• Computer servers running Windows 2000 can be managed using a suite of built-in administration toolsComputer servers skyline image by patrimonio designs from Fotolia.com
  
  Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system was launched in 1999, and provides business users a client-server network architecture, which allows data to be stored on computer servers that can be accessed by computers operated by users, or clients. Network servers can also be used to manage the network by providing logon authentication, computer name location and services defining the way that computers on the network can access other networks, including the Internet. A number of administration tools are available for Windows 2000 servers.
  
  

Active Directory Users and Computers

• Active Directory Users and Computers is the primary administration tool used to manage security principals in Windows 2000 networks. A security principal is an object that you can apply resource access permissions to. For example, you can use Active Directory Users and Computers to create a user object. You give the user a name and a password when you create the object in the Active Directory Users and Computers Microsoft Management Console (MMC). A user can then use that user account name and password to log on to the network from any computer on the network.
  
  

Domain Name Service

• Before a computer can establish a communication channel with another computer on a network, it must first know how to locate the other computer. On Windows 2000 networks, computer accounts are given friendly names, which are easy for users to understand and remember, but on the network, computers identify each other by using numbers. Each computer on the network must have a different number, and the Windows 2000 Domain Name Service (DNS) maintains a database of computer names matched with their corresponding network numbers. For example, if the network is using the TCP/IP communication protocol suite, a computer may be known by the friendly computer account name "computer 1," although it has been configured with a TCP/IP number of 192.168.1.100. The DNS service, when it is installed on a Windows 2000 server, is managed using the DNS MMC. This allows a DNS administrator to add, remove and modify individual computer entries in the DNS database, and allows the administrator to manage settings to make the DNS database update itself automatically.
  
  

Windows 2000 Routing and Remote Access

• The Routing and Remote Access MMC is a Windows 2000 administration tool that allows a network administrator to configure and manage the way that computers on the network communicate with computers on other networks. One device used to connect different networks is known as a router, and each network connected to a router is identified by a different network number. An administrator can use the Routing and Remote Access console to identify which networks are connected to routers installed on the network, so that if a computer needs to communicate with a computer on a different network, it can send its communication data to the correct router. The Routing and Remote Access tool can also be used to define dial-up connections. You can also use the tool to create Virtual Private Networks.