Connecting to the Internet

Introduction

The Internet has become both an essential conduit for business activities and a source of new opportunities. Today, being connected to the Internet can make the difference between existing and thriving, which makes Internet connectivity a requirement for many businesses. Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server includes the services and technologies businesses of all sizes need to provide complete Internet connectivity. www.tartoos.com

Connecting to the Internet may just mean providing browser access for employees who need to do research, or to work with a partner through e-mail. For some, it means posting a Web site used to sell products. And for others, it’s a way to extend company networks to partners and customers to maximize competitive advantage. Windows 2000 gives you all the features you need to do any or all of these things. www.tartoos.com

Windows 2000 networking services can help Internet-enable your business by letting you:

§                        Simplify Internet connections for individuals.

§                        Connect small businesses to the Internet.

§                        Host Internet e-commerce solutions.

§                        Link people and networks through the Internet.

Simplify Internet Connections for Individuals

The Windows 2000 Professional operating system makes it easy for people to get connected. Internet access means having an account and connecting through dial-up or high-speed DSL or cable modems. Windows 2000 Professional helps make this all easier through Plug and Play services, new device support and an easy-to-use New Connections Wizard. www.tartoos.com

Plug and Play services relieve users from having to be experts in configuring hardware, interrupts, or IP addresses. Windows 2000 Professional automatically recognizes more than 700 network interface cards and over 4,000 modems today. If it's not recognized yet, a device with the Windows 2000 logo will include the Plug and Play driver you need.

Because the drivers are tested by Microsoft and digitally signed, you won’t accidentally install a driver that "kind of works" but fails. Only the driver intended for the device can be used. For users connecting workstations to the network using DSL or cable modems, USB-compatible interface devices eliminate the need to open up the computer case to install a network card. Regardless of the link type you use, the PC

hardware setup is easier than it’s ever been and you can have choices from a range of suppliers. www.tartoos.com

Windows 2000 Professional simplifies setting up an Internet link through the New Connections Wizard. A simple dialog box guides you through defining the connection. You can choose to establish a new Internet account, transfer an account or manually set up an account. You can connect through your modem, or through a LAN connection (typically used for DSL or cable modem). Or you can set up your Internet e-mail account and integrate the connection with the Microsoft Outlook® messaging and collaboration client. The only three things you have to know are your login name, password, and the telephone number for the Internet service provider.

Because Windows 2000 supports standard Internet protocols, any additional network configurations can happen automatically. And when you’re finished, Internet Explorer knows which links are available and remembers the browser configurations so that whatever connection you use, Web access works like it should. www.tartoos.com

Connect Small Businesses to the Internet

Small businesses typically have limited networking needs, work on tight budgets, and lack the resources of a dedicated IT staff. To accommodate these requirements and constraints, Windows 2000 combines the simplicity of the New Connections Wizard with self-configuring services that securely link your small business to the Internet. And if you want to add more security to your network, Windows 2000 is an excellent platform for more advanced firewall solutions. www.tartoos.com

To make small business connections easy, Windows 2000 Professional and Windows 2000 Server include a feature called Internet Connection Sharing. To use this, you pick one of your computers to act as the single Internet connection. All that’s needed is to install a modem or a second interface card (for the DSL or cable-modem link). By editing the properties on the Internet connection, you can check a box to share the connection. When you’re finished, Internet Connection Sharing configures your entire network so that anyone can access the Internet through that system. Connection sharing automatically sets up your network addresses, configures itself as the “gateway” to the Internet, creates the path to the name services on the Internet, and lets all your systems share a single IP address to talk to Web servers and other systems on the Internet. And, because it includes a self-configuring Network Address Translator, your PCs are hidden from the Internet to prevent unauthorized access. So www.tartoos.com

besides making Internet connections easy, Internet Connection Sharing actually helps keep your internal network secure. And for businesses that want even more security, Windows 2000 is an exceptional platform for value-added firewall services that inspect packets to block viruses and access to undesirable Web sites.

Host Internet E-Business Solutions

For companies that want more than basic Internet access, Windows 2000 provides an excellent platform for building complete e-business solutions. Whether you want a high-power scalable Web application for e-commerce or a powerful tool to control security across your Internet links, Windows 2000 Server includes the services and platform features you need.

High scale Web sites need performance and Windows 2000 networking services deliver. With support for Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and gigabit Ethernet, Windows 2000 can connect in high-speed Internet demilitarized zones (DMZs). But link speed alone is not a complete measure of performance. In recent third-party testing, Windows 2000 Professional turned in a blazing sustained 2.4 gigabits per second to deliver the fastest ever real-time applications run over a wide area network. To maximize performance beyond what’s possible with a single network interface, Windows 2000 lets you connect multiple interfaces to the system and to the same network. Fail-over technologies between network interface cards (NICs) keep the system running even in the event of hardware NIC failures. www.tartoos.com

For sites that require the highest level of power and fault resiliency, Windows 2000 Advanced Server scales out with Network Load Balancing Services. With this feature, it is possible to build enormous Web sites that load balance traffic across a cluster of systems. This can help increase the capacity of your site and protect it from hardware failures by automatically distributing the load between available systems.

Because of these powerful features, Windows 2000 Server was the heart of some of the Internet’s largest e-commerce sites even before it shipped! www.tartoos.com

Link People and Networks Through the Internet

Today companies are looking for ways to reduce equipment costs by using the Internet as their wide area network. Whether connecting remote employees or networks, companies can save money by using the Internet to reduce management costs, modem infrastructure, long distance telephone service, and more. Windows 2000 includes all the services needed to capitalize on the connections delivered by your Internet service provider. wwww.tartoos.com

Windows 2000 also makes it easy for people to connect to their company networks through the Internet using its integrated virtual private networking (VPN) features. This can dramatically reduce costs by letting people use local telephone access to the Internet rather than expensive long-distance connections. These same features can be used to connect remote networks to the company network, eliminating the need to pay for leased lines. Whether you are adding VPN features to an existing remote access and routing infrastructure, replacing the infrastructure, or creating a new infrastructure from scratch, Windows 2000 can help make this easier and more affordable. www.tartoos.com