Subject: New Windows file server and other important Windows changes
 
 There are several upgrades, improvements and changes pending on the Windows
 side. This is an overview of work in progress; more detailed discussions and
 status reports will follow in later editions of COMPNEWS and Bulletin News
 articles.
 
 WindowsNT has been the fastest growing area in our shop. We purchased two
 inexpensive, commodity desktop PCs acting as NT servers last year. As
 expected, these machines have almost reached capacity a year later, and we
 had to look for more scalable solutions this summer. We purchased a
 dual-processor 733 MHz Dell server with 1 GB of memory. Compared to a desktop
 PC, a server-type machine has built-in redundancy (e.g. dual power supplies),
 a lot more PCI-slots (thus more expandability with respect to disk I/O), and
 it can hold more memory. With the server comes a 4-channel hardware RAID
 controller that will allow us to implement redundant data volumes (data
 integrity can be maintained should one disk be lost) with hot-swappable
 disks. This new server, running Microsoft's Windows2000 Advanced Server
 operating system, is currently being configured and tested.
 
 We plan for the new server to act as a file server for the majority of our
 user data volumes. It will also act as a Microsoft Exchange and
 remote-deployment server. The "old" NT file server (currently called
 "chem-nt1") will be upgraded to Windows2000 and will continue to be a file
 server for a subset of our user data volumes. What is currently "chem-nt",
 the print server, will also be upgraded to Windows2000 and renamed to
 "print-server".
 
 The remote deployment server will allow us to centrally deploy and maintain
 Windows2000 PCs. Similar to the "Assimilator" server for the Macs in the Lab
 2105 NW, this will give us the capability to automatically rebuild Windows
 PCs whenever problems occur, thus reducing the maintenance requirements for
 individual PCs. (For more information on Assimilator, see COMPNEWS issue 29.)
 
 We plan to abandon the name "chem-nt1" for the old file server as well as the
 name "chem-nt" for the print server. The two file servers will be known as
 "blackbird" and "falcon", and the print server will be known as
 "print-server".
 
 Why all those name changes? Along with the switch from WindowsNT to
 Windows2000 we will introduce DFS (distributed file system) as the new method
 for Windows clients to access volumes on the file servers (the current method
 is "mapping" volumes). DFS uses only a root name (yet to be defined), works
 with any number of file servers, and along with Microsoft's Active Directory
 will keep track of where all the data volumes reside. This has the advantage
 that users trying to access their U: share or another data volume will simply
 request those volumes by name and won't have to know where (on which server)
 the data volumes physically reside. We can add more file servers in the
 future, volumes can be moved from one server to the other, and all of this
 without users even noticing. The current method of "mapping" volumes requires
 user to know on which of the two (or later more) file servers their data
 reside.
 
 Microsoft's "Active Directory" is a University-wide structure to keep track
 of Windows resources (user accounts, permissions, access control lists, data
 volumes, etc.). Our College is currently operating Active Directory servers
 on behalf of the entire University.
 
 Microsoft has renamed their operating system line from WindowsNT to
 Windows2000, thus giving up on the term "NT" ("New Technology") used to
 distinguish their commercial-grade operating system from their home user
 operating system. We assume that the year 2000 will not be a permanent part
 of the name, but that the term "Windows" will stick. We would prefer keeping
 names and terms the same, but we have no choice but to follow vendors' naming
 schemes. For this reason we will from now on refer to "NT accounts" as
 "Windows accounts". Expect this change in terminology to trickle down into
 our FAQs and help texts over time.
 
 We believe that these transitions, even though some may be confusing in the
 short run, will lead to a more modern, stable, flexible, scalable and
 maintainable Windows environment in the Department.
 
 To summarize, we are currently working on the following Windows-related
 projects:
 
  - deploy the new file server and migrate the majority of the user data to it
 
  - upgrade the old file server from WindowsNT to Windows2000
 
  - become part of the university-wide Active Directory structure
 
  - introduce DFS to access volumes, install DFS clients on all desktop
    Windows PCs that don't have this capability
 
  - configure remote installation server, reinstall all PCs in the Lab 2105 NW
    and deploy all new staff PCs
 
  - educate users about name changes and how to access resources under the new
    scheme
 
 Each one of these sub-projects is challenging. Most of them are already at
 varying stages of completion. Almost all of them are being done in parallel
 and without disrupting normal operations.