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Planning the order of server upgrades in a Windows NT 4.0 domain

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Planning the order of server upgrades in a Windows NT 4.0 domain

This topic lists the features available with the upgrade of any server running Windows NT 4.0 and also lists the features available with the upgrade of the first domain controller from Windows NT 4.0. Plan the order of server upgrades according to the features you are most interested in.

The following topics provide additional information:

  • For information about other features in products in the Windows Server 2003 family, see New Features.

  • For more information about upgrading servers in a domain where all domain controllers run Windows NT 4.0, see Upgrades in a Windows NT 4.0 Domain.

  • For information about Active Directory, see Active Directory.

Features available with the upgrade of any server in a Windows NT domain

If you are interested in the features in the following list, you might want to focus on upgrading the member servers in your Windows NT 4.0 domain. For information about reasons to upgrade the domain controllers, see "Features Available with the First Domain Controller Upgrade in a Windows NT Domain," later in this topic.

  • Management tools:

    Microsoft Management Console

    Plug and Play

    Device Manager

    Add Hardware Wizard (in Control Panel)

    Support for universal serial bus

    Enhanced Backup utility

  • File system support: The version of NTFS in the Windows Server 2003 family includes support for disk quotas, the ability to defragment directory structures, and compressed network I/O.

  • Application services: Win32 Driver Model, DirectX 7.0, and Windows Script Host.

  • Printer protocol support: Device and protocol support allowing choices from more than 2,500 different printers. Other printing enhancements are included; for example, Internet Printing Protocol support, which allows users to print directly to a URL over an intranet or the Internet.

  • Scalability and availability: Improved symmetric multiprocessor support as compared to Windows NT.

  • Security: Encrypting file system.

Features available with the first domain controller upgrade in a Windows NT domain

If you are interested in the features in the following list, all of which are features of Active Directory, focus on upgrading the primary domain controller, as opposed to member servers. (The first domain controller that you upgrade must be the primary domain controller. It is recommended that you also upgrade backup domain controllers.) For information about the DNS planning necessary before beginning the upgrade of domain controllers running Windows NT, see Planning DNS for the upgrade of domain controllers running Windows NT 4.0.

Note

  • When a domain controller is upgraded, it has all the features of the Windows Server 2003 family operating system, which means it has all the features in the following list, plus the features in "Features available with the upgrade of any server in a Windows NT Domain," earlier in this topic.

When you upgrade a domain controller to run the Windows Server 2003 family operating system instead of Windows NT, many Active Directory features become available in the domain:

  • Simplified management of network-resource information and user information.

  • Group Policy, which you can use to set policies that apply across a given site, domain, or organizational unit in Active Directory.

  • Security and authentication features, including support for Kerberos V5, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 3.0, and Transport Layer Security (TLS) using X.509v3 certificates.

  • Directory consolidation, through which you can organize and simplify the management of users, computers, applications, and devices, and make it easier for users to find the information they want. You can take advantage of synchronization support through interfaces based on LDAP, and work with directory consolidation requirements specific to your applications.

  • Directory-enabled applications and infrastructure, which make it easier to configure and manage applications and other directory-enabled network components.

  • Scalability without complexity, a result of Active Directory scaling to millions of objects per domain and using indexing technology and advanced replication techniques to speed performance.

  • Use of Internet standards, including access through LDAP and a namespace based on the Domain Name System (DNS).

  • Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI), a powerful development environment.

  • Additional features, as described in Features for Active Directory.