Preparing Your Network Infrastructure for Windows 2000
Preparing Your Network Infrastructure for Windows 2000 |
|
As you begin to prepare your network infrastructure for Windows 2000, stabilize your existing network and review your network protocols.
Before implementing a network upgrade or migration project, you should identify and correct any network transmission bottlenecks, poorly functioning hardware, unstable or problematic configurations, and other areas of concern. In a migration or upgrade project, marginal bandwidth and unstable network components will make reaching the goals of your project more difficult.
Target unstable computers, peripherals, and network devices as part of your hardware upgrade planning. Work to make your network maintenance schedule current before upgrading. When replacing network devices such as network adapters, replace them with Windows 2000–compatible devices, which are listed in the HCL.
Any network uses a variety of protocols as appropriate. Organizations that maintain an Ethernet network might use a combination of TCP/IP, NetBEUI, SPX/IPX, and others, depending on the networking, authentication, and security needs and capabilities of the operating systems in place. Identify the protocols in use on your network. As you do so, consider whether any of these protocols can be replaced by Windows 2000 versions or eliminated because they are no longer needed by upgraded clients. For instance, if you replace all clients that use SPX/IPX with Windows 98 or Windows 2000 Professional clients as part of your migration, you might be able to eliminate the use of IPX/SPX on your network, freeing up bandwidth. Consider simplifying your network by using only protocols in the TCP/IP suite.
Windows 2000 delivers a TCP/IP protocol suite that offers more functionality than previous versions, such as large window support and selective acknowledgment. You need to use the Microsoft TCP/IP protocol stack to obtain specific functionality, such as Active Directory support, and to take advantage of Windows 2000 advanced features. For example, previous versions of Windows NT use Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) to secure communication links. Windows 2000 supports PPTP but offers increased functionality and communication link security by also supporting the Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP). For more information about the features and performance enhancements in the Windows 2000 TCP/IP suite, see "Windows 2000 TCP/IP" in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit TCP/IP Core Networking Guide.