Chapter 1, Introduction to Microsoft Windows 2000

Chapter 1, Lesson 1

Overview of Windows 2000

|1| 1. Introduction to Windows 2000

A. Multipurpose operating system with integrated support for client/server and peer-to-peer networks

B. Increased reliability, availability, and scalability for small networks to large enterprise networks

C. Incorporates technologies that reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO)

D. Comprehensive Internet and application support

2. Four Editions of Windows 2000

|2| A. Windows 2000 Professional

1. Main Microsoft desktop operating system

2. High-performance, secure-network client computer and corporate desktop

3. Builds on Microsoft Windows 98 and Microsoft Windows NT Workstation

4. Extends the manageability, reliability, and security of Windows NT

|3| B. Windows 2000 Server

1. Contains all features of Windows 2000 Professional plus server-specific functions

2. Supports file, print, application, and Web servers

3. Supports a complete set of infrastructure services based on Active Directory services

4. Supports uniprocessor systems and up to four-way symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) systems

5. Ideal for small- to medium-size enterprise application deployment

|4| C. Windows 2000 Advanced Server

1. Contains all features of Windows 2000 Server plus advanced high availability and improved scalability

2. More powerful departmental and application server operating system

3. Supports eight-way SMP and integrates high availability two-way clustering

4. Ideal for database-intensive work

|5| D. Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

1. Contains all features of Windows 2000 Advanced Server plus load balancing services and enhanced clustering services

2. Specialized high-end version of Windows 2000 designed for large-scale enterprise solution

a. Large data warehouses

b. Econometric analysis

c. Large-scale simulations in science and engineering

d. Online transaction processing

e. Server consolidation projects

f. Large-scale Internet service providers (ISPs)

g. Web site hosting

3. Supports 16-way SMP and up to 32-way SMP through OEM operating system enhancements

|6| 3. Features of Windows 2000

Note Refer to the table on pages 4–5 for details about the following features.

A. Lower TCO

B. Security

C. Directory services

D. Performance and scalability

E. Networking and communication services

F. Internet integration

G. Integrated administration tools

H. Hardware support

Chapter 1, Lesson 2

Operating System Architecture

|7| 1. Windows 2000 Architectural Overview

Note The figure in slide 7, Windows 2000 Architectural Overview (which is also Figure 1.1 on page 8 of the ALS: Microsoft Windows 2000 Server textbook), provides an overview of the Windows 2000 operating system architecture. Like all operating systems, Windows 2000 contains many lines of code that are designed to make computer hardware available to applications. This figure merely provides a conceptual framework for understanding how the code fits together. Therefore, diagrams from different sources may vary from this one.

A. Supports devices and drivers that are hardware-configurable and software-configurable

B. Runs uniformly on uniprocessor and SMP platforms

C. Supports packet-driven I/O with reusable I/O request packets and asynchronous I/O

|8| 2. Architectural Layers

|9| A. User mode

|10| 1. Environment subsystems

a. Allow Windows 2000 to run applications written for different operating systems

b. Emulate different operating systems by presenting the APIs that need to be available for the applications

c. Support for two environment subsystems: Win32 and POSIX

d. Have no direct access to hardware or device drivers

e. Run at a lower priority than kernel-mode processes

Note Microsoft Enterprise Memory Architecture (EMA), part of Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, can make larger amounts of physical RAM available to applications, thereby improving their performance.

|11| 2. Integral subsystems

a. Perform essential operating system functions

b. Include several important integral subsystems

Note Refer to the table on page 10 for a description of each of the following integral subsystems.

(1) Security

(2) Workstation service

(3) Server service

|12| B. Kernel mode

|13| 1. Windows 2000 Executive

a. Performs most of the I/O and object management

b. Provides system services and internal routines

c. Includes a number of components

Note Refer to the table on pages 11–12 for a description of each of the following components.

(1) I/O Manager

(2) Security reference monitor

(3) Interprocess Communication (IPC) Manager

(4) Virtual Memory Manager (VMM)

(5) Process Manager

(6) Plug and Play (PnP) Manager

(7) Power Manager

(8) Window Manager and graphical device interface (GDI)

(9) Object Manager

|14| 2. Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)

a. Virtualizes the hardware interface details

b. Contains hardware-specific code that handles I/O interfaces, interrupt controllers, and multiprocessor communication mechanisms

Note Support for Alpha-based hardware was discontinued after Windows 2000 Release Candidate One.

c. Implemented as a dynamic-link library and responsible for all hardware-level, platform-specific support

|15| 3. Kernel Mode Drivers

a. Implemented as discrete, modular components with a well-defined set of required functionality

b. Include a set of system-defined standard driver routines and some internal routines

c. Support three basic types of drivers

Note Refer to the table on page 15 for a description of each of the following types of kernel-mode drivers.

(1) Highest-level drivers

(2) Intermediate drivers

(3) Lowest-level drivers

|16| d. Windows Driver Model (WDM)

(1) Subset of the intermediate level of kernel-mode drivers

(2) Enables devices designed for Windows 2000 or Windows 98 to be installed and used with computers running under either operating system

(3) Based on a class/miniport structure that provides modular, extensible architectures for device support

|17| e. WDM Layered Architecture

(1) Uses special class drivers to provide cross-platform support

(2) Four classes of drivers: miniport, class, OS services, and virtualization

(3) Class driver provided for each bus class and hardware device class supported by WDM

Chapter 1, Lesson 3
Windows 2000 Directory Services

1. Introduction to Directory Services

|18| A. Directory

1. Stored collection of information about objects that are all related to one another in some way

2. Database of network objects that can be referenced in many different ways

3. Information related to the network resources to facilitate locating and managing these resources

|19| B. Directory service

1. Uniquely identifies users and resources on a network

2. Provides a way to organize and access those users and resources

3. Allows you to perform a number of functions

a. Enforce security to protect the objects in its database

b. Replicate a directory to other computers in the network

c. Partition a directory into multiple stores that are located on different computers across the network

4. Acts as both an administration tool and an end-user tool

2. Workgroups and Domains

|20| A. Windows 2000 workgroups

1. A logical grouping of networked computers

2. Share resources such as files and printers

3. Referred to as a peer-to-peer network

4. A local security database maintained by each computer in the workgroup

5. Changes to accounts made on each computer

6. Provides a number of advantages

a. Does not require a computer running Windows 2000 Server

b. Simple to design and implement

c. Convenient for a limited number of computers in close proximity (no more than 10 computers)

d. Well suited to small groups of technical users who do not require centralized administration

Note In a workgroup, a computer running Windows 2000 Server is called a stand-alone server.

|21| B. Windows 2000 domains

1. A logical grouping of network computers that share a central directory database

Note The directory resides on domain controllers. A domain controller is a server that manages all security-related user/domain interactions and centralizes administration. In Windows NT domains, domain controllers are either backup domain controllers (BDCs) or primary domain controllers (PDCs). In Windows 2000 domains, there is only one type of domain controller, and all domain controllers are peers.

2. Not limited to a single location or a specific type of network configuration

3. Can share physical proximity on a small LAN or can be located in different parts of the world

4. Provides a number of advantages

a. Centralized administration

b. A single logon process

c. Scalability

|22| 3. Windows 2000 Active Directory Services

|23| A. Introduction to Active Directory services

1. Included in Windows 2000

2. Provides a single point of network management

3. Includes the directory, which stores information about network services, as well as services that make the information available and useful

4. Organizes resources hierarchically in domains

|24| B. Active Directory features

1. Scalability

a. Can expand as an organization grows

b. Can scale from a small installation to a large installation

2. Open Standards Support

a. Integrates the Internet concept of a namespace with Windows NT directory services

b. Uses the Domain Name System (DNS) for its name system

c. Can exchange information with any application or directory that uses Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

3. The Domain Name System (DNS)

a. Windows 2000 domain names are DNS names

b. Uses Dynamic DNS

4. Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

a. An Internet standard for accessing directory services

b. A simpler alternative to X.500

5. Support for standard name formats

a. RFC 822

b. LDAP URLs and X.500

c. UNC

|25| C. Active Directory structure

|26| 1. Logical Structure

a. Objects

(1) Distinct named set of attributes that represents a network resource

(2) Can be organized into classes, which are logical groupings of objects

Note Container objects are objects that can contain other objects. For example, a domain is a container object.

b. Organizational Units (OUs)

(1) A container object that is used to organize objects into logical administrative groups

(2) Can contain objects such as user accounts, groups, computers, printers, applications, file shares, and other OUs

c. Domains

(1) The core unit of the logical structure in Active Directory services

(2) A security boundary

Note A domain is called a partition of the Active Directory services. All domains within a forest make up the Active Directory services.

|27| d. Trees

(1) A grouping or hierarchical arrangement of one or more Windows 2000 domains

(2) Can consist of a single domain

(3) Share information and resources to function as a single unit

(4) Combine the directory information from all domains into a single directory

(5) Share a common namespace and a hierarchical naming structure

|28| e. Forests

(1) A grouping of one or more trees

(2) Allow organizations to group divisions or combine networks that do not use the same name scheme

(3) Share the same schema and rules on how objects work together

(4) Make objects of the domain trees available to all user objects in the forest