WINDOWS 1002000 PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE KIT [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Managing Windows 2000 Professional in a Windows 2000 Server Environment

When you use Windows 2000 Professional with Windows 2000 Server, you can centrally manage workstations by using change and configuration management features. Change and configuration management is a set of Windows 2000 features that simplifies basic tasks such as the following:

Installing an initial operating system on a new computer.

Managing how software is deployed and installed on personal computers to ensure that users have the software that they require to perform their jobs.

Managing the configuration of each user's desktop.

Replacing computers.

In this chapter, the focus of the discussion is managing the configuration of the user desktop and replacing computers. For more information about the other Change and Configuration Management features, see "Using Windows 2000 Professional with Windows 2000 Server" in this book.

Change and Configuration Management

Change and configuration management includes User Data Management, Software Installation and Maintenance, and User Settings Management, which are collectively known as the IntelliMirror management technologies.

IntelliMirror features increase the availability of the user's computing environment by storing information, settings, and applications.

By using change and configuration management features, you can perform the following tasks:

Define computing environment settings centrally for both groups of users and groups of computers and enforce those settings.

Allow users to log on to any computer on the network and have the same computing environment available to them, including access to data, applications, and preference settings.

Replace a computer quickly and then regenerate its settings, thus restoring data,
applications, preferences, and Group Policy settings.

IntelliMirror technologies can help you manage user and computer information and settings. IntelliMirror uses Group Policy and Active Directory™ directory service to manage computers using centrally defined settings that are based on user business roles, group memberships, and locations. Depending on the requirements of your organization, you can use the three IntelliMirror features listed earlier either separately or together.

User Data Management

A user's data can follow the user while he or she is online and connected to the network or is offline in a stand-alone state because Windows 2000 can store the data in specified network locations and still make it appear local to the user. You can manually configure which files and folders are available, set them up on a per-user basis, or configure them through Group Policy.

User Data Management technologies include Group Policy, Offline Files, Folder Redirection, and Synchronization Manager. These technologies ensure that data is protected, is available offline, and is available from any computer on the network.

For more information about User Data Management, see "Applying Change and Configuration Management" in the Deployment Planning Guide.

User Settings Management

You use User Settings Management to set Group Policy settings that define customizations and restrictions that are applied to the operating system, desktop environment, and software for each user. These restrictions include language settings, custom dictionaries, accessibility, desktop configurations, and other user preferences and restrictions.

User Settings Management allows you to centrally define computing environments for organized groups of users and computers and allows or prevents users from making any further customization. When users have the appropriate permissions, they can customize the style and default settings of their computing environment to suit their needs and work habits.

You use IntelliMirror features to restore user settings if a computer fails and to ensure that desktop settings follow the user if he or she logs on to another computer. The settings follow users because IntelliMirror uses Group Policy and roaming user profiles to store all important user settings.

Settings contain three types of information:

Vital settings, which are set by the user and administrator.

Temporary settings.

Local computer settings.

When you manage user settings with roaming user profiles and compatible applications, you ensure that only vital settings are retained and that temporary and local computer settings are dynamically regenerated as required. This ensures that users have the same settings on any Windows 2000–based computer on the network in which they log on.

NOTE

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The information in this chapter refers to technologies that support IntelliMirror on computers running Windows 2000 Professional within a Windows 2000 Server environment. Client computers that are running Microsoft® Windows® 95, Windows 98, or Microsoft® Windows NT® version 4.0 or earlier cannot use these IntelliMirror technologies.

Comparison of Local Features and Windows 2000 Server Features

Table 7.1 compares the management features that are available when a Windows 2000 Professional–based computer is not part of a Windows 2000 Server network and when it is part of a Windows 2000 Server network.

Table 7.1 Comparison of Local and Network Management Features Available in Windows 2000 Professional

You can use all of the Group Policy snap-ins on a local computer that you can use when Group Policy is focused on an Active Directory container. However, the following activities require Windows 2000 Server, an Active Directory infrastructure, and a client running Windows 2000:

Software installation and maintenance, that is, the ability to centrally manage software for groups of users and computers.

Remote user data and settings management, including folder redirection, which allows special folders to be redirected to the network.

Installation of the operating system on a remote computer.

For more information about change and configuration options, see "Applying Change and Configuration Management" in the Deployment Planning Guide.