A) In 2000 we cannot rename domain whereas in 2003 we can rename Domain

B) In 2000 it supports of 8 processors and 64 GB RAM (In 2000 Advance Server) whereas in
2003 supports up to 64 processors and max of 512GB RAM
C)2000 Supports IIS 5.0 and 2003 Supports IIS6.0
D) 2000 doesnt support Dot net whereas 2003 Supports Microsoft .NET 2.0
E) 2000 has Server and Advance Server editions whereas 2003 has Standard, Enterprise,
Datacentre and Web server Editions.
F) 2000 doesnt have any 64 bit server operating system whereas 2003 has 64 bit server
operating systems (Windows Server 2003 X64 Std and Enterprise Edition)
G) 2000 has basic concept of DFS (Distributed File systems) with defined roots whereas 2003
has Enhanced DFS support with multiple roots.
H) In 2000 there is complexality in administering Complex networks whereas 2003 is easy
administration in all & Complex networks
I) In 2000 we can create 1 million users and in 2003 we can create 1 billion users.
J) In 2003 we have concept of Volume shadow copy service which is used to create hard disk
snap shot which is used in Disaster recovery and 2000 doesnt have this service.
K) In 2000 we dont have end user policy management, whereas in 2003 we have a End user
policy management which is done in GPMC (Group policy management console).
L) In 2000 we have cross domain trust relation ship and 2003 we have Cross forest trust
relationship.
M) 2000 Supports 4-node clustering and 2003 supports 8-node clustering.
N) 2003 has High HCL Support (Hardware Compatibility List) issued by Microsoft
O) Code name of 2000 is Win NT 5.0 and Code name of 2003 is Win NT 5.1
P) 2003 has service called ADFS (Active Directory Federation Services) which is used to
communicate between branches with safe authentication.
Q) In 2003 their is improved storage management using service File Server Resource
Manager (FSRM)
R) 2003 has service called Windows Share point Services (It is an integrated portfolio of
collaboration and communication services designed to connect people, information,
processes, and systems both within and beyond the organizational firewall.)
S) 2003 has Improved Print management compared to 2000 server
T) 2003 has telnet sessions available.
U) 2000 supports IPV4 whereas 2003 supports IPV4 and IPV6

B) Windows 2000:
1. We can apply 620 group policy
2 No restore option
3.
Simultaneously 10 users can access on network
4. We can make nearly 1 million users
C)
Windows 2003:
1. We can apply 720 group policy
2. Restore option
3.
Simultaneously unlimited users can access on the network
4. We can make one billion users

Windows 2000 is also called as Win2k . It is an interruptible, business oriented and graphical
operating system which was just designed to work along with the uniprocessor or symmetric multi
processor 32 bit Intel x86 computers. It is a part of the Microsoft Windows NT series of operating
systems. It was succeeded by windows XP in windows server 2003. The Windows 2000 Server
has extra and additional functionality which includes the ability to provide the Active Directory
services. Active directory services is a hierarchical framework of resources. Windows 2000 server
also proved Distributed File System (it is a file system which supports file sharing) and storage
volumes for fault redundancy. Windows Server 2000 supports upto four processors, up to four GB of
RAM. Windows 2000 server is designed to use for web applications, file servers, print servers etc.
Windows 2003 server is a server operating system. It is created by Microsoft. It is also called as
successor of Windows 2003 server. Its performance is much better than the Win2k. it can be used
as centralized management tool for the printers and files. It gives enhanced quota management.
Windows 2003 server also includes compatibility modes to allow the older applications to run and
execute with larger stability.

These are the primary diference between Windows 2002 and Windows 2003 server:
1) Win 2K has ERD(Emergency Repair Disk) for disaster recovery scenarios where in Win2K3 we
have advanced ASR(Automated System Recovery)
2)In Win 2K only domain wide trust relatioships can be maintained. However in Win2K3 forest-wide
trust is a new feature in active directory.
3)Win 2K uses IIS 5.0 version whereas Win 2k3 has IIS 6.0.
4)Win 2K3 has a new feature called volume shadow copy component. This feature allow to take a
snapshot backups.

Window Server 2000 has 3 edition.

Window Server 2000 less security feature.

It doesn`t support IISv6.0.

Window Server 2003 has 4 edition.

More security feature.
It supports IISv6.0

Windows Server 2000 has three editions and does not include managment snap-in
while Windows Server 2003 has 4 editions as follows
Standard edition
Web edition
Enterprise edition
Data center edition
It has manament snap-in too which can handle almost all queries.
One more important difference is Win 2003 supports Volume shadow copy feature
which is not in windows 2000..A NEW TOOL TO RECOVER FILES Window 2003 server
includes IIS server in it.

Differences between Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003

& Windows Server 2008
#

Windows 2000

Windows Server
2003

Windows Server 2008

Comes with
Internet Explorer
5

Comes with
Internet Explorer
6

Comes with Internet Explorer

7 and IE 8 in Windows Server
2008 R2

Comes with IIS

version 5

Comes with IIS

version 6

Comes with IIS version 7 and

IIS version 7.5 in Windows
Server 2008 R2

64 bit version not

available

64 bit version
available

64 bit version available

No Stub Zones

Stub Zones
introduced

Stub Zones Available

Does not
support .Net 2.0

Supports .Net 2.0

Supports .Net 3.0 and

Windows Server 2008
supports .Net 3.5

Was Codenamed
NT 5.0

Was Codenamed
NT 5.1

Was Codenamed Longhorn

Not possible to
rename a domain

Possible to
rename a domain

Possible to rename a domain

Supports only IP
V4

Supports both IP
V4 & IP V6

Supports both IP V4 & IP V6

Shadow Copy not

possible

Shadow Copy
introduced

Shadow Copying possible for

each and every folder

1
0

Schema version is
13

Schema version is
30

Schema version is 44

11

Does not support

virtualization
technology

Does not support

virtualization
technology

Supports Hyper-V
virtualization technology

1
2

Active Directory
introduced

Active Directory
improved

Active Directory renamed to

Active Directory Domain
Services

Has only Server

and Advanced
Server versions

Has Web,
Standard,
Enterprise and
DataCenter
versions

Has Web, Standard,

Enterprise and DataCenter
versions

1
3

1
4

N.A

N.A

Possible to Start or Stop any

Directory Service without
having to shut down the
Domain Controller. Good for
Offline Defragmentation etc.
Recovery of the Active
Directory Database without
having to reboot.

1
5

Audit logs can

show who made
changes to what
attributes but does
not show old
values.

Audit logs can

show who made
changes to what
values but does
not show old
values.

Audit logs can show who

made changes to what
attributes and can show both
the old and the new values.

1
6

N.A

N.A

RIS is now called Windows

Deployment Services (WDS)

1
7

Read Only
Domain
Controllers
(RODC) not
available

Read Only
Domain
Controllers
(RODC) not
available.

Read Only Domain

Controllers (RODC) available