Chapter 14. Windows 2000 Networking Services

Windows 2000 is unique compared with most operating systems because it embraces a multitude of industry standard protocols and services for advanced networking. Some of these services are fundamental to your network, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) , and some are complementary, such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) , domain name system (DNS), Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS) , and Quality of Service (QoS) . In any case, the networking services you choose to implement and how you choose to implement them to achieve your business objectives is an important task as a Network Architect or IS Manager. As you plan your implementation of Active Directory, it is important to also focus on planning for the implementation of these network services.

Whether you need to implement a single local area network (LAN) for your business, connect multiple offices together forming a wide area network (WAN), or simply extend your network to provide support for remote users, suppliers, or business partners, Windows 2000 offers the advanced networking services required to meet your specific organization's needs. However, without an adequate understanding of how these network services should be designed and implemented, it is possible to deploy network services that can negatively affect the performance of Active Directory in your organization.

This chapter will explore some of the primary networking services contained within Windows 2000. This chapter introduces some of the core networking services of Windows 2000 and presents design scenarios common to many Network Architects and organizations, specifically TCP/IP and a subset of the TCP/IP protocol suite—DHCP. In addition, this chapter discusses how Windows 2000 advanced networking services can be implemented and configured to support the design requirements as well as what considerations to account for when implementing the services.