissioning of member servers and desktops.




• Functional levels.
  While NT and Windows 2000 domain controllers remain operational, many new Windows Server 2003 features must be kept disabled. The new features are phased into operation using a set of

  functional levels . Two of these functional levels mimic the Mixed and Native operation of Windows 2000. The remaining two functional levels enable Windows Server 2003 features first in a domain then in the forest.




• Application naming contexts.
  This Chapter 5, "Managing DNS," but it bears repeating here. A Windows Server 2003 domain controller is capable of storing Active Directory Integrated DNS zone records in separate Application naming contexts. This gives much more flexibility to the design of Windows-based DNS in a large enterprise.




• Domain controller overload prevention.
  Windows 2000 and XP desktops prefer to do their logons at Active Directory-based domain controllers. This can cause problems early in a deployment when the number of desktops may be out of proportion to the number of new domain controllers. A special Registry entry can be enabled at the Windows Server 2003 domain controllers so that they emulate classic backup domain controllers (BDCs) until a sufficient number have been deployed to support the desktops.




• Domain controller promotion using backup tapes.
  If you have a large domain with a massive Active Directory database, it can take a while to promote a domain controller across a slow Wide Area Network (WAN) link. This new feature permits using a copy of Active Directory restored from backup tape or backup file as the source for the initial build of the AD database on a newly promoted domain controller.




• New schema.
  Windows Server 2003 makes roughly 400 changes to the base schema in Windows 2000. These changes must be in place prior to upgrading a Windows 2000 domain controller to Windows Server 2003. A new utility called ADPREP upgrades the schema and installs new attributes and containers in the Domain naming context to support the upgrade.




• New domain operations.
  A Windows Server 2003 forest can be restructured by changing the names of the domains and their parent/child relationships. You can also rename domain controllers within a domain, although you cannot move a domain controller between domains without first demoting it.