Installing Windows Server 2003
- Planning the Server Installation
- Server Hardware Requirements
- Checking Hardware and Software Compatibility
- Understanding Server Licensing Issues
- Choosing to Upgrade or Make a Clean Installation
- Using Supported File Systems
- Performing a Clean Installation
- Performing an Upgrade
- Understanding Windows Product Activation
- Choosing Between a Workgroup and a Domain
- Summary
- Q&A
In this hour, we discuss the different types of Windows Server 2003 installations, such as upgrading an existing server or making a clean install on a server that is not currently configured with a network operating system. We also look at the Windows Server 2003 hardware requirements, server licensing issues, and server activation.
In this hour, the following topics are covered:
Planning Windows Server 2003 installations
Windows Server 2003 hardware requirements
How to check Windows Server 2003 hardware and software compatibility on a serve to be upgraded
Working with server licensing
Installing Windows Server 2003
Upgrading a server to Windows Server 2003
Planning the Server Installation
Before you install Windows Server 2003 on a computer, particularly in cases when you are creating a new network infrastructure, you should create a map of what your network will look like. In particular, you should outline the servers and other resource devices, such as printers, that will provide your network clients with services. The role that a particular server will fill on the network should be determined long before you install the network operating system. The server's role, such as acting as a domain controller or a multihomed router (a Windows Server 2003 configured with more than one network interface card) or a NAT server, dictates not only the server's hardware configuration, but also the configuration of that server (and the services that it provides).
NOTE
Hour 5, "Configuring a Windows Server," provides an overview on how to configure the various roles for a server, including such services as DNS, the file server, and the print server. Other hours in the book look at the specifics of configuring these various services. Hour 8, "Introduction to Active Directory," looks at the Active Directory namespace and provides the steps for making a Windows Server 2003 a domain controller.
Other issues related to the installation of Windows Server 2003 on a computer have to do with the computer's hardware configuration and its compatibility with Windows Server 2003. You must also be aware (before installation) of how you will configure client licensing on your network. Let's look at the Windows Server 2003 hardware requirements; then we can look at a quick way to check an existing server's upgrade compatibility and discuss server licensing issues.