Windows Server Platforms

Supported Operating Systems

Introduction

In considering the client operating system (OS) to use in a Windows Server infrastructure, one finds that some of options and migrations paths allow for, or are compatible with, legacy Windows operating systems now including Windows NT Workstation, Server, and Terminal Server 4.0. IS&T support for client and server Windows operating systems is limited to Windows 2000 and above. The following provides details on supported Windows operating systems and on support for non-Windows operating systems that access supported Windows services.

• Supported Windows Client Operating Systems
• Supported Windows server Operating Systems
  • About Windows Server 2003
• Non-Windows Operating Systems Accessing Windows Services
  • Mac OS X
  • Unix, Linux, and Others

Supported Windows Client Operating Systems

IS&T supports:

• Windows 2000 Professional, and
• Windows XP Professional

as Windows client operating systems on stand-alone machines, in win.mit.edu, or WIN, and in workgroups. IS&T makes accommodations for these operating systems as clients in independent Windows Active Directory domains.

WIN allows only the supported client operating systems to join, due to security and privacy requirements.

IS&T support for Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and other legacy (i.e. Windows 95 (all versions), 98 (all versions), Me) Windows client operating systems was discontinued June 30, 2003.

Windows XP Home is not fully supported by IS&T. Note it is unable to join domains by design.

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Supported Windows server operating systems

IS&T supports, to some extent:

• Windows 2000 Server family, which includes:
  • Windows 2000 Server
  • Windows 2000 Advanced Server
    
    
• Windows Server 2003 family, which includes:
  • Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
  • Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition

as Windows server operating systems on machines joining WIN. We recommend these operating systems for DLCs deploying workgroups.

WIN allows only the supported server operating systems to join, due to security and privacy requirements.

IS&T support for Windows NT Server (all versions) operating systems is not available, although you may request migration assistance.

Windows 2000 Datacenter Server and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition are not supported by IS&T and are available only through special channels. Windows Server 2003 editions other than Datacenter Edition (currently Windows Server 2003, Web Edition, Windows Small Business Server 2003, Windows Storage Server 2003, and 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003, Enterprise and Datacenter Editions) also are not supported by IS&T. However, if you have a specific interest in one of these operating systems as a member server in WIN, you are encouraged to contact IS&T to discuss your needs.

About Windows Server 2003
On April 24th, 2003, Microsoft released Windows Server 2003 (Microsoft link), the next step in the evolution of the Windows Server platform. The Windows Server 2003 family of operating systems represent less of a change from the Windows 2000 Server family than the Windows 2000 Server family did from the Windows NT Server 4.0 family, and continues to build on the Active Directory-based Windows domain model that debuted with Windows 2000. However, Windows Server 2003 does bring some additional functionality and new tools pertaining to Active Directory management that may be of benefit to you in certain circumstances.

However, it has been general industry practice to consider a Windows NT-based OS to have begun maturing as a reliable option with the release of its first Service Pack, which has not yet happened in the case of Windows Server 2003.

IS&T supports Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition and Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition server operating systems for joining WIN as member servers. Availability of features, troubleshooting and problem resolution, and support options for Windows Server 2003 member servers in WIN, however, cannot be guaranteed until full support for these features are developed and implemented.

As for independent Windows Domains, regardless of which you choose--Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003 -- the DNS configurations IS&T offers for enabling Windows Domains on MITnet will work.

Finally, DLCs deploying independent Windows workgroups or stand-alone servers can also build solutions around Windows Server 2003.

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Non-Windows Operating Systems Accessing Windows Services

The following options are supported by IS&T to access services on Windows member servers in WIN, from a computer outside of WIN running a non-Windows OS. Most of these solutions also will apply identically to independent Windows Domains or independent Windows workgroups and stand-alone Windows servers.

Mac OS X
Machines running the Mac OS X (10.x and higher) operating systems can access file shares on member servers in two ways.

First, Mac OS X has built-in support for the networking protocol used by Windows file sharing, the SMB protocol. Mac OS X users can authenticate directly against the Windows member server using built-in features of Mac OS X. Access control permissions are those already used for Windows networking/file sharing and do not require special adjustment. Since the Mac OS X version of this protocol does not support MIT's implementation of Kerberos, users using this service will need to specify, once, a Windows Domain password.

Second, Mac OS X machines can access file shares on Windows member servers in WIN that are running the Microsoft Services for Macintosh (SfM) service. Access control permissions can be set on the member server using tools packaged as explained for MacOS9.x above. Since SfM does not support an implementation of Kerberos, users of this service will need to specify, once, a Windows Domain password. This option requires running the additional SfM service, and may make sense if you have a combination of Mac OS 9.x and X machines that need to access services on your Windows servers.

Both options also generally apply to Windows member servers in independent Windows Domains, independent Windows workgroups, or stand-alone Windows servers.

Unix, Linux, and Others
For Unix and Unix-like operating systems, Linux distributions, and other similar operating systems, freely available clients for the networking protocol used for the Windows SMB file sharing protocol exist. Using a properly-installed version of this client, users can authenticate directly against the member Windows server using the client. Access control permissions are those already used for Windows networking/file sharing and do not require special adjustment. Since the non-Windows version of this protocol does not support the MIT implementation of Kerberos, users using this service will need to specify, once, a Windows Domain password.

While the client is now popular among especially Linux distributions and already may be present on your Linux systems, you may need to build and deploy the software to your non-Windows systems as needed. This solution also generally applies to member Windows servers in independent Windows Domains, independent Windows workgroups, or stand-alone Windows servers.

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