Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (10 page)

systems, or even Windows Web Server 2008 R2 systems. However, applications that scale-

up, such as e-commerce or data warehousing applications, benefit from having all the data

and processing on a single server cluster. For these applications, Windows Server 2008 R2,

Datacenter Edition provides better centralized scaled performance as well as the added

benefit of fault tolerance and failover capabilities.

NOTE

The Windows Server 2008 R2, Datacenter Edition used to be sold only with proprietary

hardware systems; however, Windows Server 2008 R2, Datacenter Edition can now be

run on “off-the-shelf” servers with extensive core, processor, and memory expansion

capabilities. This update now allows organizations to purchase nonproprietary servers

and get the scalability of the Datacenter Edition of the operating system for enterprise-

class performance, reliability, and supportability.

Windows Web Server 2008 R2 Edition

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The Windows Web Server 2008 R2 Edition is a web front-end server version of the operat-

ing system focused on application server needs that are dedicated to web services require-

ments. Many organizations are setting up simple web servers as front ends to database

servers, messaging servers, or data application server systems. Windows Web Server 2008

R2 Edition can be used as a simple web server to host application development environ-

ments or can be integrated as part of a more sophisticated web farm and web services

environment that scales to multiple load-balanced systems. The Windows Server 2008 R2

operating system has significant improvements in scalability over previous versions of the

Windows operating system, and an organization can license multiple web services systems

at a lower cost per server to provide the scalability and redundancy desired in large web

farm environments.

NOTE

For organizations looking to purchase a low-cost Windows Web Server Edition to set up

a simple file and print server or utility server (DNS, DHCP, domain controller), the Web

Server Edition does not provide traditional multiuser file or print access or utility ser-

vices. You need to purchase the Windows Server 2008 R2, Standard Edition to get

capabilities other than web services.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core

New to Windows Server 2008 and continued support with Windows Server 2008 R2 is a

Server Core version of the operating system. Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core, shown

in Figure 1.3, is a GUI-less version of the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system.

Versions of Windows Server 2008 R2

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When a system boots up with Server Core installed on it, the system does not load up the

normal Windows graphical user interface. Instead, the Server Core system boots to a logon

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prompt, and from the logon prompt, the system drops to a DOS command prompt. There

is no Start button, no menu—no GUI at all.

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FIGURE 1.3

Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core.

Server Core is not sold as a separate edition, but rather as an install option that comes

with the Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web Server Editions of the operating

system. So, when you purchase a license of Windows Server 2008 R2, the DVD has both

the normal GUI Edition code plus a Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core version.

The operating system capabilities are limited to the edition of Server Core being installed,

so a Windows Server 2008 R2, Enterprise Edition Server Core server has the same memory

and processor limits as the regular Enterprise Edition of Windows Server 2008 R2.

Server Core has been a great version of Windows for utility servers such as domain

controllers, DHCP servers, DNS servers, IIS web servers, or Windows virtualization servers

being that the limited overhead provides more resources to the applications running on

the server, and by removing the GUI and associated applications, there’s less of a security

attack footprint on the Server Core system. Being that most administrators don’t play

Solitaire or use Media Player on a domain controller, those are applications that don’t

need to be patched, updated, or maintained on the GUI-less version of Windows. With

fewer applications to be patched, the system requires less maintenance and management

to keep operational.

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CHAPTER 1

Windows Server 2008 R2 Technology Primer

NOTE

With the new remote administration capabilities of Windows Server 2008 R2, covered

in Chapter 20, “Windows Server 2008 R2 Management and Maintenance Practices,”

administrators can now remotely manage a Server Core system from the Server

Manager GUI interface on another server. This greatly enhances the management of

Server Core hosts so that administrators can use a GUI console to manage the other-

wise GUI-less version of Windows Server.

What’s New and What’s the Same About Windows

Server 2008 R2?

From a Microsoft marketing perspective, Windows Server 2008 R2 could be said to be

faster, more secure, more reliable, and easier to manage. And it is true that the Windows

Server 2008 R2 operating system has all these capabilities. However, this section notes

specifically which changes are cosmetic changes compared with previous Windows operat-

ing systems and which changes truly improve the overall administrative and end-user

experience due to improvements in the operating system.

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Visual Changes in Windows Server 2008 R2

The first thing you notice when Windows Server 2008 R2 boots up is the new Windows 7-

like graphical user interface (GUI). This is obviously a simple cosmetic change to standard-

ize the current look and feel of the Windows operating systems. Interestingly, with the

release of Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft did away with the “Classic View” of the

administrator Control Panel. For all the network administrators who always switched their

server Control Panel to the Classic View, that is now gone, and you will need to figure out

the “updated” Control Panel that was the standard starting with Windows XP.

Continuation of the Forest and Domain Model

Windows Server 2008 R2 also uses the exact same Active Directory forest, domain, site,

organizational unit, group, and user model as Windows 2000/2003/2008. So if you liked

how Active Directory was set up before, it doesn’t change with Windows Server 2008 R2

Active Directory. Even the Active Directory Sites and Services, Active Directory Users and

Computers (shown in Figure 1.4), and Active Directory Domains and Trusts administrative

tools work exactly the same.

There are several changes to the names of the Active Directory services as well as signifi-

cant improvements within Active Directory that are covered in the section “Changes in

Active Directory” a little later in this chapter.

What’s New and What’s the Same About Windows Server 2008 R2?

17

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FIGURE 1.4

Active Directory Users and Computers tool.

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Changes That Simplify Tasks

Windows Server 2008 R2 has added several new capabilities that simplify tasks. These

capabilities could appear to be simply cosmetic changes; however, they actually provide

significant benefits for administrative management.

New Server Manager Tool

A tool that was added in Windows Server 2008 is the Server Manager console, shown in

Figure 1.5. Server Manager consolidates all of the administrative management consoles

from Windows 2000/2003 into a single management tool. Now instead of having to open

up the Active Directory Users and Computers console, Control Panel system properties,

the DNS management console, and so on, and then toggle to the appropriate console you

want, all of the information is now available in one screen.

Updated in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the ability for an administrator to use the Server

Manager tool to access not only the server resources on the current server system, but also

to remotely access server resources through the Server Manager tool on remote server

systems. This remote capability of Server Manager minimizes the need of the administra-

tor to remotely log on to systems to manage them; it allows the administrator to sit at a

single Server Manager console and gain access to other servers in the organization.

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CHAPTER 1

Windows Server 2008 R2 Technology Primer

FIGURE 1.5

Server Manager.

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Additionally, other tools like the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) show up in

Server Manager under the Features node and provide an administrator with the ability to

edit group policies, change policies, and apply policies from the same console to which

the administrator can make DNS changes, add users, and change IP configuration changes

to site configuration settings.

PowerShell for Administrative Tasks

Another updated server feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the extension of PowerShell

for server administration and management. PowerShell has now been extended to be a full

scripting language for administration tasks in Windows Server 2008 R2. PowerShell was

first introduced in Exchange 2007 as the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) that under-

lies all functions of Exchange 2007 administration. PowerShell (version 2.0) is now

installed by default in Windows Server 2008 R2, as opposed to being an add-in feature in

Windows Server 2008. As a built-in component, all administrative tasks are now fully

PowerShell enabled.

PowerShell in Windows Server 2008 R2 provides the ability for administrators to script

processes, such as adding users, adding computers, or even more complicated tasks such as

querying a database, extracting usernames, and then creating Active Directory users, and

to provision Exchange mailboxes all from a PowerShell script. Additionally, PowerShell in

Windows Server 2008 R2 allows an administrator to script installation processes so that if,

for example, the administrator creates a Remote Desktop server or web server with specific

settings, the administrator can use a PowerShell script and deploy additional servers all

identically configured using the same script over and over.

What’s New and What’s the Same About Windows Server 2008 R2?

19

And with PowerShell 2.0 built in to Windows Server 2008 R2, PowerShell scripts and

commands can be run against remote servers. This enables an administrator to sit at one

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server and remotely execute scripts on other servers in the environment. Using secured