Windows Server 2003 (also referred to as Win2K3) is a server operating system produced by Microsoft. Introduced on 24 April 2003 as the successor to Windows 2000 Server, it is considered by Microsoft to be the cornerstone of its Windows Server System line of business server products. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005. Its successor, Windows Server 2008, was released on 4 February 2008.
According to Microsoft, Windows Server 2003 is more scalable and delivers better performance than its predecessor, Windows 2000.
Overview
New and updated features
See also: Features new to Windows XP
- Internet Information Services (IIS) v6.0 - A significantly improved version of IIS.
- Increased default security over previous versions, due to the built-in firewall and having most services disabled by default.
- Significant improvements to Message Queuing.
- Manage Your Server - a role management administrative tool that allows an administrator to choose what functionality the server should provide.
- Improvements to Active Directory, such as the ability to deactivate classes from the scheme, or to run multiple instances of the directory server (ADAM)
- Improvements to Group Policy handling and administration
- Provides a backup system to restore lost files
- Improved disk management, including the ability to back up from shadows of files, allowing the backup of open files.
- Improved scripting and command line tools, which are part of Microsoft's initiative to bring a complete command shell to the next version of Windows.
- Support for a hardware-based "watchdog timer", which can restart the server if the operating system does not respond within a certain amount of time.
Removed features
- The ability of creating rescue disk. Automated System Recovery (ASR) is used instead.
Editions
Windows Server 2003 comes in a number of editions, each targeted towards a particular size and type of business. In general, all variants of Windows Server 2003 have the ability to share files and printers, act as an application server, and host message queues, provide email services, authenticate users, act as an X.509 certificate server, provide LDAP directory services, serve streaming media, and to perform other server-oriented functions.
Windows Small Business Server
Main article: Windows Small Business ServerSBS includes Windows Server and additional technologies aimed at providing a small business with a complete technology solution. The technologies are integrated to enable small business with targeted solutions such as the Remote Web Workplace, and offer management benefits such as integrated setup, enhanced monitoring, a unified management console, and remote access.
The Standard Edition of SBS includes Windows SharePoint Services for collaboration, Microsoft Exchange server for e-mail, Fax Server, and the Active Directory for user management. The product also provides a basic firewall, DHCP server and NAT router using either two network cards or one network card in addition to a hardware router.
The Premium Edition of SBS includes the above plus Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2004.
SBS has its own type of Client Access License (CAL) that is different and costs slightly more than CALs for the other editions of Windows Server 2003. However, the SBS CAL encompasses the user CALs for Windows Server, Exchange Server, SQL Server, and ISA Server, and hence is less expensive than buying all other CALs individually.
SBS server has the following design limitations:
- Only one computer in a domain can be running Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server.
- Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server must be the root of the Active Directory forest.
- Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server cannot trust any other domains.
- Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server is limited to 75 users or devices depending on which type of CAL.
- Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server is limited to 4GB of RAM (Random Access Memory).
- A Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server domain cannot have any child domains.
- Terminal Services only operates in remote administration mode on the server running SBS 2003, and only two simultaneous RDP sessions are allowed. (Change from SBS 2000 policy)
- To remove the limits from SBS server and upgrade from Small Business Server to regular Windows Server, Exchange Server, SQL and ISA server versions there is a Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Transition Pack.
Web Edition
Windows Server 2003, Web Edition is mainly for building and hosting Web applications, Web pages, and XML web services. It is designed to be used primarily as an IIS 6.0 Web server and provides a platform for rapidly developing and deploying XML Web services and applications that use ASP.NET technology, a key part of the .NET Framework. Terminal Server mode is not included on Web Edition. However, Remote Desktop for Administration is available on Windows Server 2003, Web Edition. Only 10 concurrent file-sharing connections are allowed at any moment. It is not possible to install Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange software in this edition without installing Service Pack 1. Despite supporting XML Web services and ASP.NET, UDDI cannot be deployed on Windows Server 2003, Web Edition. The .NET Framework version 2.0 is not included with Windows Server 2003, Web Edition, but can be installed as a separate update from Windows Update.
Windows Server 2003 Web Edition supports a maximum of 2 processors with support for a maximum of 2GB of RAM. Additionally, Windows Server 2003, Web Edition cannot act as a domain controller. It is the only edition of Windows Server 2003 that does not require Client Access Licenses when used as the internet facing server front end for Internet Information Services and Windows Server Update Services. When using it for storage or as a backend with another remote server as the frontend, CALs may still be required.
Standard Edition
Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition is aimed towards small to medium sized businesses. Standard Edition supports file and printer sharing, offers secure Internet connectivity, and allows centralized desktop application deployment. The initial release of Windows Server 2003 was available solely for 32-bit processors; a 64-bit version supporting the x86-64 architecture (AMD64 and EM64T, called collectively x64 by Microsoft) was released in April 2005. The 32-bit version will run on up to 4 processors with up to 4 GB RAM; the 64-bit version is capable of addressing up to 32 GB of RAM and also supports Non-Uniform Memory Access. The 32-bit version is available for students to download free of charge as part of Microsoft's DreamSpark program.
Enterprise Edition
Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition is aimed towards medium to large businesses. It is a full-function server operating system that supports up to eight processors and provides enterprise-class features such as eight-node clustering using Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) software and support for up to 32 GB of memory through PAE (added with the /PAE boot string). Enterprise Edition also comes in 64-bit versions for the Itanium and x64 architectures. The 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition are capable of addressing up to 1 TB of memory. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions support Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA). It also provides the ability to hot-add supported hardware. Enterprise Edition is also required to issue custom certificate templates.
Datacenter Edition
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition is designed for infrastructures demanding high security and reliability. Windows Server 2003 is available for x86, Itanium, and x86-64 processors. It supports a maximum of up to 32 processors on 32-bit or 64 processors on 64-bit hardware. 32-bit architecture also limits memory addressability to 64 GB, while the 64-bit versions support up to 1 TB. Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, also allows limiting processor and memory usage on a per-application basis.
Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition also supports Non-Uniform Memory Access. If supported by the system, Windows, with help from the system firmware creates a Static Resource Affinity Table that defines the NUMA topology of the system. Windows then uses this table to optimize memory accesses, and provide NUMA awareness to applications, thereby increasing the efficiency of thread scheduling and memory management.
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition has better support for Storage Area Networks (SAN). It features a service which uses Windows sockets to emulate TCP/IP communication over native SAN service providers, thereby allowing a SAN to be accessed over any TCP/IP channel. With this, any application that can communicate over TCP/IP can use a SAN, without any modification to the application.
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, also supports 8-nod
Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2: Microsoft Partner Network
Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 (Windows SBS 2003 R2) provides e-mail, Internet connectivity, internal Web sites, remote access, support for mobile devices, file and printer ...
Windows Server 2003
Contains links to all of the Windows Server 2003 content on the TechCenter.
Microsoft SBS Server Exchange 2003 Support, Small Business Server 2003 ...
Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 (SBS 2003 R2) setup is an advanced IT solution designed to help you protect your data, do more with less, and connect with customers like ...
San Diego Windows Server 2003, Windows SBS 2003 Installation & Repair
Windows Server 2003 installation benefits for San Diego
Windows Server 2003 R2 Home
Homepage for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 with product information, technical information, samples and downloads, developer community information, and product news and reviews.
Windows Small Business Server 2003 Home
Home page for Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 with product information, technical information, community information, trial software, ROI information, product demos ...
The Official SBS Blog : Windows Server 2003 R2 Components and SBS
We've heard several inquiries now about installing the new features in Windows Server 2003 R2 in to an SBS 2003 environment. The chances that any SBS customer actually needs ADFS ...
Windows Small Business Server - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Windows Small Business Server (SBS) (formerly Microsoft Small Business Server) is an integrated server suite from Microsoft designed for running network infrastructure (both ...
Connecting Remote Windows Server 2003 to SBS 2003 | 1 of 2
Hi all, We have our primary network running SBS 2003 and are attempting to deploy a remote network in a separate location on a server running Windows Server 2003. First ...
Windows Server 2003 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SBS has its own type of Client Access License (CAL) that is different and costs slightly more than CALs for the other editions of Windows Server 2003. However, the SBS CAL ...