Windows XP Upgrade: Just the facts
Compiled by: Daniel Sellers, Gerry Hamilton, and Michelle Krummen
This is an overview of the various options as far as an XP based network is concerned. Each server Operating System section includes the cost for the OS and clients (108 based on our Lab at Pinnacle) and our findings as to the use and capabilities of that OS in conjunction with Windows XP clients.
Performance: The time required to login to the domain/tree from
clicking logon till the logging in dialog box closes. All
clients and servers used the same hardware, LAN
and profiles.
Cost: In US dollars for >108 ( closest increment) client licenses for
the Server.
Profiles: Whether individual/group profiles are supported by the
Server OS.
Control: The capability to control the users desktop environment.
(i.e. load files, shortcuts, backgrounds, etc. to a user’s
profile)
Single Login: Whether the client for the Server OS would provide a
single point of login to the local machine and the
network.
|
Server OS |
Performance |
Cost |
Profiles |
Control |
Single Login |
|
Windows NT |
5-10 seconds |
Aprox. $3409.34 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Windows 2000 |
1min 49sec |
Aprox. $5194 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Novell Netware 5.x |
Unknown |
Aprox. $6347 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Red Hat Linux 7.2 |
Unknown |
Aprox. $0 |
Yes |
Should |
Yes |
Windows NT 4.0
Surprisingly NT 4.0 had the best login time of the two systems we were able to test. To create a profile under NT 4.0 or Win 2K you first create a user on either the local machine or the network. Then log into the machine and modify your account to meet your needs (background, color, shortcuts, etc) and then logout. Log back in on the same machine and right click on My computer. Click on the User Profiles tab and select the user you just modified. Click the copy to button and select a Network share (a good name would be Profiles or RUP) this saves the profile to a share were it can be accessed by workstations logging into the network and sets the rights to the profile (set to domain users group). Then change the name of the folder to "all" or some a group name (however you want to break down your administration of the desktops) and open the folder. Inside you will see "ntuser.dat" rename it to "ntuser.man". This makes it mandatory and takes away user right privileges. Then when you create users simply set their profile path to match the share path with the folder at the end (i.e. \\servername\profiles\all). Then when you want to feed a link to the users’ desktop merely place it inside the desktop folder in the profile all. Overall a fairly straightforward process and one that works quickly and efficiently. There is a single login to the domain and none to the local machine. The desktop resets itself after every logout so that no unwanted backgrounds ever linger longer than that user’s session. For the 110 CAL (client access licenses) that we would require per lab it would cost an approximated total of $3409.34. There would be no Microsoft support because they no longer support NT 4.0. However, in our tests it outperformed Server 2000 on speed and the same process was followed exactly for creating and modifying profiles.
Windows 2000 Server
The process for creating and modifying profiles in Windows 2000 Server is Identical to that of Windows NT 4.0. In fact used the exact same profile on both OSes. The only serious problem we encountered with 2000 was that amount of time required to log into the domain. It took around 1 minute and 48 seconds every time. That was the only difference in the two other than the price and the server configuration process. The cost for the CALs and the Server OS would be approximately $5194 ( same number of CALs as NT 4.0). NT 4.0 and 2000 Server use approximately the same GUI so it is easy to pick up one if you know the other.
Novell Netware 5.X
Novell Netware is our current Server OS so it would appear to be the easiest switch. However, it would require the purchase and installation of Zen for Desktops 3.2 and 108 client licenses. This is due to the fact that Novell can not override the double login problem outlined in "Windows XP as a replacement for Windows 98 in a Computer Lab situation." We were unable to test the functionality of Novell because we could not get a copy of Zen for Desktops 3.2 to test. (note: Zen for Desktops 3.2 is the ONLY Zen that provides XP support. All previous versions do not support or work with XP in anyway.) We know that it should provide a single login point in the same way that previous versions do on Windows NT/2000 through a dynamic user. We cannot however, confirm the functionality of this in XP. The cost for this software and the required licenses would be approximately $6347.
Red Hat Linux 7.2
Actually this applies to any Linux distribution or Unix server running Samba. While it is the cheapest solution it is also the most complicated to configure. Most Linux distributions are free to download directly from the website of the company that produces it (i.e. Red Hat, Mandrake, Debian, etc.). This means that the actual OS cost is $0. It requires no licenses, just a little time to configure it as a Primary Domain Controller. It should be able to achieve the same results and performance as Windows NT 4.0. Due to the depth that a discussion of this option could reach further information on the procedure for setting up a Linux PDC will follow in a later paper on that topic.