Overview of Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a
multipurpose Operating System with
integrated support for
client/server and
peer-to-peer networks. It incorporates
technologies that reduce total cost of ownership (
TCO), including software and
hardware updates, training, maintenance,
administration,
technical support, and lost productivity due to user errors, hardware problems, software upgrades, and
retraining.
Windows 2000 actually comes in more flavors than the standard three:
- Windows 2000 Professional
- High-performance, secure-network client computer and corporate operating system.
- Includes best features of Microsoft Windows 98
- Extends manageability, reliability, security, and performance of Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
- Designed to be the main desktop operating system for businesses of all sizes.
- Supports two CPUs and 4Gig of memory.
- Windows 2000 Server
- Supports file, print, terminal, application, and Web servers
- Contains all of the features of Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, plus many new server-specific functions
- Ideal for small to medium-size enterprise application deployments, Web servers, workgroups, and branch offices
- Supports four CPUs and 4Gig of memory.
- Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Powerful departmental and application server
- Supports large physical memories, clustering, and load balancing
- Supports eight CPUs and 8Gig of memory.
- Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
- Most powerful and functional server OS in the Microsoft Windows 2000 family
- Optimized for large data warehouses, econometric analysis, large-scale simulations in science and engineering, and server consolidation projects
- Cannot be purchased separately; must be obtained through a resaler who bundles it with extremely large (and very expensive) servers.
- Supports 64 CPUs and 64Gig of memory (Yowza!).
Info gleaned from several Microsoft books and webpages.