Thus, Windows 2000 Server is required to host Exchange 2000. Exchange 2000 Server relies on fixes available in Service Pack 1 of Windows 2000. Additionally, Active Directory services must be enabled for the domain that Exchange 2000 Server will be running. If you plan on deploying Exchange 2000 Server clusters or on machines with more than 4 processors, Windows 2000 Advanced Server is required. See other questions for upgrade scenarios and hardware requirements.
Server demands a lot from the machine hosting it.
Generally speaking, the more RAM, the better the performance. Microsoft recommends 256MB of RAM with 128MB being the minimum. 500MB of hard disk space is required to hold the Exchange 2000 Server files with at least 200MB of hard disk space free on the Windows 2000 system drive. Actual RAM and hard disk space vary with traffic levels, number of mailboxes and public folders. You need to reinstall Exchange 2000 Server if you want to use RC2.