| When you
think of "new devices," the first thing that comes to
mind might be something like a digital camera. While
you might not attach a camera to your server, the same
technologies that make cameras easy to install and use
on a Windows 2000 Professional desktop computer also
make it easier to deploy and manage hardware devices
on the Windows® 2000 Server operating system. Windows 2000 Server
supports a number of technologies and peripherals
including:
-
Multi-Processor Hardware.
Windows 2000 Server supports the latest
multi-processor hardware. This lets you gain
proportionally more processing power from each of as
many as 32 processors per machine. Adding processors
to an existing system is an extremely economical way
to increase processing power without the expense of
adding another server.
- Plug and
Play devices. Plug and
Play technologies let you install and configure new
devices such as printers, disk drives, and modems
quickly and easily. To reduce the chance of
configuration errors, Plug and Play selects device
drivers and makes complicated choices, such as
interrupt selections, for you. To further simplify
the use of new devices, Windows 2000 supports
dynamic installation of Plug and Play devices so
that hardware can be added and removed without
requiring you to reboot the server.
- USB
devices. Universal Serial
Bus (USB) technologies make it easier than ever to
install new peripherals, including more than 3,500
printers, keyboards, and mouse pointing devices.
Through support for Plug and Play installation,
Windows 2000 detects and installs most USB-ready
devices automatically, saving time and reducing
errors. For example, you do not have to open up a
computer case to install a USB-based networking
adapter. This simplification is especially useful
for connecting to the Internet through USB-connected
DSL and cable modem interface boxes.
- Network
adapters. Windows 2000
automatically detects and installs most network
adapter cards used to connect client computers to
corporate networks, again using Plug and Play
technologies. Windows 2000 Server also supports the
newest network adapters that support 802.1P packet
prioritization so that you can give the best quality
to the selected people and applications.
- QoS-enabled
switches and routers.
Windows 2000 Server includes advanced Quality of
Service (QoS) features that integrate with the
newest network switches and routers that support
end-to-end quality of service management. This lets
you get more out of existing networks and lets you
allocate the highest quality of services to the
people that need them the most. It also helps you
ensure that network-intensive applications, such as
multimedia programs, do not use more bandwidth than
is allocated to them in advance.
- Smartcards.
Strong user authentication is increasingly important
to protect access to company assets. To support this
requirement, Windows 2000 supports advanced
authentication devices such as smart cards and token
cards. These cards require a user to enter his or
her card into a reader and enter a Personal
Identification Number (PIN) before he or she can log
on to a computer. This increases security because it
requires two safeguards: the user must possess a
physical entity (the card) and know a specific PIN
number.
- Wireless
Communication. Windows
2000 supports the latest wireless networking
technologies. In cases where cables are difficult to
use, wireless communications offer an alternative
way for you to create network connections. For
example, this can be a useful way to install a
server in a closet or room where network wiring is
unavailable or unworkable.
- Infrared
devices. The Infrared
Monitor service of Windows 2000 Server supports data
transfer over infrared connections between
computers, printers, cameras, and other devices that
use IRDA protocols supported by the service. The
Wireless Link feature of Windows 2000 Server also
lets you quickly and easily transfer data over
infrared connections between computers or devices,
without requiring a physical network connection.
- IEEE 1394.
Windows 2000 Server supports the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394
standard, also known as FireWire, for high-speed
serial devices such as digital video and digital
audio editing equipment.
Conclusion
Adopting Windows 2000
Server lets you take advantage of the latest hardware,
such as multiprocessor servers. New peripherals and
connection technologies, ranging from smart card
authentication systems, to wireless and USB
connections, are also made readily usable. To let you
make the most of these technologies, Windows 2000
Server includes features that simplify hardware
installation and maintenance.
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