Planning a Reliable Configuration

Planning Considerations

When planning a configuration that includes computers running Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server and Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional, consider the following questions:

How many computers running Windows 2000 Server and how many computers running Windows 2000 Professional do you need for your company?
Are there computers running operating systems other than Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional in your enterprise?
Where do the computers need to be located, and how do they need to be connected?
How many single points of failure can you tolerate in your enterprise?
What methods can you implement for fault tolerance — the ability of a system to function when a computer component fails?
What data on the computers needs to be backed up, and what is your backup strategy?
What records do you need to maintain to troubleshoot problems or recover from failures?
Have you developed and tested solutions for emergencies such as fire, flood, or power outage?

For each computer that uses Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Professional, consider the following questions:

What file systems are appropriate?
How many controllers and disks are needed, and how do they need to be configured?
Does some data need to be configured on fault-tolerant volumes?
- If so, does fault-tolerant hardware need to be used on a computer running Windows 2000 Professional or Windows 2000 Server?
- Or do you want to use the fault-tolerant features available with Windows 2000 Server?

Climate Control

If the weather at the location of your company requires heating or cooling within the building to keep your computers and network devices within required operating temperatures, consider making the climate control system fault tolerant as well.

Software Failure

Find a vendor who can provide the support you need in case of software failure. If your company does not already have a technical support group to assist users when there are software problems, form one.

Power Control

Use an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and battery backup to enhance fault tolerance. For more information about uninterruptible power supplies, see "Using an Uninterruptible Power Supply" later in this chapter.