There are a vast number of improvements and new features added in the management department with Windows Server 2003 as you will soon see when you begin poking around. Group Policy, account management, and software deployment are just a few of the areas in which you will find improvements and new features. Listed below are just a few of the ones that you will come across as you start working with Windows Server 2003.

• Domain Controller Rename: One of the limitations of Windows 2000 was the difficulty of renaming a domain, particularly the forest-root which entailed uninstalling and reinstalling Active Directory and then reconfiguring any child domains. Domain rename in Windows Server 2003 now gives organizations the flexibility of renaming domains and restructuring domain hierarchies.
• Automated System Recovery: The ASR is used to recover a system in the event of failure. You can create an ASR disk set using the Backup program installed with the operating system. The ASR wizard backs up the system state data, system services, and disk configuration information and stores the recovery information on a floppy.
• Group Policy: Windows Server 2003 now introduces more than 200 new group policy settings.
• Emergency Management Services: This feature allows you to perform remote management and troubleshooting tasks when the server is unavailable on the network and cannot be managed using other tools. Instead of establishing a connection using the operating system network drivers, an out of band connection is established. To use this feature out of band hardware must be installed on the server.
• Resultant Set of Policy: Those administrators familiar with group policies know how difficult they can be to troubleshoot. The Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) tool helps administrators troubleshoot, plan, and monitor group policy settings. It allows administrators to see the effective policy settings and determine the effect of policy setting changes.
• Password Backup and Restore: This nifty new tool provides users with a way of resetting the password on their user account without the assistance of an administrator. Users can create a backup disk that can be used to reset their password. The disk does not actually store the password itself, just information required to reset it.