This chapter introduces the following subjects:
Each topic is covered in much greater detail in the remaining chapters of this book.
Windows NT Server is on a roll. According to International Data Corporation, a major market research organization, sales of Windows NT Server increased by more than 370 percent in 1995 and are slated to almost double during 1996. If IDC's 1996 prediction pans out, Windows NT Server sales will be running neck and neck with shipments of Novell NetWare 4.1, and will account for 25 percent of worldwide server operating system sales by the time you read this book. Over a span of less than four years, Windows NT Server has emerged from niche status as an application server to become a major contender in the mainstream PC file- and printer-sharing server market now dominated by NetWare and, to a lesser extent, UNIX servers.
Microsoft's determination to make Windows NT the primary player in the Internet server market is sure to fuel a substantial proportion of the increase in sales of Windows NT Server 4.0 for 1996 and onward. Although the Internet's public World Wide Web garners most of the publicity, private intranets represent the market with the greatest growth potential for Windows NT Server 4.0.
Intranets, which run over existing local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs), deliver documents coded with the Web's HyperText Markup Language (HTML) to clients equipped with low-cost or no-cost Web browsing applications. Just as the Internet Information Server 2.0 is fully integrated with Windows NT Server 4.0, Microsoft's 32-bit Internet Explorer 3.0 is scheduled to become an integrated component of the Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 95 operating systems by the end of 1996.
This chapter provides an introduction to the fourth iteration of Windows NT Server, which Microsoft originally called the Shell Update Release (SUR), but which now is officially Windows NT 4.0.
The first official use of "Version 4.0" with Windows NT appeared in the boot window of an alpha test release in late 1995 of the Windows 95 user-interface upgrade to Windows NT 3.51. At that time, Microsoft insisted that the SUR would be distributed as a maintenance release (Service Pack) for Windows NT 3.51-not as a new version.
Microsoft's plan was to reserve the official "4.0" designation for the repeatedly delayed Cairo operating system, then scheduled to begin beta testing in 1996. (Microsoft calls Cairo the "next major version of Windows NT.") Microsoft explained that "4.0" was required to notify Windows 95-compliant applications that the upgraded Windows NT operating system supported Windows 95's shell functions.
As the projected release date for Cairo extended into 1997 (and possibly into early 1998), Microsoft acquiesced to the inevitable and made Windows NT 4.0 an "official" version.
Special Edition Using Windows NT Server 4 is devoted to a new release of an existing operating system, making a list of newly added features obligatory. The following sections briefly describe the new features of Windows NT Server 4.0, many of which also apply to Windows NT Workstation 4.0.
Brief descriptions of new features are of greater significance to readers now using or at least familiar with prior versions of Windows NT Server than to those planning to adopt or in the process of adopting Windows NT Server 4.0 as their network operating system. Detailed descriptions of each new Windows NT Server 4.0 feature that appear in the remaining chapters of this book are indicated by the New Feature of Windows NT Server 4.0 margin icon next to this paragraph.
The new features of Windows NT Server 4.0 described in the following sections are grouped in the following categories:
Microsoft's usability improvements for Windows NT Server 4.0 arise primarily from features inherited from Windows 95, such as the Windows 95 user interface, Explorer, and taskbar, and from the wizards of the Microsoft Office productivity software suite. The following sections describe the most important new features that affect Windows NT Server 4.0's usability from the perspective of a network administrator.
Unfortunately, Windows NT Server 4.0 didn't inherit all of Windows 95's usability improvements. Windows NT 4.0 doesn't support Plug-and-Play installation of adapter cards, printers, monitors, and other Plug-and-Play-compliant devices. Windows NT 4.0 also lacks Windows 95's Device Manager page of the System tool. These features are expected to be included in the Cairo release.
Microsoft's initial objective for the SUR was simply to graft the Windows 95 user interface (UI) to Windows NT in order to give the high-end operating system the "modern look and feel" before the release of Cairo. There's little controversy that the Windows 95 UI is a substantial improvement over that of Windows 3.1+. Although Windows 95 didn't achieve Microsoft's sales objectives for corporate desktops, Windows 95 has enjoyed great success in the consumer and small-office/home-office (SOHO) markets.
Unfortunately, Microsoft elected to retain in Windows NT Server 4.0 the consumer-oriented My Computer and Network Neighborhood icons, whose names are believed to have originated with the ill-fated Microsoft Bob shell for Windows 3.1+. Fortunately, you can rename these two icons with more appropriate captions, such as the server name and Network Browser, respectively, as shown in figure 1.1.
1.1
A Windows NT Server 4.0 desktop with Windows Explorer open.
Windows Explorer (refer to fig. 1.1) substitutes for Windows NT 3.x's
File Manager, which in turn was derived from the original File Manager
tool of Windows 3.0. From Explorer's File menu, members
of groups with the required rights can
1.2
The Security page of the Foldername Properties sheet for the Shared folder.
The Foldername Properties sheet is identical to that of Windows 95 except for the Security page, which isn't available in Windows 95. Windows NT compression isn't available for volumes formatted for the file allocation table (FAT) system used by DOS, Windows 3.x, and Windows 95. You can establish permissions, auditing, and ownership for a selected file-shared or not-in the Filename Properties sheet.
This book uses the term property sheet when referring to dialogs used to set property values of a Windows NT object, such as a folder, file, user, or group. Property sheets originated with ActiveX controls (formerly OLE Controls, or OCXs), first introduced with Access 2.0. Most Windows NT property sheets are tabbed dialogs that use the Windows 95 common dialog design. For consistency with ActiveX terminology, the term property page describes the view for the tab you click. When Cairo arrives, all components of Windows NT will be objects, and property sheets and pages are destined to become part of Cairo's universal object nomenclature.
The Windows NT 4.0 Task Manager provides a substantial extension to the Task Manager tool of Windows NT 3.x. To open Task Manager, right-click the taskbar and choose Task Manager from the popup menu. The Task Manager window includes the following tabbed pages:
1.3
The Applications page of Windows NT Server 4.0's improved Task Manager.
1.4
Customizing the display of Task Manager's Processes page.
1.5
Task Manager's graphical display of server memory and CPU usage.
Microsoft wizards, which originated with Access 1.0, provide step-by-step guidance in the execution of administrative operations that involve an ordered sequence of tasks. All the components of Microsoft Office and Windows 95 have adopted wizards to assist users in performing sequential operations or to streamline single-step tasks. Windows NT Server 4.0 provides the following wizards:
1.6
The second step in adding a new user account with the Add User Account Wizard.
1.7
The third step in sharing a server folder with the Managing File and Folder Access Wizard.
The first three wizards in this list are especially useful for administrators new to Windows NT Server. The Network Client Administrator Wizard and License Wizard aid new and experienced network administrators. The last two wizards primarily are of interest to users of Windows NT Workstation 4.0.
Windows 95 introduced the concept of server-stored system policies and user profiles for centralized management of Windows 95 clients and to provide each networked user with his own custom desktop when logging on to the network from any location. Windows NT Server 4.0 extends system policies and user profiles to clients running Windows NT Workstation 4.0. The following sections describe Windows NT Server 4.0's new System Policy Editor for establishing system policies and user profiles, and support for diskless Windows 95 clients.
The structure of Windows NT 4.0 system policy and user profile files differs from that of Windows 95. Windows NT Server 4.0's methodology for creating and managing system policies and user profiles, however, is very similar to that of Windows 95.
System administrators use system policies to enforce standardization of client desktops, as well as to limit users' capability to modify the client environment. As an example, you might want to restrict users from editing the client's Registry because making an incorrect Registry entry can render the client unbootable.
Windows NT Server 4.0's new System Policy Editor is based on the PolEdit.exe application of Windows 95 (see fig. 1.8). You can create specific system policies for each user group or for individual users. Policy files are stored in the virtual netlogon share (the physical \Winnt\System32\Repl\Import\Scripts folder) and accessed by clients during startup of Windows NT Workstation 4.0. Information stored in the System Policy file modifies the HKEY_CURRENT_USER and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE keys of the client's Registry. Chapter 9, "Understanding the Windows NT Registry," describes Windows NT's Registry.
1.8
Restricting user options for Windows NT 4.0 PCs with the System Policy Editor.
User profiles contain values of the user-definable settings that control the operating environment of client (and server) PCs running Windows NT 4.0. You create and edit Windows NT 4.0 user profiles for user groups and individual user accounts with Upedit.exe (see fig. 1.9).
1.9
Setting a user group profile for account operators with the User Profile Editor.
The Windows NT Server 4.0 Setup program doesn't install the User Profile Editor. You install Upedit.exe and its associated help file from the d:\Clients\SvrTools\WinNT\i386\ folder of the distribution CD-ROM.
The Windows NT Server 4.0 distribution CD-ROM includes separate sets of remote server administration utilities for networked PCs running Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation 4.0. The Windows 95 version installs the following tools in the Start menu's Programs, Windows NT Tools group:
1.10
Displaying server system events remotely with the Windows 95 version of Event Viewer.
Windows 95 Remote Program Load (RPL) lets diskless Windows 95 clients boot from Windows NT Server 4.0. Diskless Windows 95 clients are very uncommon, perhaps non-existent; running Windows 95 from a server creates very heavy network traffic. It's likely that Microsoft provided RPL in an effort to counter the Network Computer (NC) proposed by Oracle Corp. The acceptance of NCs in the business and consumer markets of 1997 and beyond remains to be proven.
Ever-increasing network traffic and expansion of LANs and WANs to accommodate a larger number of domains requires commensurate enhancement of server capabilities, and especially the performance of servers used as domain controllers. The following sections discuss the new features of Windows NT Server 4.0 that provide faster access by clients to shared server resources.
The rapidly declining cost of 100mbps adapter cards and switchable hubs is making implementation of Fast Ethernet cost-effective for LANs with heavy traffic, such as that generated by videoconferencing or delivery of full-screen, full-motion video to clients. Microsoft claims up to double the throughput over 100BaseT networks compared with Windows NT Server 3.51, based on tests conducted by National Software Testing Laboratories (NTSL).
Scalability is a measure of the capability of multiprocessing operating systems to provide increased performance by adding additional processors. A perfectly scalable system delivers four times the performance when you install three additional processors to a conventional single-processor system. High-end UNIX operating systems traditionally have offered better scalability than PC-based network operating systems such as Windows NT and NetWare. Microsoft claims that the symmetrical multiprocessing (SMP) of Windows NT Server 4.0 delivers better performance scalability with high-end server hardware, especially systems with more than four processors.
Scalability with SMP requires that such services as relational database management systems (RDBMSs) and Web servers be written to take maximum advantage of multithreading. (SMP assigns an application thread for execution by the processor with the lightest workload.) There is overhead in the thread assignment process, so achieving 100 percent (perfect) scalability is impossible. The architecture of the system motherboard and the operating system have a pronounced influence on scalability.
The few SMP servers announced in mid-1996 are based on Intel Corporation's new four-Pentium Pro motherboard, which uses an Intel chipset for memory management and the other operations required to support multiple processors effectively. Eight-processor servers are expected to be available from several vendors in late 1996. When a four-processor server runs out of steam, server clustering technology is likely to be a better choice than adding more processors. Microsoft and third-party approaches to Windows NT Server 4.0 clustering is the primary subject of the "Forging Alliances for Scalable Windows NT Server Hardware" section near the end of this chapter.
The Windows NT Directory Service accommodates a larger number of entries (objects), depending on the amount of RAM installed in the server. (There's no limit to the number of trusting domains.) Windows NT Server 4.0 expands the recommended number of trusted domains from a maximum of 128 in version 3.51 to 140 for 32M, 250 for 64M, and 500 for 128M of RAM. The administrator can override the recommendations and, for example, increase the size of the non-paged pool (NPP) to accommodate 500 trusted domains with a server having 64M of RAM.
Windows NT 4.0 uses server-based rendering of print jobs for printers that don't use the Adobe PostScript page description language. Server-based rendering minimizes the time spent by clients processing complex print jobs generated by desktop publishing, image editing, and similar applications. The file-sharing enhancements of Windows NT Server 4.0 for 100BaseT networks, noted earlier in the section "Faster File Sharing on High-Speed LANs," also speed the processing of print jobs.
New APIs for writing server-based applications provide improved performance by updated services, such as SQL Server 6.5. Lightweight threads, which Microsoft calls fibers, make it easier for developers to optimize scheduling within multithreaded applications. Microsoft says that Windows NT 4.0 uses "[l]onger quantums to reduce context switches and cache churning" and has "[c]onditional critical section acquire." It's hoped that application programmers will take full advantage of such arcane (but important) new features of Windows NT Server 4.0 when writing 32-bit server applications. (Developer features of Windows NT Server 4.0 are beyond the scope of this book.)
Each release of Windows NT Server has improved integration with TCP/IP and NetWare networks. (Built-in support for the TCP/IP protocol was introduced with Windows NT Server 3.5.) The following sections describe the new features of Windows NT Server 4.0 for heterogeneous networks.
Windows NT Server 4.0 now offers a dynamic Domain Name Service (DNS) derived from Microsoft's proprietary Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) protocol. DNS is an Internet-standard service that translates character-based addresses (host names), such as www.msn.com, to numeric IP addresses, such as 204.255.247.121. You also can use DNS compound names, such as \\oakleaf1.oakleaf.com\whatever, to access a server share.
Combining DNS with WINS simplifies the integration of Windows NT Server 4.0 with TCP/IP networks of all types, not just the Internet. Previously, Windows NT Server's DNS was static and required the network administrator to create a text-based list of host names and their corresponding IP addresses. Windows NT Server 4.0 allows DNS to query WINS for name resolution. The new graphical Domain Name Service Manager tool of Windows NT Server 4.0 speeds the mapping of DNS server names (see fig. 1.11).
1.11
Displaying addresses for a DNS server in the Domain Name Service Manager.
Windows NT 4.0's Client for NetWare and Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW) now support NetWare Directory Services (NDS), enabling browsing of NDS resources (using NetWare 3.1x bindery emulation mode), NDS authentication, and NDS printing. (Gateway Services for NetWare allows a Windows NT 4.0 server to process dial-in connections to resources located on NetWare servers.) Figure 1.12 illustrates GSNW's Configure Gateway dialog with a NetWare share added. Windows NT Server 4.0 also supports authentication to multiple NDS trees and can process NetWare logon scripts.
1.12
A NetWare share added to a Windows NT 4.0 server with the Gateway Service for NetWare feature.
File and Print Services for NetWare (FPNW) is a utility that allows Windows NT Server 4.0 to emulate a NetWare 3.12-compatible file and print server. The objective is to allow networked PCs with only Novell client software to access file and print services on a Windows NT 4.0 server. Clients also can run the Windows NT versions of applications now installed as NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs).
FPNW isn't included with Windows NT Server 4.0, and individual server licenses must be purchased from Microsoft. The purpose of FPNW is to simplify the transition from NetWare to Windows NT servers by eliminating the need to substitute Microsoft for Novell network drivers on the clients.
The Multi-Protocol Router (MPR) allows Windows NT Server to route packets and dynamically exchange routing data for TCP/IP, Novell IPX, and AppleTalk protocols using the Routing Internet Protocol (RIP) with other routers using RIP. You need two network cards in the server PC to take advantage of MPR for LAN-to-LAN routing. MPR consists of RIP for TCP/IP, RIP for NWLink IPX/SPX, and BOOTP (Boot Protocol) for Windows NT Server's Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). MPR first appeared in the Service Pack 2 update to Windows NT 3.51; technically, MPR isn't a new feature of Windows NT Server 4.0.
As the complexity of server hardware, software, and networks increases, network administrators require sophisticated diagnostic tools to aid in troubleshooting networking problems. The following sections describe Windows NT Server 4.0's improvement to version 3.51's diagnostics program and the new Network Monitor included with Windows NT Server 4.0.
Windows NT Server 4.0 includes a new Windows NT Diagnostics tool, which centralizes the display of Windows NT system properties in a single window with nine tabbed pages. The pages display only system property values; you must use Control Panel tools or administrative applications to make changes to these values where possible. Following is a list of the tool's pages and the function of each page:
A service is an application-such as Alerter, DHCP Client, or SQL Server-that can be executed during the Windows NT startup process. Windows NT services are similar in concept to terminate-and-stay-resident DOS applications.
1.13
The Services page of the Windows NT Diagnostics tool.
1.14
Networking statistics displayed by the Network page of the Windows NT Diagnostics tool.
Windows NT Server 4.0's new Network Monitor tool allows you to capture a snapshot of network traffic that you can analyze later in order to uncover network performance bottlenecks or to perform other troubleshooting tasks. Network Monitor-derived from the SMS Network Monitor of Microsoft System Management Server (SMS) 1.2-provides many of the features of dedicated network analysis systems, such as Network General's Sniffers. The built-in Network Monitor tool captures only traffic to and from the server; the SMS Network Monitor captures all network traffic on the network segment.
Figure 1.15 shows the default arrangement of Network Monitor's window. The following list describes the information presented in the window's four panes:
1.15
Network Monitor's default window.
After you install the Network Monitor tools and Agent Service from Control Panel's Network tool, you click the toolbar's Start Capture button (with the VCR play symbol) to begin the logging process. Then click the Stop Capture and View button (with the VCR stop symbol and glasses) when you've captured the desired number of frames. During the capture process, the bar graphs display network activity. The Capture Summary pane takes over Network Monitor's window, as shown in figure 1.16.
1.16
Displaying information for all frames captured in the Capture Summary pane.
Double-clicking an entry in the Capture Summary pane displays the two additional panes (see fig. 1.17). The middle Capture Detail pane displays the frame data by OSI component layers. The bottom Capture Hex pane displays a hex and ASCII dump of the content of the selected frame.
1.17
Displaying information for a specific frame in the Capture Detail and Capture Hex panes.
You can apply Network Monitor's Display Filter by clicking the Edit Display Filter toolbar button (with the funnel symbol) to display the Display Filter dialog, shown in figure 1.18. You can use Boolean logic to create a custom filter with the AND, OR, and NOT buttons. Creating custom filters is useful in isolating network problems, such as cross-router traffic, that degrade overall network performance.
1.18
Designing a capture filter in the Display Filter dialog.
A substantial percentage of the new installations of Windows NT Server 4.0 are likely to be devoted to delivering Web pages via the Internet or, more likely, a private intranet. Later, the section "Embracing and Extending the Internet" discusses Microsoft's Internet and intranet strategy. Meanwhile, the following sections describe the new features of Windows NT Server 4.0 that are of specific to Internet and intranet services, plus a related topic-Remote Access Services (RAS).
Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 2.0, which now is built into Windows NT 4.0, is fully integrated with Windows NT Server 4.0's security and administrative features. IIS supplies Web, Gopher, and FTP services, and uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to provide the security necessary for communication privacy and simple implementations of online Internet shopping services. New features of IIS version 2.0 are as follows:
1.19
Generating a key pair to obtain a Secure Sockets Layer certificate from VeriSign.
PPTP provides data security when you are connecting clients to servers via public data networks, such as the Internet, by using dial-up connections. You can use PPTP to create a virtual private network (VPN) at a very low cost if you're willing to live with the data rates provided by Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) or 28.8kbps modems.
Your Internet service provider must have PPTP installed for remote clients to connect using PPTP.
PPTP uses protocol encapsulation to support multiple protocols via TCP/IP connections and encrypts data to assure privacy. Although PPTP isn't as secure as the protocols under development for Internet commerce using bank cards and other credit instruments for payments, it's more secure than today's face-to-face transactions during which the merchant or waiter has temporary possession of your credit card.
RAS Multilink Channel Aggregation allows dial-in clients to combine multiple modem or ISDN lines to gain faster communication with Windows NT 4.0 servers. This feature is primarily of interest for fixed sites with the need for periodic connections, not to mobile users who seldom have access to multiple lines. Most of today's low-cost digital ISDN modems for the Basic Rate Interface (BRI) automatically bridge two ISDN B (bearer) channels to achieve data rates of 112kbps or 128kbps. You can aggregate one or more conventional modems with ISDN modems, but this is unlikely to become a conventional practice. Multilink Channel Aggregation is most useful to bridge from two to all 23 B channels of the ISDN Primary Rate Interface to achieve a data rate close to that of a North American T-1 trunk (1.544mbps). Multilink Channel Aggregation is one of the subjects of Chapter 18, "Managing Remote Access Service."
Late in the beta testing cycle, Microsoft announced that Windows NT Server 4.0 would include a copy of FrontPage 1.1, Microsoft's first integrated Web page authoring and management tool. FrontPage 1.1's Web server management component, FrontPage Explorer, provides outline and link views of individual Internet or intranet sites (see fig. 1.20). FrontPage 1.1 also includes an integrated HTML editor for creating Web pages (see fig. 1.21). The bundled FrontPage 1.1 comes with single-server and single-client licenses. You must buy the retail version if you want to support additional servers or clients.
1.20
The Outline View and Link View panes of the FrontPage Explorer application.
1.21
FrontPage 1.1's WYSIWYG Web page editing application.
The Component Object Model (COM) is Microsoft's specification for creating reusable application components that developers can combine into custom applications to fulfill specific objectives. Microsoft's Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) specification 2+, which includes OLE Automation (now called simply Automation), is an extension to COM. Automation is the foundation on which three-tier client/server applications are built. Three-tier applications consist of the following components:
Original OLE Controls (OCXs) and the new, lightweight ActiveX controls also are built on COM. The original implementation of COM required that Automation clients and servers run on the same PC.
Both the Server and Workstation versions of Windows NT 4.0 support Distributed COM (DCOM), which allows stand-alone components (called out-of-process OLE or Automation servers) written to the DCOM specification to communicate across networks. Microsoft expects to provide DCOM capability for Windows 95 and Macintosh clients by the end of 1996. DCOM allows developers to implement three-tier architecture with Automation server applications located on a server, which don't need to be the server running the RDBMS that provides data services. DCOM competes with IBM's Distributed Systems Object Model (DSOM). You register remote Automation servers (also called Remote Automation Objects) with the Remote Automation Connection Manager shown in figure 1.22.
1.22
Setting up client access to a Remote Automation Object created with Visual Basic 4.0.
During its development, Microsoft referred to Distributed COM as NetworkOLE, and you may continue to see references to NetworkOLE even by Microsoft employees. The Enterprise Edition of Visual Basic 4.0 implemented what Microsoft called "NetworkOLE 0.9" to support Remote Automation Objects created with Visual Basic running under Windows NT Server 3.51. If you now run Visual Basic 4.0 Remote Automation Objects on a Windows NT 3.51 server, you should upgrade from NetworkOLE 0.9 to DCOM-both the server and the clients-when migrating to Windows NT Server 4.0. According to Microsoft's Questions and Answers for the future Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) version 5.0 at http://www.microsoft.com/vba/vba5qa.htm, VBA 5.0 will include built-in programming support for DCOM.
TAPI 2.0 is an updated Win32 service that provides in Windows NT 4.0 the basic functionality of Windows 95's TAPI 1.4. TAPI employs Microsoft and third-party Telephony Service Provider (TSP) products to implement communication services. Windows NT 4.0 includes Microsoft's 32-bit Unimodem (Universal Modem) driver, which first appeared in Windows 95, as a built-in TSP.
TAPI 2.0 is backwardly compatible with TSPs and other TAPI 1.4 telephony applications that run on Windows 95. TAPI 2.0 supports 16-bit TAPI applications through a thunking layer (Tapi.dll) that supplies 32-bit addresses to Windows NT 4.0's Tapi32.dll. Tapi32.dll provides the marshaling layer, using lightweight remote procedure calls (LRPCs), to transfer function requests to Tapisrv.exe and to load and invoke required TSP DLLs.
Windows NT 4.0's TAPI 2.0 components support symmetrical multiprocessing, multithreaded applications, and preemptive multitasking on Intel and RISC processors. According to Microsoft, TAPI 2.0 enhances call center management with modeling of predictive dialing ports and queues, provides call and data association, and offers music on hold features. Applications can negotiate and renegotiate quality-of-service (QOS) parameters to request a specific bandwidth. You must purchase TAPI 2.0-enabled third-party TSPs and application software to take advantage of these new TAPI features.
The Unimodem TSP of Windows NT 4.0 provides substantially improved performance compared with the relatively limited telecommunications features of Windows NT 3.5+. Windows NT 4.0 provides much better support for large modem banks used by RAS (Remote Access Service) servers, and comes with many more modem-definition files. The RAS features of TAPI 2.0 are one of the subjects of Chapter 18, "Managing Remote Access Service."
The data/voice features of the upgraded Unimodem/V for Windows 95, which Microsoft released in late 1995, isn't included in the retail release of Windows NT Server 4.0 or Workstation 4.0. It's likely that you'll be able to download the TAPI 2.0 Unimodem/V driver for Windows NT 4.0 from the Microsoft Web site in late 1996.
No book on Windows NT Server is complete without a few observations on Microsoft's marketing strategy and product pricing. Clearly, Microsoft's primary objectives are to eradicate IBM's OS/2 on the client side with Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation 4.0, and to subsume the NetWare, UNIX, and OS/2 LAN Server NOS markets with Windows NT Server 4.0.
A secondary objective is to constrain Apple computers to their present share (about 6 percent) of the PC market by making Windows 95 as appealing and as easy to use as Apple's System 7.x operating system (renamed Mac OS in 1995). Offering Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and its successors as an alternative to Apple's oft-delayed Copeland operating system also is likely to constrain Apple's role in future high-end workstation markets.
Microsoft hopes to supplant high-priced UNIX workstations with Intel and reduced instruction set computer (RISC) PCs running Windows NT Workstation 4.0 by enhancing Silicon Graphic's Open GL three-dimensional graphics features with DirectDraw on Windows NT Workstation 4.0. To accomplish its objectives, Microsoft is counting on rapidly declining prices of Pentium and Pentium Pro chips and is hedging its processor bets by supporting new RISC platforms, such as the PowerPC.
It remains to be seen whether Microsoft can achieve its objectives for Windows NT 4.0 and successors on all fronts, but the following marketing factors point to the ultimate dominance of Windows NT Server 4.0 as an "enterprise-wide" network operating system:
This list of factors that point to increasing acceptance of Windows NT Server by corporations and institutions doesn't mean that OS/2 will disappear, UNIX is doomed, and Apple's market share will continue to drop to insignificance. The IDC report, quoted earlier in this section, projects an 8 percent annual growth rate for NetWare, 11 percent for UNIX, and 12 percent for OS/2. (The Mac OS isn't included in IDC's projections because the Mac OS isn't considered a network operating system.) According to a story in the April 22, 1996, issue of InfoWorld Electric (the Internet version of InfoWorld magazine), Apple has licensed Windows NT code from Microsoft and is likely to port Windows NT to the PowerPC Reference Platform that's due in late 1996.
The article "NT Server Rollout" in the May 20, 1996, issue of Information Week described the "largest-ever" Windows NT Server deployment at 8,400 General Motors dealerships. When completed, GM's Access Common Dealership Environment (CDE) will link a Compaq server running Windows NT Server 4.0 at each dealership with GM's PulSat satellite communications network. The article quotes a Sentry Market Research report indicating that half of the information system (IS) buyers at the 700 large companies surveyed plan to install Windows NT Server in the next few years-up from less than 40 percent with similar plans during 1995. Simultaneously, the percentage of IS buyers planning to base their server strategies on UNIX dropped from about 75 percent in 1995 to 50 percent in 1996. You can read additional details of the General Motors Windows NT Server 4.0 rollout at http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/customers.htm.
An order for 8,400 servers is unusual, to say the least. Most of the early 1996 announcements of major migrations to Windows NT by large North American and European firms range from 25 to 100 servers, but also involve the sale of large numbers of Windows 95 or, more commonly, Windows NT Workstation client licenses-often numbering in the thousands. As an example, Intel is reported to be standardizing on Windows NT 4.0 desktop PCs for the firm's worldwide operations and expects to have installed more than 15,000 copies of Windows NT Workstation 4.0 by the time the migration is complete.
Another article in the same issue of Information Week, "Windows NT Servers Will Soon Get Cheaper," quotes a Gartner Group market estimate that projects dollar sales of server hardware for Windows NT will climb from about $4 billion in 1996 to about $18 billion in 2000, slightly under the $20 billion estimated 1996 sales of UNIX boxes. Further, the Gartner Group estimates that during this period, sales of hardware for NetWare servers will remain at about $2 billion. Thus, it's not surprising that the largest manufacturers of server hardware are concentrating on the Windows NT market.
Datamation magazine (the "granddaddy" of computer periodicals) published "The Datamation Cowen Report: Enterprise Computing Drives IS Spending" in its May 1, 1996, issue. Cowen & Co. paints an equally upbeat future for Windows NT Server in the 1996-97 time frame, estimating that Windows NT comprised 18 percent of the network operating systems in use in early 1996. Cowen's survey disclosed that users' installations plans for 1996-97 call for 51 percent Windows NT Server, 21 percent NetWare, 17 percent UNIX, and 11 percent for all other systems. According to Cowen, close to 50 percent of all users surveyed said that Windows NT Server will be their "primary application server operating system."
Information Week and Datamation magazines are good sources of information on the latest developments in client/server computing and how Windows NT Server fits into the IS programs of large organizations. These two publications have Web sites at http://techweb.cmp.com/iw/current and http://www.datamation.com/, respectively, with searchable content. The Datamation site also includes a list of feature stories up to six months in advance of publication.
Good press and optimistic market-share predictions might not determine whether your organization adopts Windows NT Server 4.0 as its primary network operating system. Glowing reviews of any software product are suspect and deservedly suspect; all software contains bugs of varying severity, or at least a few warts. There is, however, comfort as well as strength in numbers. Fortune magazine's "Give It Away & Get Rich!" article in the June 10, 1996, issue explains the software numbers game: "Software is subject to what economists call 'network externalities.' This essentially means that the more widely used something is, the more people value it." The increasing acceptance of Windows NT Server by large firms as an organization-wide network operating system lends credence to Microsoft's claims for the capabilities of Windows NT Server 4.0.
In early 1995, while Microsoft was readying Windows 95 for its long-delayed release and enticing content providers to augment The Microsoft Network online service, other firms were making a beeline to the Internet. Prodigy-then owned by IBM and Sears, Roebuck and Co.-was the first commercial online service to offer access to the World Wide Web, soon to be followed by CompuServe and America Online. Although several software startups offered Web browsers, Netscape's Navigator quickly gathered the lion's share of the browser market. Sun Microsystems was the initial favorite in the UNIX-based Web server category, and Apple gained a substantial share (estimated at as much as 30 percent) of the Web server business for its PowerMacs. Netscape and O'Reilly Associates were among the leaders in supplying Web server software for Windows NT 3.5+. Microsoft, it appeared, was asleep at the Internet switch.
On December 7, 1995, the "sleeping giant" woke up. Microsoft announced that it would "embrace and extend" the Internet. In a flurry of press releases, Microsoft announced the availability of a beta version of Internet Explorer (IE), which is based on technology developed by Spyglass; a stripped-down version of Visual Basic for Applications for programming interactive Web pages; ActiveVRML for adding virtual reality features; and agreements with several other firms to foster use of Microsoft's new Web browser, including negotiations with Sun Microsystems to license the Java programming language for inclusion within IE.
On its Web site, Microsoft unveiled its Web server strategy, based on Windows NT Server 3.51+ and the Internet Services API (ISAPI) for writing server-based extensions to Internet Information Server. Both IE 1.0 and IIS 1.0 were free and downloadable from http://www.microsoft.com. All you needed to use these free products, of course, were Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.51, respectively. IE 2.0 and IIS 2.0 are included with Windows NT Server 4.0.
On June 13, 1996, Microsoft held its Intranet Strategy Day at the San Jose (California) Convention Center, accompanied by a media blitz of gargantuan proportion. Bill Gates and two Microsoft vice presidents, Paul Maritz and Pete Higgins, described how Microsoft intended to divert the lion's share of the lucrative intranet server business from industry-leader Netscape. (Despite the Internet hype, corporate intranets are what's generating real income today for most software vendors.) If you missed the press accounts, check out http://www.microsoft.com/intranet/default.htm for transcripts and PowerPoint slides of the Intranet Strategy Day presentation. In July 1996, Microsoft launched its SiteBuilder Workshop at http://www.microsoft.com/workshop/. Although primarily directed to authors and designers of Web pages using ActiveX technologies, one section of the Workshop is devoted to site administration, availability, security, and other network administrator duties.
One of Microsoft's more remarkable transformations, aside from giving away extraordinary quantities of "free" software, is the candor with which the company now discusses forthcoming Internet- and intranet-related products. The vast majority of Microsoft's alpha- and beta-testing programs historically have required participants to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in order to participate in the testing process, thereby getting an early look at forthcoming new products or upgraded versions of existing products. With the exception of ActiveMovie, Microsoft's replacement for the aging Video for Windows system, and the forthcoming Microsoft Media Server, alpha and beta versions of most Internet-related products are open to all comers.
From the start, the Shell Update Release for Windows NT has been an open, public beta program without an NDA requirement. Microsoft distributed more than 200,000 free copies of the second beta version of Windows NT 4.0. (The Beta 2 release was used to write the first draft of the manuscript for this book; Release Candidate 2.3 was used to complete the writing.) Microsoft's new openness in disclosing the technical details behind its Internet strategy is a welcome change for users and developers alike.
The term open or open systems, when used by Microsoft's competitors, means doesn't require Windows. In the Internet browser business, the term means not from Microsoft because it's likely that 90 percent of all browsers run under some version of Microsoft Windows. By no stretch of the imagination does open mean non-proprietary.
The competition is intense between Microsoft and Netscape to create proprietary extensions to HTML and their respective browsers that become de facto Internet standards by virtue of market dominance. So far, Netscape (with an estimated 80 percent of the browser market) has been the hands-down winner of market share. Whether Microsoft can overcome Netscape's lead in the browser market remains to be seen.
The conventional definition of an intranet is any private network running TCP/IP. This book uses the term intranet to mean a private TCP/IP network with an Internet server that can distribute HTML-encoded documents. Intranets mesh well with current organizational buzzwords, such as downsizing, re-engineering, horizontal management, empowering employees, workgroup collaboration, and real-time information distribution.
Many organizations now are using intranets to distribute human resources policy manuals, hortatory messages from upper management, white papers, and other information that would ordinarily require printing and physical distribution. HTML conversion add-ons for word processing applications, such as the Internet Assistant for Microsoft Word, ease the process of moving from the printed page to a "Company Wide Web." Figure 1.23 shows a 12-page Word 7.0 document converted to a single HTML-encoded Web page with the Internet Assistant for Microsoft Word, which also converts figures embedded in Word documents to .GIF files for browser compatibility.
1.23
A Word 7.0 document converted to HTML and displayed in the Beta 2 version of Internet Explorer 3.0.
For an example of a large-scale collection of hyperlinked Web pages created with Word 7.0 and converted to HTML format with Internet Assistant for Microsoft Word, visit http://www.adaptec.com/firewire/1394main.html. The embedded Visio 4.0 diagrams of http://www.adaptec.com/firewire/1394wire.html and http://www.adaptec.com/firewire/1394dvcs.html are .GIF files rendered by the Internet Assistant for Microsoft Word. You can download the free Assistant and a tutorial for its use from http://www.microsoft.com/msword/internet/ia/.
Intranets also offer a foundation on which to build work-flow and project-management applications and, when well implemented, foster collaboration, cooperation, and information sharing among employees. You can connect a private intranet to the Internet through a firewall that lets mobile employees dial into the intranet through an Internet service provider (ISP) without compromising confidential information. Thus, telecommuters and field sales personnel can communicate with the home office at very low hourly cost, compared with toll-free telephone lines.
One of the major applications for intranets is distributing, in real time, information stored in various corporate databases. Microsoft's Internet Database Connector (IDC), included with IIS 1.0 and 2.0, allows you to quickly create Web pages that return to an HTML table the result set of a user-specified query against a Microsoft SQL Server or Access database, or any other RDBMS that supports Microsoft's 32-bit Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) API. The SQL Server 6.5 Web Assistant lets you create entire Web pages from database query result sets with minimum effort.
One of the primary drawing cards of intranets is the ease with which users can connect to and navigate a well-designed private Web site. When you install IIS 2.0, the Setup program installs a temporary home page (see fig. 1.24) at \inetsrv\wwwroot\default.htm. Launching IE 2.x on any client with a TCP/IP connection to the server and simply typing the DNS server name or the TCP/IP address in the Address text box displays DEFAULT.HTM. (You simply replace DEFAULT.HTM with your own version of that file with hyperlinks to your other HTML pages.) IIS 2.0, together with the Internet Assistant for Microsoft Word, makes it a quick-and-easy process to create a demonstration intranet site for review and testing by your organization's management.
1.24
Displaying the default Web page included with IIS 2.0 in Internet Explorer 2.0.
Internet Information Server 2.0 includes the Internet Service Manager for setup and maintenance of World Wide Web (WWW), Gopher, and FTP sites, which the Windows NT Server 4.0 Setup program installs by default in separate subfolders-\inetsvr\wwwroot, \inetsvr\gophroot, and \inetsvr\ftproot, respectively. Figure 1.25 shows the opening window of Internet Service Manger with the Web, Gopher, and FTP services installed and running.
1.25
The opening window of the Internet Service Manger in Report view.
The Internet Peer Server included with Windows NT Workstation 4.0 includes a copy of Internet Service Manager for remote administration of Internet Information Server 2.0. The Internet Peer Server allows you to test newly created Web pages locally, and then transfer the pages to the desired location within the \inetsvr folder for distribution. You also can use the Workstation version to host a Web site using several third-party Web server applications.
Double-clicking an item in the Computer column displays the Service Properties for ServerName sheet for the service. The default Service page allows you to specify the connection timeout, maximum number of simultaneous connections, and anonymous logon and/or password authentication for the default Internet Guest account, IUSR_SERVERNAME (see fig. 1.26). User Manager for Domains allows you to alter user group membership for this account; the default user groups for the Internet Guest account are Domain User and Guest.
1.26
The Service page of the WWW Service Properties sheet of Internet Service Manager.
An alternative is to establish a new Internet user group with specific permissions, and then make the Internet Guest account a member of the Internet group. You can use Server Manager to set permissions for the \inetsvr folder and its subfolders; if \inetsvr is installed on an NTFS volume, you also can set permissions for individual files.
In addition to the Service page, Internet Service Manager's Service Properties sheet includes Directories, Logging, and Advanced pages. (Microsoft hasn't replaced directory with folder in all instances.) The Directories page displays Web-related subfolders of the \inetsvr folder, including Web-style share names, such as /Scripts, in the Alias column (see fig. 1.27). The Logging page allows you to log user statistics to a text file or to a SQL Server 6.x database (see fig. 1.28) or any other ODBC-compliant RDBMS. Before specifying the logging database in the Logging page, you need to create the ODBC database and add a System data source for the database with Control Panel's ODBC tool. The Advanced page allows you to specify TCP/IP clients to be excluded from intranet access; alternatively, you can specify the TCP/IP address of each client with intranet access.
1.27
Displaying the Web-related folders page of the WWW Service Properties sheet of Internet Service Manager.
1.28
Setting up user activity logging to a SQL Server 6.x database.
It's possible to run Windows NT Server 4.0 on a garden-variety PC with an 80486DX processor and 16M of RAM, but you're not likely to be satisfied with the performance of such a server in a production networking environment. Today's trend is to high-performance multiprocessor servers with two to four 200 MHz Pentium Pros on an Intel motherboard, a minimum of 64M of RAM, and RAID arrays of 4G+ SCSI-3 (Ultra-SCSI wide) fixed-disk drives.
Fortunately, the cost of DRAM declined drastically in early 1996. Moderately priced 4.3G, 9G, and even 23G SCSI-3 drives that use embedded-servo technology, and thus don't require thermal recalibration, are expected from several suppliers by the end of 1996. The price of 100mbps PCI adapter cards that support 100BaseT Ethernet connections also is dropping into the affordable range. If you have enough hardware savvy, you can assemble a very high-performance server from off-the-shelf components at a moderate cost.
Most organizations are reluctant to "roll their own" server hardware and instead look to established suppliers of high-end hardware to deliver servers preconfigured for a particular purpose, often with Windows NT Server and one or more BackOffice components installed and tested. This is especially the case for RISC-based systems using Alpha, MIPS, or PowerPC processors. It's the most common practice (often a necessity) in the UNIX world to purchase server hardware and its proprietary UNIX operating system from the same supplier. Microsoft doesn't supply server hardware, so the availability of packaged servers from name-brand suppliers is critical to the ultimate success of Windows NT Server.
Scalability through clustering of individual Windows NT servers is one of the hottest topics for late 1996 and 1997. At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in the spring of 1996, Microsoft announced the future availability of its Wolfpack clustering technology, initially for enabling two server PCs to share a group of fixed-disk drives to achieve fault tolerance through simple redundancy. Microsoft expects to release this scaling architecture, called failover clustering, for Windows NT in early 1997.
In the interim, several manufacturers have announced new, scalable server systems based on Windows NT Server 4.0, either independently or by technology-sharing agreements with Microsoft. The following sections describe some of the more important of these new products that extend the reach of Windows NT Server 4.0 to organization-wide networking.
DEC announced in May 1996 its clustering software called Failover Manager, which connects Alpha- and Intel-based servers through SCSI adapters sharing a SCSI-3 bus, as part of an overall DEC program called Digital Clusters for Windows NT. Two Windows NT servers, each with their own system fixed disk and a SCSI host adapter, connect via external SCSI cables to a set of fixed disks housed in an expansion cabinet.
The connected computers appear to users as a single Windows NT server. The two servers share the production load when both are operational; if one server fails, the other server takes over while the dead server undergoes repair. At $995 per server, the software-based Failover Manager was the lowest-cost fault-tolerance solution available for Windows NT Server when this book was written. For more details on Digital Clusters for Windows NT, visit http://www.windowsnt.digital.com/clusters/.
DEC's Alliance for Enterprise Computing, announced in April 1996, supplies hardware, services, field support, and networking assistance for Windows NT Server installations under a multimillion-dollar agreement with Microsoft. Microsoft is covering a substantial share of DEC's cost of setting up and training personnel for the Alliance. Microsoft's objective is to provide the same level of support for Windows NT that customers have come to expect from higher-priced mini- and mainframe computers and software. DEC expects to employ 2,300 Microsoft Certified Professionals by the end of 1997. Details on the Alliance are at http://www.alliance.digital.com/.
Tandem-best known for its fault-tolerant parallel servers-entered into an agreement with Microsoft in May 1996 to develop fault-tolerant, scalable Windows NT servers. Tandem will license its NonStop ServerWare and ServerNet cluster interconnect technology to Microsoft for use with Windows NT Server and the forthcoming Wolfpack system in return for a $30 million payment.
Microsoft gains the benefit of Tandem's reputation for the fault tolerance that's considered critical by financial institutions, airlines, and others who need 100 percent, 24-hour-per-day server reliability. Tandem claims that its computers and software manage 90 percent of the world's security transactions, 66 percent of credit-card transactions, and 80 percent of all ATM transactions. Additional information on the agreement is available from http://www.tandem.com/msoft/index.html.
Compaq is expected to release a line of Pentium Pro-based Windows NT servers in late 1996 that use a subset of Tandem's NonStop ServerNet technology as early as September. According to published reports, Compaq will offer a low-cost, fault-tolerant model for branch office workstations and a high-end version, based on the Intel chipset, for corporate data centers. Details on Compaq's agreement with Tandem are available at http://www.compaq.com/newsroom/pr/pr161095a.html.
In addition to Intel-based servers-a market in which Compaq is a major player-the firm supplies network interface cards (NICs), repeaters, switches, and management software. Compaq acquired these products, which make up its Netelligent product line, when it purchased Thomas-Conrad and NetWorth in 1995. Netelligent products are aimed at branch and remote offices, workgroups, and department and small-business networks.
Amdahl, best know for its IBM-plug-compatible mainframes and large-scale data storage systems, announced in mid-May 1996 its EnVista line of servers that use the Pentium Pro Quad (Orion) architecture and Windows NT Server 4.0. Amdahl claims that the EnVista Central system is scalable to eight clustered nodes of one- to four-processor servers. The EnVista Availability Manager, similar to DEC's Failover Manager, works with a new line of high-capacity data storage systems. You can get more details on the EnVista product line at http://www.amdahl.com/doc/products/summary.htm.
Amdahl also provides the EnVista Channel for ESCON, which connects the EnVista servers to IBM System/390 mainframes running MVS using Microsoft SNA Server 2.11. Amdahl reports that EnVista Channel for ESCON achieves a 4.8M/sec rate when transferring data from an IBM System/390 mainframe through Polaris Communications' ESCON PCI adapter card. Bringing Amdahl into the fold adds the prestige of a major mainframe manufacturer to the ranks of Windows NT server suppliers.
The objective of this chapter was to provide an overview of Windows NT Server 4.0 with emphasis on the new features Microsoft added to version 4.0. Microsoft's marketing strategy for Windows NT Server and establishing Internet and intranet servers with Microsoft Internet Information Server 2.0 (included with Windows NT Server 4.0) also were covered. The chapter concluded with a brief description of the latest developments in hardware for Windows NT Server, including new clustering initiatives.
The balance of Part I of this book, "Networking with Windows NT Server 4.0," is organized in the sequence typical of a new network server installation. The following chapters provide the background you need before you install Windows NT Server 4.0:
If you're upgrading an existing Windows NT Server installation, you might want to skip ahead to Chapter 6, "Making the Initial Server Installation."
© 1996, QUE Corporation, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing USA, a Simon and Schuster Company.
