Preparing Your Network Infrastructure for Windows 2000
Preparing Your Network Infrastructure for Windows 2000 |
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Consider the quality and bandwidth of your existing network wiring and devices, and whether they will support your upgrade or migration plans. Are the network devices, such as hubs and cabling, fast enough for your purposes? How fast are your links to geographically dispersed sites? How much traffic is generated on your network internally and over links? For example, a remote office that uses a word processor or spreadsheet as its main desktop application does not generate much network traffic to the branch server, so Category 3 network cabling capable of 10-Mbps transmission matched with the same speed hubs might be acceptable. In the main office, shared applications with shared data, such as databases and accounting systems, are the main desktop applications. These applications generate considerably more network traffic, and require faster network devices and cabling.
The growing importance of having Internet access and multimedia available on the corporate desktop adds to the demand for bandwidth. Ethernet networks running shared applications might require Category 5 cable capable of
Evaluate bandwidth demand in your test lab for a specific configuration. For instance, if your organization plans to carry voice and video over your data network, your cabling and switches must be capable of handling the bandwidth demand of those services.
Third-party and built-in Windows NT diagnostic tools can help you to determine the bandwidth demand of, for instance, sending a compressed video signal over your network's WAN links. However, in a test lab you can test several possible configurations of your equipment and operating parameters to determine the lowest demand.
Your deployment plan will be affected by configuration requirements for the Windows 2000 features you plan to use. For example, if a Dfs volume in a branch office replicates over a slow link to an alternative Dfs volume, you might decide to either upgrade the link to improve bandwidth or place the alternative volume in the branch office to reduce the amount of network traffic on the slow link.
Some features of Windows 2000 require a specific configuration, such as placing a VPN server at one end of a WAN connection as part of establishing a secure VPN connection. You need to include configuration considerations, such as how you plan to integrate the VPN server with proxy servers, in your plan. Look at the existing infrastructure of your network and the anticipated benefits and features, such as secure WAN links using VPN, that you expect to deploy with Windows 2000. For more information about configuring your Windows 2000 security strategy, see "Determining Windows 2000 Network Security Strategies"in this book. For additional security-related information, see "Planning Distributed Security"in this book.
Review your network devices for compatibility with Windows 2000. Check the Hardware Compatibility List for network cards, modems, and certain kinds of hubs. For instance, Windows 2000 can offload TCP checksum calculations onto network adapters that support this Windows 2000 feature, improving network performance. For more information about the approved systems and devices on the HCL, see the Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility List link on the Web Resources page at http://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/webresources.
Windows 2000 supports Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), and offers an additional migration pathway from traditional shared-media networks to ATM by offering LAN emulation (LANE) services. Windows 2000 also supports IP over ATM. If you are planning to use Windows 2000 ATM or are currently using Windows NT 4.0 ATM, make sure that your ATM vendor supplies updated drivers for Windows 2000. Make certain that your ATM adapters are listed on the HCL.