Upgrading and Installing Member Servers
Upgrading and Installing Member Servers |
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File servers provide departmental and workgroup access to files. In previous Windows server operating systems, file shares were localized within a site— a user had to connect to individual file servers to access the files they needed. If a file server became unavailable, the user had to access other file servers that contained the same files. Windows 2000 Server makes accessing shares redundant.
Shares on a Windows 2000 Server file server can be distributed across a site or domain by using the Windows 2000 Server Distributed file system (Dfs). With the Dfs infrastructure, a group of file servers can be seen as one entity. For example, consider the following Windows NT 4.0 file server names:
Using Windows 2000 Server Dfs, you can add all four file servers to the Dfs tree and use just one share called \\fileserver. This would allow any client to access any file on any of the four file servers. This provides for redundancy and load balancing in that Active Directory first tries to find the file server that is closest to the client requesting the information. If that file server is unavailable, Dfs will go to the next file server to get the information.
If you plan to use Dfs to distribute your file servers across the domain, it is recommended that you plan which servers will distribute which file shares before upgrading. For example, put all the file servers that store applications in one group named \\Fileserver\Applications. The next set of file servers, which store backed-up data, can be named \\Fileserver\Backup. This ensures minimal confusion for users when it comes to determining which file share they need to use.
For more information about planning for, installing, configuring, and using Dfs, see "Distributed File System" in the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server Resource Kit Distributed Systems Guide and "Determining Windows 2000 Storage Management Strategies" in this book.
Note
Domain-based Dfs requires that Active Directory be running.
When upgrading Windows NT 4.0 file servers with Macintosh volumes, be sure that Services for Macintosh have been upgraded (or reinstall it if you removed it before the upgrade.) Also, be sure that all of the Macintosh files are backed up before proceeding. You can then upgrade the server to Windows 2000 Server by following the instructions given earlier in this chapter.
After the upgrade is complete, you can view the migrated Macintosh volume by using the Computer Management function, shown in Figure 15.2.
Figure 15.2 Computer Management Showing Migrated Macintosh File Volume
In Windows 2000 Server, you can access the Macintosh volume with either the AppleTalk or the TCP/IP protocol. If there are clients on your network that use only AppleTalk, you can load the protocol by means of Local Area Properties in Control Panel.
If you are installing a new file server that hosts Macintosh volumes, the first step is to verify that your hardware meets the minimum requirements. See the hardware checklist presented earlier in this chapter and the HCL on the Windows 2000 Server operating system CD. Then install Windows 2000 Server by following the instructions given earlier in this chapter.
After the installation is complete, make the new server a Windows 2000 file server by either using the Configure Your Server wizard and clicking File Server, or by going to Computer Management under Administrative Tools, then clicking Shared Folders.
Microsoft File and Print Services for NetWare is an add-on utility that enables a computer running Windows 2000 Server to provide file and print services directly to NetWare and compatible clients. The server appears just like any other NetWare server to the NetWare clients, and the clients can access volumes, files, and printers at the server. No changes or additions to the NetWare client software are necessary.
This utility is one component of the Microsoft product, Microsoft Services for NetWare v. 5: Add-on Utilities for Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0.
After you upgrade a member server to Windows 2000 Server, be sure you can still access the shares by using these steps:
If you have upgraded the server to support Dfs, ensure that all of the file servers can be reached by alternately shutting down each file server and following the same steps.
