Introducing Windows 2000 Deployment Planning

Case Study 1: North American Industrial Manufacturer

Manufacturing is the primary business of this organization. Product assembly takes place at numerous locations in North America; however, their business offices are located all over the world, creating a highly distributed global computing environment. There are several primary product divisions with multiple product lines. The numerous internal teams distributed worldwide require diverse levels of access to customer and internal documents. The users in each division require a high level of client-based customization. Additionally, there are numerous vendors and subcontractors, some of whom need network access within the firewall, and others whose needs require only external access. Network administrators need to provide varying levels of security based on the needs of each unique internal and external team.

Existing IT Environment

Currently, this organization supports a mixed Windows NT Server 4.0 Service Pack (SP) 4 and UNIX network operating system environment and a mixed Microsoft® Windows® 95 (85 percent), Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (10 percent), and UNIX (5 percent) client environment. Information technology is centrally managed with control of applications and resources distributed to lower level IT managers. The organization has high bandwidth needs and requires strong client management. Microsoft® Exchange Server is currently a global mission-critical application for communications and scheduling.

Goals for Deploying Windows 2000

This corporation wants to standardize on one network operating system and one client system to reduce support costs. It will also be integrating the Exchange Server directory service with Active Directory to create a common directory and for increased team collaboration. In addition, they plan to expand into a multimedia network for collaboration and information sharing.

Table 1.2 summarizes the IT goals of this organization and includes the reasons why this organization chose Windows 2000 to meet their goals.

Table 1.2 IT Goals for a North American Industrial Manufacturer

Goals	What Windows 2000 Offers
Support and install one standard client operating system for rapid installation and configuration as well as inexpensive deployment.	Provides client management features, such as IntelliMirror and automated client install and upgrade technologies, such as Remote Install Services and Systems Management Server.
Install a network operating system that is secure, but flexible and robust enough to run on a wide variety of hardware.	Provides the security features of Kerberos authentication and Internet Protocol security (IPSec). Provides more hardware choices listed in the HCL. Provides Plug and Play functionality.
Reduce deployment and management costs by deploying only one server image. Support only one common server platform and consolidate smaller servers into larger ones.	Advanced Server functionality provides for the computing needs of the entire organization because it provides clustering, load balancing, and additional processor support capabilities.
Maintain high server uptime for Exchange Server because it is mission-critical to the organization.	Windows 2000 provides a stable operating system platform for Exchange Server.
Create a centralized administrative model that provides the ability for distributed control at lower level domains.	Active Directory provides the ability for higher level administrators to delegate control for specific elements within Active Directory to individuals or groups. This eliminates the need for multiple administrators to have authority over an entire domain. Active Directory allows the company to model its networking environment after its business model.
Provide interoperability with current UNIX servers and use a common security protocol.	Domain Name System (DNS) dynamic update protocol provides interoperability. Kerberos security works on both platforms.
Support other cross-platform security across their enterprise.	Distributed security, including IPSec, Kerberos authentication, and PKI.
Use a network operating system and domain structure that reflect business needs.	Windows 2000 is flexible enough for you to shape the domain and security boundaries to reflect the structure of your business rather than requiring you to organize your business around the limitations of the server operating system.
Create one large corporate computer directory.	Allows you to merge Active Directory data with Exchange Server data for a common directory.
Expand into a multimedia network for collaboration and information sharing.	NetMeeting allows groups in diverse parts of the globe to converse. QoS allows you to allocate bandwidth as appropriate during multimedia network events. Plug and Play makes it easy to connect cameras for multimedia events.