Why Upgrade To Windows Server 2012
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Windows Server 2012 introduces new storage features including the iSCSI Target role service, Storage Spaces, deduplication, and improvements to SMB 3.0. Storage Spaces allows the aggregation of disks into storage pools from which virtual disks can be created using mirroring or parity. Deduplication reduces the storage space used by identifying and removing duplicate data blocks. SMB 3.0 in Windows Server 2012 provides faster file sharing capabilities that can match or exceed block-level protocols like iSCSI.
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Why Upgrade To Windows Server 2012
- 1. Why Upgrade to Windows Server 2012? Aidan Finn, MicroWarehouse Dave Northey, Microsoft
- 2. • MicroWarehouse is Ireland’s largest independently owned IT Distributor. • Established in 1986, it is completely controlled by the local management team. • Comprising of 28 staff, MicroWarehouse sells products from a focussed Vendor Portfolio to over 500 resellers, offering the largest local stockholding, aggressively priced and supported by unrivalled local knowledge. • Products and solutions sold include PC systems, peripherals, software and licensing. Company Headquarters in Park West Business Park, Dublin Additional services provided include: • Total procurement and logistics solutions • Technical product co-selling • Vendor promotion and reporting administration • Pre-sales support • Software asset management reviews • E-marketing solutions Our customers are: • Retailers (indigenous and multi-national) • Value added resellers • Solution providers & integrators • Software licensing specialists • Computer consultants. • Computer System Builders In partnership with our vendors, MicroWarehouse focuses on a broad base of resellers and has a proven track record in genuine breadth growth. With a balance sheet value in excess of €9million, MicroWarehouse is a secure business 100% focussed on delivering value in the Irish marketplace. MicroWarehouse
- 3. • 09:30 – 10:30 Part I • End of support for legacy products • Small & Medium Business • Administration • 10:45 – 11:00 Break • 11:00 – 13:00 Part II • Storage • Remote Working • Business continuity & backup • 13:00 Finish Agenda
- 4. End of Support for Windows Server 2003/R2
- 5. And it’s not Changing • Mainstream support ended for Windows Server 2003/R2 on July 13th, 2010 • That means no new products would be developed for it • Extended support ends July 14th, 2015 • Don’t bother calling MSFT Support • No more security updates • Logically, no more 3rd party support • The date is not changing
- 6. SBS 2003 • SBS support cycles depend on component parts • Windows Server 2003/R2: July 14th, 2015 • Exchange 2003: • Mainstream support ended April 14th, 2009 • Extended support ends April 8th, 2014 • That means SBS 2003 support ends next April!!! • No support and SBS 2003 becomes a security vulnerability
- 7. SBS 2003 R2 • Exchange 2007 support life cycle: • Mainstream support ends: 4/10/2012 • Extended support ends: 4/11/2017 • However, Windows Server 2003 R2: • Extended support ends: July 14th, 2015 • Therefore SBS 2003 R2 support ends July 14th, 2015
- 9. Windows Server 2012 For Business Solutions
- 10. Enables small businesses around the world, powers many of the world’s largest data centers, and delivers value to organizations of all sizes Automated virtualization & management Virtualization & management Windows Server 2012 Virtualization First server Automated virtualization & management of private cloud Small business Mid-market Enterprise One Platform For All Customers
- 11. Foundation • Per Server Licensing • Limited to 1 processor only • Up to 15 users, no CALs • Cannot be virtualized and cannot be used at a virtualization host • Basic workloads for core IT capabilities: file sharing, printer sharing and remote access • Per Server Licensing • Up to max of 2 processors • Up to 25 users, no CALs • Can be virtualized, but cannot be used as a virtualization host • Ideal for small businesses: protect data, organize and access business information and access cloud services • Processor & CALs • Up to 2 processors per license; no processor limit • Virtual Use Rights: 2 Instances • Unlimited users with CALs • All server features including: continuous availability, storage, management, networking, identity and access (parity with Datacenter) • Processor & CALs • Up to 2 processors per license; no processor limit • Unlimited Virtual Instances • Unlimited users with CALs • Full product features • High Density Virtualization for private and hybrid cloud environments Essentials Standard Datacenter The Windows Server 2012 Editions
- 12. Small & Medium Business
- 13. The Past The Future SBS 2011 Standard unconditionally integrated with Exchange Server Exchange Server will not be integrated, allowing customers and partners to choose: how/where to run those workloads: On-Premise SBS 2011 Essentials leveraged messaging/ collab services in the cloud or on-premise Flexibility and Choice
- 14. Windows Server 2012 Essentials is the ideal solution for… 2011 Essentials …customers who would previously have purchased SBS 2011 Essentials to leverage the cloud for applications and services such as messaging, collaboration, etc. …customers who would previously have purchased SBS 2011 Standard but are now interested in leveraging cloud-based applications and services. 2011 Standard Windows Server 2012 Essentials Online Apps/Services Deploying with Cloud-Based Apps/Services
- 15. Windows Server 2012 Essentials can be deployed in several on-premise scenarios with Windows Server 2012 Standard, Exchange Server, and SQL Server Two Physical Servers Infrastructure Server Windows Server 2012 Essentials Messaging Server Windows Server 2012 Standard & Exchange Server Standard LOB Server SQL Server Standard One Physical Server with two virtual machines Infrastructure Server Windows Server 2012 Essentials Messaging Server Exchange Server Standard Host Windows Server 2012 Standard One Physical Server with three virtual machines Infrastructure Server Windows Server 2012 Essentials Messaging Server Exchange Server Standard Host Windows Server 2012 Standard Deploying with On-Premise Apps/Services
- 16. Deploying a Lower Mid-Market Solution Windows Server 2012 Essentials can be part of a solution for customers with 25-75 PCs Virtual instance running Windows Server 2012 Essentials - Remote Web Access - Client computer backup - Email integration - Dashboard, etc. Windows Server 2012 Standard running as a Hyper-V host provides up to two virtual instances with a single license. Virtual instance running Windows Server 2012 Standard - Can be used for additional workloads, such as Exchange Server, SharePoint, WSUS, SQL Server, Remote Desktop Services, etc. Beyond Small Business
- 18. Server Administration Agenda • Server Manager • PowerShell • IP Address Management (IPAM) • DHCP Failover • Core/MinShell/Full GUI
- 19. Windows Server 2008 R2 Connect to server roles (such as File Services, Hyper-V, and Remote Desktop Services) on a per-server basis. FILE SERVICES HYPER-V STORAGE Windows Server 2012 Manage a server role as it spans across servers, or look at a server and the server roles on that server. Both options are important. Server 1 Server 3 Server 2 Server 1 Role 1 Role 3 Role 2 Server 1 Server 2 Server 3 Role 1 Role 2 Role 3 Server Manager – Then And Now
- 20. Key features Broader coverage • Rich management through more than 2400 cmdlets Greater resiliency • Robust session connectivity • Disconnected sessions • Session configuration files • Job scheduling • Windows PowerShell Web Access More intuitive • Integrated Scripting Environment 3.0: Syntax simplification | IntelliSense | Reusable text in code examples • Cmdlet discovery and module autoloading • Updatable help • Script-sharing Higher performance • On-the-fly compilation—up to six times faster • Windows PowerShell Workflow Automation With PowerShell
- 21. Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) 3.0 IntelliSense Cmdlet discovery Get-Command *-Net* Get-Help *-Net* Updatable Help Update-Help Save-Help Snippets More Intuitive Scripting
- 22. Address Planning • Manage public IP addresses obtained from RIRs • Plan address blocks required by each site on the network Address Allocation • Manage static addresses and allocate on demand • Centralize the configuration of dynamic address ranges and their properties in DHCP • Dynamically update DNS Usage Tracking • Keep track of address utilization and aid in network address capacity planning Troubleshooting • Help identify issues with DHCP and DNS services on the network Audit • Log address assignments by device/user • Audit DHCP and DNS server modifications IP Address Management (IPAM) Solves a real world problem
- 23. Load Sharing or Hot Standby More DHCP Failover
- 24. Server Core • Primary, default server deployment option • Supports more roles and services, including .Net Framework 4.5 and SQL Server 2012 • Firewall-friendly remote management (WinRM) and Windows PowerShell are enabled and installed by default • Adds the ability to easily move between Server Core and MinShell MinShell • Minimal User Experience Option • Server Core with GUI tools • Server Manager and cmd.exe launch by default when server is booted • Allows other GUI tools to be loaded • Enabled through Add Roles and Features wizard, or with PowerShell Server Administration Agenda
- 26. Active Directory Administration Agenda • Active Directory Administrative Center (ADAC) • PowerShell History Viewer • AD Recycle Bin • Fine Grained Passwords • DACL • Group Managed Service Accounts • Virtual Domain Controllers
- 27. Active Directory Administrative Center (ADAC) • Introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2 and improved in WS2012 • Designed for administrators. Common tasks are just there: • Reset a password • Find a user • Different GUI that presents more information • Newer features presented only in ADAC & PowerShell • Performs PowerShell under the hood …
- 28. Active Directory Administration Made Easier … • … and cheaper! • PowerShell History Viewer • Finding AD PowerShell difficult to learn? • Open a pane in ADAC to see the PoSH being used • Fine Grained Password Policies • Support demands for special password policies – IT versus the directors! • Simple to do – associate special policies with AD security groups • AD Recycle Bin • Restoring deleted objects is difficult and backup agents are expensive • Right-click and restore single objects or entire OUs!
- 29. Benefits • Reduces the learning curve • Increases confidence in scripting • Enhances Windows PowerShell discoverability • Graphical user interface supports Active Directory recycle bin functionality PowerShell History Viewer
- 30. Active Directory Domain Services Characteristics • Composed of central access rules • Applied to file servers through Group Policy objects • Supplement (not replace) native file and folder access control lists from New Technology File System (NTFS) Corporate file servers Personally identifiable information policy Finance policy User folders Finance folders Organizational policies • High business impact • Personally identifiable information High business impact policy Finance department policies • High business impact • Personally identifiable information • Finance Examples • Organization-Wide Authorization Policy • Departmental Authorization Policy • Specific Data-Management Policy • Need-to-Know Dynamic Access Control
- 31. User claims User.Department = Finance User.Clearance = High Access policy For access to financial information that has high business impact, a user must be a finance department employee with a high security clearance, and must use a managed device registered with the finance department. Device claims Device.Department = Finance Device.Managed = True Resource properties Resource.Department = Finance Resource.Impact = High Active Directory Domain Services File server Expression-based access rules
- 32. • Background • Service need to logon as a user and their passwords should expire • Managed Service Accounts (MSAs) introduced with Windows Server 2008 R2 managed their own passwords • Clustered or load-balanced services that needed to share a single security- principal were unsupported – MSAs not able to be used in many desirable scenarios Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA)
- 33. • Solution • Introduce new security principal type known as a gMSA • Services running on multiple hosts can run under the same gMSA account • 1 or more Windows Server 2012 DCs required – gMSAs can authenticate against any OS-version DC – passwords computed by Group Key Distribution Service (GKDS) running on all Windows Server 2012 DCs • Windows Server 2012 hosts using gMSAs obtain password and password- updates from GKDS - password retrieval limited to authorized computers • Password-change interval defined at gMSA account creation (30 days by default) • Like MSAs, gMSAs are supported only by the Windows Service Control Manager (SCM) and IIS application pools – support for scheduled tasks is being investigated Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA)
- 34. Use the wizard to deploy a single virtual domain controller. Configure additional options for domain controller clone (for example, name and IP information). Copy source domain controller virtual machine and restart to complete cloning operation. Virtual domain controller Clones Rollback Detection • Virtual domain controllers use the unique GenerationID attribute to detect when: • Snapshots are applied • A virtual machine is copied • GenerationID changes when an event affects virtual machine’s position in time • During startup, the virtual domain controller compares the current value of GenerationID against the value stored in the directory • A mismatch (rollback event) triggers safe virtual domain controller convergence Virtualizing domain controllers
- 35. Storage
- 36. Storage Agenda • iSCSI Target • Storage Spaces • Deduplication • SMB 3.0 • Scale-Out File Server
- 37. Storage Challenges • Need an iSCSI solution for test, development, demo, and small environments • Traditional RAID is expensive and hardware defined • File and archive servers are bursting at the seams • SANs are an expensive requirement for high availability (clusters) • Customers want software defined storage that reuses existing skills and has single admin mechanism across platforms
- 38. The iSCSI Target • Turn a server into an iSCSI server • Connect to it just like an iSCSI SAN • Can provide storage for a SAN • Built into Windows Server 2012 • A role service • Can be an active/passive role in a Windows Server 2012 failover cluster • Brief outage during failover • Great for a lab • System Center 2012 SP1 – VMM includes SMI-S Provider
- 39. Storage Spaces • Aggregation of non-RAID disks(such as JBOD): A Storage Space • Think of Storage Pool like a disk group in a SAN • Create virtual disks from a Storage Pool • Think of virtual disks like LUNs or vDisks created from a SAN disk group • Each virtual disk consumes space from physical disk in Storage Pool: • Simple: no disk protection • Mirror: either 2-way mirror or 3-way mirror • Parity: data striped across disks • This is not Windows RAID of the past
- 40. Storage Spaces Visualized Storage Space Mirror 1 Mirror 1 Mirror 1Mirror 2 Mirror 2 Mirror 2 Mirror 1 Mirror 3 Mirror 2Mirror 2 Mirror 1 Mirror 3 2-Way Mirror 3-Way Mirror Simple 1 Simple 3 Simple 5Simple 2 Simple 4 Simple 6Simple Parity1 Parity 3 Parity 5Parity 2 Parity 4 Parity 6Parity Striping Striping Striping Striping Striping Striping
- 41. Deduplication • De-duplicate at rest data on non-system drive volumes • Cannot be enabled on Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs) • Greatly reduce storage space used: • File servers • Digital libraries • Archives • Optimization runs on scheduled basis – can also be on demand
- 42. Real World Deduplication Results Figures from http://workinghardinit.wordpress.com/ - Didier Van Hoye, MVP
- 43. Improvements in SMB 3.0 • SMB 3.0 is a new version of the file sharing protocol • Networking improvements in Windows Server 2012: • SMB Multichannel: Use parallel data streams across a single NIC (RSS hardware) and/or across multiple NICs (automatically) with fault tolerance • Think MPIO for file shares • SMB Direct uses Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) enabled NICs: • Allows massive file share data throughput with minimal latency and impact on CPU
- 44. SMB 3.0 Competes with Block File Access • SMB 3.0 file shares can match if not exceed iSCSI on the same hardware • TechEd Europe 2012 Live Demo: • 1.2 million IOPS from a Hyper-V virtual machine • Over twice the capability of most demanding DB MSFT could find • TechEd North America 2012: • 16 GigaBYTES per second transfer rate • SMB 3.0 is Microsoft’s strategy for data center storage • Software defined and more economic than legacy hardware solutions
- 45. SMB 3.0 Use Cases • A file server can provide centralized storage for: • Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V – can be centrally managed by System Center 2012 SP1 – Virtual Machine Manager • A single store for web servers for many IIS 8.0 servers • Even be used for SQL Server (2008 R2 & 2012) database and log files • Does a file server have the uptime?
- 46. Scalable & Continuously Available Storage • A new kind of file server cluster: • Scale-Out File Server (SOFS) • A special cluster role • Not for end user file shares • Cluster can use JBOD + Storage Spaces • Traditional SAN storage also supported • Provides more economic software defined storage • Based on tech you know: file shares File Server Cluster Node A Node B fs1share fs1share SQL Server
- 47. Remote Working & Branch Offices
- 48. Remote Desktop Web Access Remote Desktop Gateway Remote Desktop Licensing Remote Desktop Session Host Component Architecture Server Manager SQL Databas e Remote Desktop Connection Broker Remote Desktop Virtualization Host Remote Desktop Services Components
- 49. User Profile Disk with pooled virtual machine collections User Profile Disk with remote desktop session host collections Benefits • Available with pooled virtual machine collections and remote desktop session host collections • Stores all user settings and data • Contains roaming user profile, Folder Redirection cache, and user environment virtualization • Roams with user within collection • Appears as a local disk and improves application compatibility What should I deploy? User Profile Disk With every virtual machine pool and remote desktop session host collection User environment virtualization To apply roam settings across collections Folder Redirection To apply roaming user data across collections To centralize user data backup Personalization with User Profile Disk
- 50. Applies GPOs to remote computers IT: Manage Out "Light up" remote clients Decreases patch miss rates FIREWALL DirectAccess SharePoint Apps Intranet Exchange VPN Win XP / Vista / Non-Windows Windows 7 Windows 8 Mobile Broadband Simplified connectivity End User: Great Experience Improved productivity Not user initiated DirectAccess gives users the experience of being seamlessly connected to their corporate network any time they have Internet access VPNs connect the user to the network DirectAccess extends the network to the computer and user X DirectAccess
- 51. Improving network efficiency in branch offices Benefits Increase application Performance Decrease WAN Utilization Increase end user productivity Network efficiency
- 52. Hosted Cache vs. Distributed Cache
- 53. NEW IN WINDOWS SERVER 2012 Performance Scalability Management Cloud-Ready • • • • • • • New in BranchCache
- 54. Branch Office Direct Printing
- 55. Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
- 56. BC & DR Agenda • Windows Server Backup • Windows Azure Backup • Hyper-V Replica
- 57. Backup, DR, and Business Continuity Problems • 3rd party backup solutions are expensive for small businesses • Do you need additional software for just a single server? • Offsite backup is essential but difficult • A replica site? • The receptionist taking tapes or USB drives home on the bus? • Data protection compliance? • What happens if the office burns down or is flooded? • How long can a businesses applications/data remain offline? • DR replication is expensive, inflexible, and often not possible
- 58. Windows Server Backup • The built-in backup tool in Windows Server • Basic, local-server-only backup • Uses same Volume Shadow Copy Snapshot (VSS) service as paid-for backup solutions • Uses the new 64 TB & 4K sector matching VHDX file • Back up to: • Tape • Local drive • Shared folder – does not retain historical backups without intervention • Now supports backing up clusters
- 59. Windows Azure Online Backup • A part of Windows Azure Recovery Services • A paid-per-usage backup in the cloud solution from Microsoft • Automated off-site backup • Encrypts your data using your private encryption key before sending it to the cloud • Microsoft cannot access your data • You really cannot lose that private key – no recovery! • Two solutions: • Upgrade Windows Server Backup to send backup directly to Azure storage • Add-on to System Center 2012 SP1 – Data Protection Manager
- 60. Windows Azure Online Backup Scenarios • Backup your data to Azure • Scenario 1: Normal operational restore • Restore lost data to on-premises servers • Scenario 2: Improvised on-premise DR site • Restore lost data to improvised DR site after a disaster • Scenario 3: Improvised DR site in public cloud • Create VMs in a cloud (such as Azure) and restore data to them
- 61. Backup for DR • Backup is not great for DR replication • Recovery (RTO) is slow - if at all – and lots of data lost (RPO) • The business is losing money & customer relationships • Might get services back, but will the business recover? • What is needed? • DR site for easy/rapid business continuity • Off-site backup (Windows Azure Online Backup) to restore older data
- 62. Benefits • Affordable in-box business continuity and disaster recovery • Failure recovery in minutes • More secure replication across network • No need for storage arrays • No need for other software replication technologies • Automatic handling of live migration • Simpler configuration and management New feature Replicate Hyper-V virtual machines from a primary site to a replica site Hyper-V role and tools Hyper-V cmdlets Hyper-V PS integrated UI Hyper-V Management Module tracks and replicates changes for each virtual machine Hyper-V role and tools Hyper-V cmdlets Hyper-V PS integrated UI Hyper-V Management Module receives and applies the changes to the replica virtual machine Primary site CRM virtual machine SQL virtual machine SharePoint virtual machine Exchange virtual machine IIS virtual machine Exchange replica virtual machine CRM replica virtual machine Replicate over WAN link SMB file share Send/receive replica traffic SAN R1 R2 R3 P1 P2 Replica site Hyper-V Replica
- 63. And remember … Support for Windows Server 2003 & SBS 2003 is ending soon 63 Thank You!
Editor's Notes
- My name is <insert presenter name and bio here>.
- In this section, we are going to focus on Manageability features and capabilities in Windows Server 2012.
- To summarize, Windows PowerShell 3.0 delivers: Simplified administration of multiple servers A path toward full automation of server management tasks An easier way to learn about cmdlets and how to incorporate them in your automation scripting
- To summarize, Windows PowerShell 3.0 delivers: Simplified administration of multiple servers A path toward full automation of server management tasks An easier way to learn about cmdlets and how to incorporate them in your automation scripting
- To summarize, Windows PowerShell 3.0 delivers: Simplified administration of multiple servers A path toward full automation of server management tasks An easier way to learn about cmdlets and how to incorporate them in your automation scripting
- In this section, we are going to focus on Manageability features and capabilities in Windows Server 2012.
- In this section, we are going to focus on Manageability features and capabilities in Windows Server 2012.
- In this section, we are going to focus on Manageability features and capabilities in Windows Server 2012.
- To summarize, Windows PowerShell 3.0 delivers: Simplified administration of multiple servers A path toward full automation of server management tasks An easier way to learn about cmdlets and how to incorporate them in your automation scripting
- Deployment of both roles and features is combined into a single Add Roles and Features Wizard. While the process of installing roles is familiar, and consistent with the Add Roles Wizard in earlier Windows Server releases, there are changes. To support remote deployment and installations on offline virtual hard disks, some roles have moved some initial configuration (tasks formerly performed in the Add Roles Wizard during an installation) into post-installation configuration wizards. For some offline virtual hard disk deployments, installation tasks are scheduled to run the first time the machine is started.In Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, you connect to a server to get to a server role, not the other way around.Note that Windows Server 2012 does not abandon the old management model; it simply expands upon it. Sometimes you need to manage a server and its roles. Sometimes you need to manage a role and its servers. A modern server operating system needs to provide this management flexibility.In Windows Server 2008 R2, roles and features are deployed by using the Add Roles Wizard or Add Features Wizard in Server Manager running on a local server. This requires either physical access to the server or Remote Desktop access by using RDP. Installing Remote Server Administration Tools lets you run Server Manager on a Windows-based client computer, but adding roles and features is disabled, because remote deployment isn’t supported.In Windows Server 2012 the deployment capabilities are extended to support robust remote deployment of roles and features. Using Server Manager in Windows Server 2012, IT pros can provision servers from their desktops without requiring either physical access to the systems or the need to enable RDP connection to each server. Windows Server 2012 with Server Manager can deploy both roles and features in a single session using the unified Add Roles and Features Wizard. The Add Roles and Features Wizard in Windows Server 2012 performs validation passes on a server you select for deployment as part of the installation process; there’s no need to pre-verify that a server in your Server Manager server pool is properly configured to support a role.When logged on to a remote virtual machine using the built-in Administrator account, administrators can deploy roles and features to offline virtual hard disks from Server Manager on their local server. In a single session in the Add Roles and Features Wizard, you can add your desired roles and features to an offline virtual hard disk, allowing for faster and simpler repetition and consistency of desired configurations.In Windows Server 2012 Server Manager is a multi-server management tool. Your servers appear all at once, and you can organize these servers into groups representing, for example, departments or locations or functions. Multiserver experienceManage groups of servers collectively from within a single, integrated consoleRespond to business-critical problems with greater speed and agilityGenerate status views for multiple servers after polling servers for operational statisticsIncludes installed roles and features, events, service states, performance threshold alerts, and Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) scan results
- More IntuitiveEnhanced ISE with IntellisenseSimplified language syntaxUpdatable help systemEasy command discovery and importBroader CoverageOver 2,400 cmdlets across WindowsSupport for thriving communityScript Explorer & Script LibraryGreater ResiliencyRobust session connectivityIntegrated workflowConnect/disconnect remote sessionsScheduled jobsPowerShell 3.0 is a better 2.0Many suggestions addressedOn-the-fly compilation allows scripts to run up to 6x fasterEnhanced interactive console experienceCore cmdlet and provider improvements
- Windows PowerShell 3.0 provides a comprehensive management platform for all aspects of the data center: servers, network, and storage. Windows PowerShell 3.0 includes 260 core cmdlets. Windows Server 2012 includes more than 2,400 total cmdlets in 239 available modules.New Windows PowerShell ISE Features. The Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) 3.0 includes many new features to ease beginning users into Windows PowerShell and provide advanced editing support for scripters. Some of the new features are:Show-Command pane lets users find and run cmdlets in a dialog box. IntelliSense provides context-sensitive command completion for cmdlet and script names, parameter names and enumerated values, and property and method names. IntelliSense also supports paths, types, and variables.Code examples add reusable text to scripts and commands. The built-in code examples include templates for functions, parameters, and statements so users don’t have to remember the syntax.Syntax simplification: Windows PowerShell 3.0 includes simplified, consistent syntax across all cmdletsShow-Command pane for finding and running cmdlets in a dialog boxINTELISENSEWindows PowerShell ISE 3.0 includes many other new features to ease beginning users into Windows PowerShell and provide advanced editing support for scripters. Some of the new features are:Code examples add reusable text to scripts and commands. The built-in code examples include templates for functions, parameters, and statements so users don’t have to remember the syntax.Collapsible regions in scripts and XML files make navigation in long scripts easier.Context-sensitive command completion for cmdlet and script names, parameter names and enumerated values, and property and method namesSimplified scripting through Windows PowerShell ISE 3.0:Built-in code examples include templates for functions, parameters, and statementsUsers do not need to remember the syntaxCode examples add reusable text to scripts and commandsCMDLET DISCOVERYWindows PowerShell 3.0 helps IT pros by providing access to a community-generated library of Windows PowerShell code snippets, called Integrated Script Snippets, within Windows PowerShell ISE. To access Integrated Script Snippets, the user presses the keystroke (Ctrl+J). The user can then select from a list of script templates, select the appropriate template, and have partially completed script inserted into the editor.Windows Server 2012 includes more than 2,300 cmdlets, which you can learn and discover easily. Modules are easier than ever to find, explore, create, and use, and users no longer have to import modules manually to use cmdlets. Users can just run a cmdlet, and Windows PowerShell will import the module automatically. In addition, Get-Command has been updated to find all cmdlets installed on the system. For example, to find all networking cmdlets, you can run Get-Command *-Net*. Update-Help Install the latest Windows PowerShell Help files on the local computer. Save-Help Download the latest Windows PowerShell Help files into a network share.In Windows PowerShell 3.0, new Update-Help and Save-Help cmdlets download and install the newest Help files for each module. The cmdlets find the Help files on the Internet, determining whether they are newer than local files, unpack them, and install them in the correct location. The updated files are ready for immediate use in Get-Help—you don't need to restart Windows PowerShell. Help files for Windows PowerShell 3.0 are guaranteed to be up to date on first use because they do not ship in the box. Get-Help displays auto-generated Help for commands and then prompts you to use the Update-Help cmdlet to install or update the Help files for your modules.For some environments, such as large enterprises behind Internet firewalls, it is preferable to be able to update Help files from a local share instead of from the Internet. In these cases, you can use Save-Help -DestinationPath<share> to create a local share that stores the latest Windows PowerShell Help files. Users within the organization can then update their Help files by pointing to that share and running Update-Help –SourcePath<share>.Script Sharing:Windows PowerShell 3.0 helps IT pros by providing access to a community-generated library of Windows PowerShell code snippets, called Integrated Script Snippets, within Windows PowerShell ISE. To access Integrated Script Snippets, the user presses the keystroke (Ctrl+J). The user can then select from a list of script templates, select the appropriate template, and have partially completed script inserted into the editor.
- IPAM addresses the following challenges:Address planning – ensuring that you are controlling IP address blocks (particularly IPv6) correctly.Address allocation – ensuring that static addresses are managed correctly, that address range for issuing dynamic addresses are correctly configured and that DNS is updated dynamically with the correct address and host information.Usage Tracking – ensuring that you do not run out of IP addresses.Troubleshooting – Identifying DHCP and DNS service issues quickly and accurately.Audit – Logging address assignments to each device or user for troubleshooting or forensic analysis. Also auditing any changes to the DHCP or DNS servers. Note that each service may have different administrators.
- While Microsoft remains committed to GUIs, the primary place GUIs should exist is on the administrator’s desktop – not on the Server.Server resources are much more expensive than client resources and running GUIs on servers requires additional software components. Every component increases the security and serviceability exposure of that server so you should only install those components that are necessary to that server workload. Fewer things running on the server means fewer patches and more resources available to the server workload.Windows Server 2012 has made several investments to help administrators succeed in choosing Server Core as the primary deployment option for Windows Server. The traditional “Server with a GUI” is still provided as a full option if required.The number of server roles that run on Server Core has increased with support for .Net Framework 4.5 included. SQL Sever 2012 now installs, eliminating the most common reason administrators cited for not being able to run in the Server Core configuration. Firewall-friendly remote management (WinRM) and Windows PowerShell are now enabled and installed by default on all servers, removing any configuration needed before being able to manage the server remotely. Windows PowerShell’s 2400+ cmdlets provide the command line coverage necessary for most admin scenarios. Microsoft has alsoreleased an updated version of the Remote Server Administrative Tools providing a rich GUI experience to manage all Servers, including Server Core, from a Windows Client.Perhaps most significantly Windows Server 2012 has added the ability to move between Server Core, Full GUI and Minimal Server Interface (MinShell) without the need to reinstall the server! This means administrators can safely start with their server deployed in the Server Core configuration and if they find they need the GUI they can add it, and also remove it as needed using the SCONFIG CLI tool, Windows PowerShell or the Add/Remove Roles and Features Wizard. Minimal Server Interface (MinShell), provides many of the benefits of Server Core while still having the safety-factor of being able to run GUIs should the administrator need to log into the Server directly.The Minimal Server Interface enables most local GUI management tasks without requiring the full GUI Shell or Internet Explorer to be installed. Technically, the Minimal Server Interface is a full Windows Server install excluding Internet Explorer, Windows shell components such as the desktop, Windows Explorer, Metro-style application support, multimedia support, and the Desktop Experience. It provides many of the benefits of Server Core (reduced footprint, attack service and serviceability) for those applications that can be made to work without IE or the Shell. We refactored all of the GUI management tools and frameworks (such as MMC.exe) into separate installable packages, and removed extra fonts and graphical resources.Minimal Server Interface can be enabled Add Roles and Features wizard, or with PowerShell.Windows Server 2012 empowers administrators to deploy servers with “just enough” of content and capabilities to fulfill their server’s desired function. By increasing deployment agility and refactoring monolithic components – such as the Windows Foundation – into smaller, installable packages, we’re putting more power in the hands of system administrators than ever before.
- In this section, we are going to focus on Manageability features and capabilities in Windows Server 2012.
- To summarize, Windows PowerShell 3.0 delivers: Simplified administration of multiple servers A path toward full automation of server management tasks An easier way to learn about cmdlets and how to incorporate them in your automation scripting
- To summarize, Windows PowerShell 3.0 delivers: Simplified administration of multiple servers A path toward full automation of server management tasks An easier way to learn about cmdlets and how to incorporate them in your automation scripting
- To summarize, Windows PowerShell 3.0 delivers: Simplified administration of multiple servers A path toward full automation of server management tasks An easier way to learn about cmdlets and how to incorporate them in your automation scripting
- In Windows Server 2012, the Windows PowerShell History viewer in Active Directory Administrative Center allows an administrator to view the Windows PowerShell commands as they execute in real time. For example, when you create a new fine-grained password policy, Active Directory Administrative Center displays the equivalent Windows PowerShell commands in the Windows PowerShell History viewer task pane. You can then use those commands create a Windows PowerShell script for automating the task.By combining scripts with scheduled tasks, you can entirely automate everyday administrative duties that were once completed manually. The cmdlets and required syntax are created for you, so very little experience with Windows PowerShell is required. Because the Windows PowerShell commands are the same as the ones executed by the Active Directory Administrative Center, they function as expected.This means several distinct advantages, particularly for new users of PowerShell. [refer to bullets on slide if needed]
- Many of the domain controllers in the same domain/forest are virtually identical; thus virtual domain controllers are good candidates for cloning. Nevertheless, up to now the process of deploying a virtual domain controller has involved many redundant steps:Preparation and deployment of the sysprep’d server image.Manually promoting a domain controller in one of the following ways:Over-the-wire. This can be time-consuming, depending upon size of directory.Install-from-media (IFM). Media preparation and copying adds time and complexity.Performing post-deployment configuration steps where necessary.With Windows Server 2012 this has changed and virtual domain controllers can be cloned. Using the new domain controller deployment wizard in Server Manager, you can promote a single virtual domain controller and then rapidly deploy all additional virtual domain controllers, within the same domain, through cloning. [More info]The process of cloning involves creating a copy of an existing virtual domain controller, authorizing the source domain controller to be cloned in AD DS, and creating a configuration file that contains detailed promotion instructions (name, IP address, Domain Name System [DNS] servers, and so on) or can be left empty, allowing the system to automatically fill in the blanks. This dramatically reduces the number of steps and time involved by eliminating repetitive deployment tasks and also allows you to fully deploy additional domain controllers that are authorized and configured for cloning by the Active Directory domain administrator. Virtual machines can be rolled back to a previous state when snapshots are applied, but domain controller clocks assume that time always goes forward. If an administrator inadvertently applies a snapshot to a virtual domain controller, it can cause the virtual domain controller to create security principals with the same time stamp as ones that already exist in the domain – in other words, duplicates. This can also happen if a virtual domain controller is copied within the domain. In Windows Server 2012, a virtual domain controller is able to detect when snapshots are applied or a virtual machine is copied, because of a unique identifier exposed by the hypervisor called the virtual machine GenerationID. The virtual machine GenerationID changes whenever the virtual machine experiences an event that affects its position in time. The virtual machine GenerationID is exposed to the virtual machine’s address space within its BIOS and made available to its operating system and applications through a Windows Server 2012 driver.During boot and before completing any transaction, a Windows Server 2012 virtual domain controller compares the current value of the virtual machine GenerationID against the value that it stored in the directory. A mismatch is interpreted as a “rollback” event, causing the domain controller to converge with other domain controllers, preventing it from creating duplicate security principals. For Windows Server 2012 virtual domain controllers to gain this extra level of protection, the virtual domain controller must be hosted on a virtual machine GenerationID–aware hypervisor such as Windows Server 2012 Hyper‑V.
- In this section, we are going to focus on Manageability features and capabilities in Windows Server 2012.
- To summarize, Windows PowerShell 3.0 delivers: Simplified administration of multiple servers A path toward full automation of server management tasks An easier way to learn about cmdlets and how to incorporate them in your automation scripting
- With Windows Server 2012, technologies such as RDS and Hyper-V provide the scalability and flexibility that enterprises demand from their virtual desktop platform.User Disks:One of the reasons that customer want to look at pooled desktops or sessions is to lower the cost of their VDI (since in both models, there are fewer images to manage and store). However, one of the biggest issues with pooled VMs and sessions is that users loose any changes made to their profiles (including setting changes) upon logout. In order to make pooled VMs and sessions a viable deployment model, the users data (user and application settings, personal data such as documents and pictures, etc.) are stored on a separate .vhd file called a User Disk.When the user logins in, RDS combines the User’s disk with a desktop either from the VM or session pool, thereby providing the user with their data and settings. With User Disks, IT can provide a certain level of personalization to pooled VMs or session based deployments. However, it is important to note that User Disks cannot be used to roam across different pools or collections, or across physical to virtual environment. It is also important to note that user installed applications cannot be persisted even with user disks, and are lost upon logoff.Personalization is a critical aspect of the user experience in virtualized desktop deployments. In a standard physical PC, the user’s data and settings are intertwined with the apps and OS settings. This makes the desktop difficult to manage and it reduces the benefits of virtualizing it. What we need is a way to assemble to desktop from ingredient components. Windows composed of replaceable parts. User Profile Disk is a key technology we are unveiling with Server 2012 that takes the first step towards this vision. What is UserDisk?With UserDisk, each user of a collection is assigned a unique VHD that stores all of her settings and data. UserDisk can be configured for both RDSH collections and Pooled VM collections. As the user is logging on to that collection, the user’s UserDisk is mounted to the VM or the RDSH and her profile and data folders are mapped to this mounted volume. As the user logs on to other vms or RDSH servers within that collection, the userdisk roams with her, making her data and settings available within the collection.UserDisk appears as a local disk; therefore it works better with applications that expect to have local data access. This improves app compat.There are other technologies such as Roaming User profiles, Folder redirection, and especially User Environment Virtualization, which are designed for user data and settings isolation. UserDisk provides a container for all of these technologies. E.g.The RUP profile is cached in the User Disk at logonWhen FR is configured with caching, the cache resides on UserDisk.The per-application setting datasets used by UEV are cached in the UserDiskIn all of these cases, it is important to recognize that UserDisk is scoped to the collection for which it is configured. It provides roamable access within the collection. RUP, FR, and UEV enable roaming beyond the collection, and between different collections.So, what is the right way to deploy these technologies?We recommend that you deploy user disk with all Pooled VM collections and RDSH collections. There is really no downside!If you have multiple collections, or if you want user settings to roam between VDI and physical environments, then you should also use UEV. Folder Redirection can be used in such a scenario to provide roaming access to user documents, e.g. My Documents, My Pictures folders. FR is also a reliable way to centralize users’ data to a file server from where it can be more easily backed up and managed.
- Key Messages: While customer perception and user experience in branch offices is very important to business, many times it is challenging to deliver great experience to a branch office due to limited network bandwidth between central data locations and the branch office. Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 offer built-in branch office optimization technologies, and can complement hardware based WAN acceleration solution by optimizing data traffic over a slow network connection.With Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 advancements, data traffic over a slow network is further optimized with significant improvements in performance and user experience, both in terms of users accessing large files or data and also with print performance. With BranchCache, data is cached on a device that resides on the Local Area Network (LAN) within the branch office. After a client has downloaded content one time, other client computers that request the same content don’t download it from the content servers over the WAN connection; instead, they retrieve small identifiers, called content information, from the remote content servers. Clients use the content information to find the content in the local office, cached on either a server running Windows Server or on other client computers, depending on the mode in which BranchCache has been deployed. This enables employees to access data more quickly, improves productivity, and significantly reduces network bandwidth usage, particularly when a large number of users access the same data multiple time through the course of the business day. Windows Server 2012 also significantly improves user print experience in the branch office. It enables print requests to be sent to the print server located in the data center and redirect the printing to local printers without sending data to the print servers to reduce the network traffic. Even when a WAN connection goes down and no print requests can be sent to the server, branch offices can still have the print ability, because the print jobs can use the last known configurations to continue work.
- BranchCache is deployable in two different modes:Distributed cache: client computers act as data caches. In essence, the first client computer to download content stores it and makes it available to other computers in the branch office. When another user requiring the same content from the central data store, their BranchCache enabled PC is redirected to a local client computer that previously accessed the content. With this mode, cache availability declines as users log off, or turn off their PC to go home for the night.Hosted cache, on the other hand requires local infrastructure which stores the content on a server at the branch location. A benefit here is improved cache availability, meaning that the server and data is available as long as the server is available.
- Thefollowing enhancements have been made to BranchCache in Windows Server 2012:PerformanceIn this release the average block size of the cache is around 64K instead of 32MB. This allows the cache to remain valid even if small portions of the cache are changed. In the past the entire cache would have be invalidated and rebuilt if a small change has occurred in the cache file.ScalabilityMore client connections per Branchcache cache. Hosted Cache collection:This feature allows the admins to configure a bunch of servers to work together to act like a single hosted cache.Simplified deployment and managementWindows Server 2012 allows the admin to encrypt the BranchCache cache data and keepdata encrypted through storage and transport.A Certificate is no longer required on hosted cache server.As the data is now encrypted there is no need to encrypt data during transfer as the data is already encrypted within the cache. It removes the need for having a certificate on hosted cache greatly simplifying the deployment of a hosted cache server. Furthermore, BranchCache can be managed and configured using known tools like WMI and PowerShell. This allows third party management solutions to extend the solution using standardized tools.Data can be exported from “warm” hosted cache servers. Data Packages can be imported on hosted cache servers and clients.Cloud readyCaching can be done over the public net (Internet), so as workloads move to the cloud, Branchcache can help address bandwidth and latency issues.
- Branch Office Direct Printing can reduce Wide Area Network (WAN) usage by printing directly to a print device instead of a server print queue. This feature can be enabled or disabled on a per printer basis and is transparent to the user.This feature requires a print server running Windows Server 2012 and clients running Windows 8.Branch Office Direct Printing may be able to save your organization money by reducing network traffic on expensive WAN links and by reducing the workload on busy print servers centrally located in your datacenter.Branch Office Direct Printing may benefit your organization in the following ways:Client computers running Windows Server 2012 obtain printer information from the print server, but send the print jobs directly to the printer. The print data no longer travels to the central server and then back to the branch office printer.The printer information is cached in the branch office, so that if the print server is unavailable for some reason (for example if the WAN link to the data center is down), then it is still possible for the user to print.The client computer renders the print job before sending it to the printer. The major difference between Branch Office Direct Printing and Client-Side Rendering (CSR) is that Branch Office Direct Printing does not send the print job to the server. Instead the job is sent directly to the printer, resulting in a significant reduction in network bandwidth usage when the printers are centrally managed.To sum up the benefits, Branch Office Direct Printingdecreases the amount of print traffic on the networkreduces the workload on print servers in the main officeallows users to download and print documents faster
- To summarize, Windows PowerShell 3.0 delivers: Simplified administration of multiple servers A path toward full automation of server management tasks An easier way to learn about cmdlets and how to incorporate them in your automation scripting
- Current situationBusiness continuity is the ability to quickly recover business functions from a downtime event with minimal or no data loss. There are number of reasons why businesses experience outage including power failure, IT hardware failure, network outage, human errors, IT software failures, and natural disasters. Depending on the type of outage, customers need a high availability solution that simply restores the service. However, some outages that impact the entire data center such as natural disaster or an extended power outage require a disaster recovery solution that restores data at a remote site in addition to bringing up the services and connectivity. Organizations need an affordable and reliable business continuity solution that helps them recover from a failure.Before Windows Server 2012Beginning with Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper‑V and Failover Clustering can be used together to make a virtual machine highly available and minimize disruptions. Administrators can seamlessly migrate their virtual machines to a different host in the cluster in the event of outage or to load balance their virtual machines without impacting virtualized applications. While this can protect virtualized workloads from a local host failure or scheduled maintenance of a host in a cluster, this does not protect businesses from outage of an entire data center. While Failover Clustering can be used with hardware-based SAN replication across data centers, these are typically expensive. Hyper‑V Replica fills an important gap in the Windows Server Hyper‑V offering by providing an affordable in-box disaster recovery solution. Windows Server 2012 Hyper‑V ReplicaWindows Server 2012 introduces Hyper‑V Replica, a built-in feature that provides asynchronous replication of virtual machines for the purposes of business continuity and disaster recovery. In the event of failures (such as power failure, fire, or natural disaster) at the primary site, the administrator can manually fail over the production virtual machines to the Hyper‑V server at the recovery site. During failover, the virtual machines are brought back to a consistent point in time, and within minutes they can be accessed by the rest of the network with minimal impact to the business. Once the primary site comes back, the administrators can manually revert the virtual machines to the Hyper‑V server at the primary site.Hyper‑V Replica is a new feature in Windows Server 2012. It lets you replicate your Hyper‑V virtual machines over a network link from one Hyper‑V host at a primary site to another Hyper‑V host at a Replica site without reliance on storage arrays or other software replication technologies. Benefits of Hyper‑V ReplicaHyper‑V Replica fills an important gap in the Windows Server Hyper‑V offering by providing an affordable in-box business continuity and disaster recovery solution. Failure recovery in minutes. In the event of an unplanned shutdown, Hyper‑V Replica can restore your system in just minutes.More secure replication across the network. Hyper‑V Replica tracks the write operations on the primary virtual machine and replicates these changes to the Replica server efficiently over a WAN. The network connection between the two servers uses the HTTP or HTTPS protocol and supports both integrated and certificate-based authentication. Connections configured to use integrated authentication are not encrypted; for an encrypted connection, you should choose certificate-based authentication. Hyper‑V Replica is closely integrated with Windows failover clustering and provides easier replication across different migration scenarios in the primary and Replica servers.Hyper‑V Replica doesn’t rely on storage arrays.Hyper‑V Replica doesn’t rely on other software replication technologies.Hyper‑V Replica automatically handles live migration.Configuration and management are simpler with Hyper‑V Replica:Integrated user interface (UI) with Hyper‑V Manager. Failover Cluster Manager snap-in for Microsoft Management Console (MMC).Extensible WMI interface.Windows PowerShell command-line interface scripting capability.RequirementsTo use Hyper‑V Replica, you need two physical computers configured with:Windows Server 2012.Hyper‑V server role.Hardware that supports the Hyper‑V role.Sufficient storage to host the files that virtualized workloads use. Additional storage on the Replica server based on the replication configuration settings may be necessary.Sufficient network bandwidth among the locations that host the primary and Replica servers and sites.Firewall rules to permit replication between the primary and Replica servers and sites.Failover Clustering feature, if you want to use Hyper‑V Replica on a clustered virtual machine.