A Comparison between Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2000

 

Which one should I buy?

For new installations I have no hesitation in recommending Windows Server 2003.

However, if you already have a Windows 2000 network, you may be wondering if you need to upgrade to 2003.

Windows Server 2003 was released on 24th April 2003 and it's generally considered a good idea to allow 6 to 12 months for a new software product to "mature" before using it for business-critical tasks. 2003 is up to Service Pack 1 so has now certainly passed this hurdle. Windows 2000 on the other hand is now over 5 years old and has had 4 service packs with which to mature. Microsoft have stated that it intends to stop supporting Windows 2000 after 31st December 2007 so it's now over half way through its product lifecycle while support for Windows Server 2003 is set to continue until 30th June 2010.

See a comprehensive list of end-of-support dates for Microsoft operating systems here and other server products here.

As Windows XP was an evolutionary step onwards from Windows 2000 Professional rather than the revolution of NT to 2000, so Windows Server 2003 isn't much of a radical change from Windows Server 2000.

If Microsoft had released 2003 as a major service pack for Windows 2000 I would have said,
 

 

 

 

 

 

See our prices for installing or upgrading to Windows Server 2003 here.

" This service pack fixes and improves dozens of minor problems and introduces some new features that some people will find useful ".

 
It wouldn't have been a difficult decision whether to install it or not and we'd all have tipped our hats to Microsoft and clicked "Install".

However Windows Server 2003 is a separate product and upgrading to it for even the smallest of networks will cost a minimum of £1000.

For you to consider spending such an amount of money upgrading from 2000 you'll first need a comprehensive, compelling and simple to understand list of why Windows Server 2003 is better than Windows 2000. OK, I'll try my best:-
 

2003: Advantages over 2000

Star Rating

  
Domains can be renamed or moved to a different level in an AD tree.

Schema attributes can be deleted as well as added.

The star rating is my personal judgement on the significance of a feature as well as its relevance to small to medium sized companies.
Any Domain Controller can cache the Global Catalogue thus preventing user logon problems if no Global Catalogue server is available.
AD Replication can be set not to use compression.
Cross-Forest Transitive Trusts can be created.
Many administrative tools allow drag-and-drop and there are more configuration and management wizards.
Most services are disabled by default in 2003 instead of enabled as in Windows 2000.
2003 allows partial synchronisations of the Global Catalogue 2000 had always to have full synchronisations.  
Support for IPv6. Ping and Tracert have extra IPv6 options.  
Supports XML web services.  
A new service called Volume Shadow Copy takes periodic snapshots of a hard drive making it easier to take backups and recover deleted files. Users can even be allowed to recover previous versions of files by themselves by using the Previous Versions client.  
A Global Catalogue server can be built from backup media instead of by replication.  
IPSec Nat Traversal - NAT-T - allows IPSec VPN clients and servers to pass through NAT firewalls. This is likely to lead to the wider adoption of L2TP VPNs.  
Distributed File System DFS has had significant improvements made to it. For example DFS replicas can now be prestaged to avoid excessive initial file replication.

Multiple DFS Roots per server can be created (Enterprise and Datacenter editions only).

  
Print queue redundancy can be achieved by storing them on multiple servers.  
Active Directory Migration Tool v.2.0 can now migrate users, computers, groups and passwords from an NT domain and can also perform the cross-forest migration of objects.  
  Terminal Server allows clients to map their local drives and printers  
A terminal server client can connect to the console session where a greater range of administrative tasks can be performed.  
Terminal Server Session Directory allows users to reconnect to the same session on Terminal Server clusters (Enterprise and Datacenter editions only).  
Remote Installation Services now works for servers.  
Active Directory in Application mode (AD/AM). An application can have its own separate instance of Active Directory which hasn't got any of the limitations that the Network Operating System imposes on the main AD.  
The backup and restore of DHCP settings has been incorporated into the DHCP manager while in 2000 you had to change registry keys and move files manually  
The FTP server allows different default directories to be assigned to different users.  
There's a Security Configuration and Analysis tool to check a server's security settings  
DNS AD-integrated zones are stored in the Application Partition of a forest so aren't replicated to domain controllers which aren't DNS servers.  
Regedit.exe and Regedt32.exe have been amalgamated into a single utility which takes the best features of each. Both files still exist but run the same utility.  
The DNS server has added flexibility with the new options of stub zones and conditional forwarding.  
Internet Information Server 6 has the ability to keep worker processes from different websites and web applications separate so that if one application crashes then other websites running on the same server remain unaffected.  
Group Policy has been improved: Resultant Set of Policy tool, 220 new templates, better folder redirection, WiFi access policy and a Group policy management console.

gpupdate utilty replaces "secedit /refreshpolicy".

  
There are some new command-line administration tools which are useful for automating operations on 100s of users at once.  
New "Saved Queries" applet in Active Directory Users and Groups  
Improvements to RRAS: PPPoE dial-on-demand for Broadband circuits, Background Intelligent Transfer Service, NAT Traversal using UPnP, improved management console.  
Remote Storage. Infrequently used files are moved to on-line backup when disk space becomes low.  
A new boot.ini option called "secondary plex" allows booting when a software RAID volume has failed  
Task Manager has 2 extra tabs - one showing a graph of network usage per adaptor and the other showing details of connected users.  
Emergency Management Services Console Redirection. Redirect the screen through a COM port so that a  remote administrator can view the boot process.  
Robocopy.exe - a Resource Kit tool to maintain identical folder trees in multiple locations.  
Clustering service supports Majority Node Set clusters which don't require shared disk storage and it also supports multiple redundant paths to external storage such as SANs. Cluster Service account password can be changed with cluster on-line.

(Enterprise and Datacenter editions only).

If you know of some feature I've missed, please tell me about it.
Automated System Recovery is a new backup option to facilitate a server being rebuilt from scratch including recreating the partition structure.
Windows System Resource Manager allows limits to be placed on system resources such as CPU and RAM usage on a per-process or per-application basis (Enterprise and Datacenter editions only).
These next couple of points are features developed for 2003 that Microsoft has made available as free downloads to use with 2000 and so aren't considerations when deciding which operating system to go for - you can get them either way.
  
 

2003: Advantages over 2000

Star Rating
The Terminal Server client has been improved and now allows the clients hard drives, printers and COM ports to be accessed in the TS session. Audio can be heard locally and there are more bandwidth-efficiency options. Download it here.
Microsoft System Update Services. This is your own local version of the Windows Update website. Using it conserves Internet bandwidth and gives more control over the application of security patches throughout your network. Download it here (version 2 coming soon).

 

 

New Features in 2003 Service Pack 1: Advantages over 2000

Star Rating
File shares can be hidden from users that don't have permissions to access the files and folders contained in the share.
Windows 2003 servers can now connect to wireless networks that use WiFi Protected Access (WPA) which is more secure (uncrackable?) than WEP security.
Computers connecting remotely to a network can be quarantined until they have been scanned to determine if they conform to various security requirements such as the correct service pack and security patches are installed , they have up-to-date antivirus and firewall programs running, routing is disabled and a password-protected screen-saver is enabled.
Internet Connection Firewall has been replaced by the more capable Windows Firewall that now protect the server during start-up and shutdown.
The Security Configuration Wizard helps administrators to shutdown unneeded services and close TCP ports that aren't required to be open.
Services such as RPC and DCOM now require greater authentication by programs making calls to them.

 

 

2003: Disadvantages over 2000

Star Rating

  
Windows Product Activation (WPA). It's included in the product to protect Microsoft from piracy.  While in no way wishing to condone the illegal copying of software, for legitimate purchasers of Windows Server 2003 WPA is an extra complication that can be problematic and inconvenient.  
Shutdown Event Tracker. This is where you have to provide a reason why you want to shutdown or reboot. I suppose some companies might think it's a good idea. Before you ask, here's how to turn it off: Start - Run - gpedit.msc - OK. Computer Configuration - Administrative Templates - System - Display Shutdown Event Tracker - Disabled

"Sorry Dave, I can't do that right now"

HAL from 2001 A Space Odyssey
     
For me, the sheer number of new features makes 2003 the choice for an NT upgrade or new installation.

If, however, there's nothing in the above tables that convinces you to spend money on an upgrade from 2000 then take comfort in knowing that your Windows 2000 network is likely to fulfil all your business needs for at least the next 5 years and who's to say where we'll be in 5 years' time?

Perhaps then you'll be upgrading to Linux.

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