An overview of windows server 2008 features Chapter 2

Objectives Understanding the new features of windows server 2008 Choosing the right Windows Server 2008 edition

Windows server 2008 features BitLocker drive encryption: This particular feature has the potential to improve system security Because Windows encrypts the entire hard drive In addition, someone can’t even start the server without the required information because the hard drive encryption keeps the data completely locked until you provide the required code. using BitLocker means that you don’t have to worry as much about someone gaining access to company data when you perform an upgrade of the hardware

Windows server 2008 features 2. Enhanced Windows Firewall: The Windows Firewall in Windows Server 2008 is considerably easier to use than in previous versions of Windows The initial display says it all by providing you with a quick indicator of firewall status, as shown in the Figure next slide Windows Firewall is also considerably easier to configure than in the previous versions of windows server.

Windows server 2008 features 3. Improved failover clustering: Failover clustering is an important feature for a multiserver network, where one server can take over for another when a failure occurs You have to have the right hardware and software to create a clustered network, which means having knowledge of precisely what Windows is looking for in a cluster. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to make this determination in the past. Microsoft has fixed this problem in Windows Server 2008 by providing validation tests you can use to ensure that your setup will work as a cluster.

Windows server 2008 features 3. Improved failover clustering: The biggest improvement in failover cluster management is the way in which you can interact with hard drives. For example, you can now add a hard drive resource while the cluster is serving applications

Windows server 2008 features 4. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6): The world is running out of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses because every device requires one The old IP version 4 (IPv4) originally appeared on the scene with 4,294,967,296 possible address combinations and now a days this is not enough The IPv6 provides a significantly larger address space of 3.4028236692093846346337460743177e+38 possible addresses

Windows server 2008 features 5. .NET Framework 3.0: The .NET Framework is a technology that supports building and running the next generation of applications and XML Web services. It is a software framework developed by  Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows The .NET Framework is now part of Windows when you install it. The main reason for this change from previous versions is that Microsoft is using the .NET Framework more and more within Windows applications.

Windows server 2008 features 6. Network access protection (NAP) and enforcement: NAP provides the means to check the health of any client ( clients with no viruses) connecting to your network. When NAP detects an unhealthy client: it can act by limiting access until the client receives the necessary updates and configuration changes. In addition, it can specify a means of fixing the client to place it in a healthy state again. Every time other people access your network, they interact with it in ways that could cause contamination on their systems to also appear on your server. For example, if a laptop user gets a virus, your server will very likely get the virus too, unless you have a number of safeguards in place. Of course, most organizations today have all kinds of spam, virus, and other types of protection in place, even for internal contacts. The problem remains one of unhealthy clients — clients who lack the required updates or have some other fault that makes them a risky connection.

Windows server 2008 features 7. New printer and storage options: 1. XML Paper Specification (XPS) Document Support: An advanced way of printing documents for multiple purposes, including viewing electronic pages and printing pages in a polished format. XPS is a concept similar to using PDF files Using XPS printing is similar to saving a file with XPS extension

Windows server 2008 features 7. New printer and storage options: 2. New print paths: A print path defines the software and actions that the operating system uses to process a document and send printer-ready data to the printer for output The XML Paper Specification (XPS) print path is a new Windows feature that redefines how printing is handled in Windows applications.  Microsoft now provides the XPS Driver (XPSDrv) software to process XPS documents more efficiently

Windows server 2008 features 7. New printer and storage options: 3. Scalability improvements: Normally, when a client makes a print request, the server performs all the required processing. Of course, placing the burden on the server reduces overall performance of the system for a very small gain in network performance. Windows Server 2008 now places the burden of printing on the client.

Windows server 2008 features 8. Read-only domain controller (RODC): A Domain Controller is a server that responds to security authentication requests (logging in, checking permissions, etc.) within the Windows Server domain. A network my have more than one domain controller Even though the domain controller maybe considered safe from external influences, someone could potentially break into it and make changes to your setup Using an RODC makes Active Directory a read-only environment, which means that any changes that anyone makes are automatically overwritten with the original data. No changes occur to the server unless the administrator make them.

Windows server 2008 features 8. Read-only domain controller (RODC): the domain controller can make requests for data from a writeable domain controller For example, when a user tries to authenticate against the domain controller the first time, the RODC sends the authentication request to a writeable domain controller. If the authentication is successful, the RODC can request a copy of the credentials from the writeable domain controller and store them locally.

Windows server 2008 features 9. Windows Deployment Services: Use this new service to deploy Windows operating system over a network on computers that have no operating systems installed you can perform the deployment without being physically present at the remote machine An installation DVD is not necessary The installation files are sent over a network from the Windows Server 2008 Windows Deployment Services server

Windows server 2008 features 9. Windows Deployment Services: Multicast deployment: Using a multicast deployment technique lets the server install Windows on more than one client at a time This approach improves overall performance and makes it possible to update the clients quickly.

Windows server 2008 features 10. Internet Information Server (IIS): Internet Information Services (IIS) for Windows® Server is a flexible, secure and manageable Web server for hosting anything on the Web. From media streaming to web applications. Make it easier for network programmers to write network applications for the Web.

Windows Server 2008 Editions Windows Server 2008 comes in a number of versions and a number of editions. A version affects functionality in some way. For example, if your server requires a 32-bit operating system, you use the 32-bit version of the product. An edition defines the feature set of a particular version of the operating system. The Standard edition offers a different feature set from the Enterprise edition. You can get both editions in 32-bit versions.

Windows Server 2008 Editions Standard Enterprise Datacenter Itanium Processor Web server Storage Server

Standard Edition The Standard edition provides functionality that the average work center, small business, or even medium-size business requires The most basic server version Provides file and print services, secure Internet connectivity, and centralized management of network resources The main limitations for the Standard edition are the number of processors (up to four processors in a single server) and the amount of memory you can use.

Enterprise Edition Designed to meet the everyday needs of networks with applications and Web services Intended for midsized and large organizations that want the option to continue scaling their server operations upward Enable multiprocessor computers (up to eight processors in a single server) Enables clustering Enable hot Add memory

Enterprise Edition Hot-add memory The ability to add RAM without shutting down the computer or operating system

Datacenter Edition Designed for environments with mission-critical applications, very large databases, and information access requiring high availability Supports clustering for up to 16 computers Enables hot-add memory and hot-add/replace processor support.

Datacenter Edition Hot-add processor Hot-replace processor Can be added to an empty processor slot while the system is running Hot-replace processor Can replace a processor in a multiprocessor system without taking the system down

Web server edition Designed for hosting and deploying Web services and applications Supports multiprocessor computers Optimized to run Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) Intended for small to large companies, or departments within an organization that develop and deploy a single Web site

Itanium-processor Edition Supports hot-add memory, hot-add processor, hot-replace processor, and multiprocessor computers Supports server clustering for up to eight servers in one cluster

Windows Server 2008 Server Core Windows Server 2008 Server Core starts with nothing more than a command prompt. It doesn’t include much in the way of graphical tools for interaction, so you need to know the command line utilities to use it. Its like getting windows without windows

Windows Server 2008 Server Core

Windows Server 2008 Server Core Why? Resource Usage: Microsoft recommends 2 GB of RAM for Windows Server 2008, but you can get by with 1 GB in Windows Server 2008 Server Core. The hard drive requirements are also less — you need only 10 GB for Windows Server 2008 Server Core, but Microsoft recommends 40 GB for Windows Server 2008. The GUI in Windows Server 2008 consumes a considerable amount of resources

Windows Server 2008 Server Core Why? Windows Server 2008 Server Core can execute some tasks considerably faster because it doesn’t have the overhead of a GUI to consider. Neither version of the product is demonstrably better , only better for a given set of tasks.

Determining Whether to Install Server Core or the Full Version Some scenarios for a Server Core installation: Your organization is medium or large in size and wants to dedicate one server to operate as a DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server: is a server that automatically assign an IP address to a computer in network. Your organization offers many shared folders to users for their work and the organization wants to centralize all of the shared folders on one computer

Determining Whether to Install Server Core or the Full Version Some scenarios for a Server Core installation: The server contains only centralized databases accessed by users The server holds critical files for the organization and needs to have the smallest attack surface The server is dedicated to one task

Determining Whether to Install Server Core or the Full Version (continued) Sample scenarios for installing the full version are: Your organization is a small or medium-size business You prefer to work in a GUI environment The server administrator is relatively new to Windows Server 2008 and wants to use wizards for guidance

Windows Server Virtualization (WSV) Virtualization is: the ability to run two or more operating systems on a single computer Many organizations today need to run multiple servers to provide separation between groups of users. In some cases, the server may use a different operating system than Windows, such as Linux. It’s important to note that the WSV won’t ship with Windows Server 2008 Core

Windows Server Virtualization (WSV) Benefits: the ability to run multiple servers on a single piece of hardware The virtual server is more reliable and secure because it has an underlying operating system monitoring it: The underlying, or host, operating system isn’t visible to the outside world, so no one can tamper with it. The host operating system is also invisible to a guest operating system (the virtual server), so no one can gain access to the host through the guest.

Windows PowerShell Windows PowerShell A command-line interface that offers an environment for executing commands and scripts. Windows PowerShell is a new kind of command prompt based on .NET technology, Anything you can do with the .NET Framework, you can also do with Windows PowerShell Can perform many tasks with PowerShell such as: Work with files and folders View information about the local computer, including user accounts Install, list, and remove software applications

Windows PowerShell (continued)