Mastering Windows Server 2012 R2 E-Book

Mark Minasi

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 2630

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Check out the new Hyper-V, find new and easier ways to remotely connect back into the office, or learn all about Storage Spaces--these are just a few of the features in Windows Server 2012 R2 that are explained in this updated edition from Windows authority Mark Minasi and a team of Windows Server experts led by Kevin Greene. This book gets you up to speed on all of the new features and functions of Windows Server, and includes real-world scenarios to put them in perspective. If you're a system administrator upgrading to, migrating to, or managing Windows Server 2012 R2, find what you need to do the job in this complete resource. Learn all about: * Installing or upgrading to and managing Windows Server 2012 R2 * Understanding Microsoft NIC teams 2012 and PowerShell * Setting up via GUI or updated Server Core 2012 * Migrating, merging, and modifying your Active Directory * Managing address spaces with IPAM * Understanding new shared storage, storage spaces, and better tools * Controlling access to file shares--a new and improved approach * Using and administering Remote Desktop, Virtual Desktop, and Hyper-V®

Leseprobe

Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Introduction

Chapter 1: What’s New in Windows Server 2012 R2

Windows Server 2012 R2 Introduction

Windows Server Editions

Desktop Changes

Active Directory Changes

Virtualization

Networking Changes

Management Tools

File and Print Sharing

Web-based Services

Chapter 2: Installing and Upgrading to Windows Server 2012 R2

What Has Changed?

Installing the Operating System

Using Server Manager to Configure Your Servers

Upgrading Active Directory

Unattended Installations

Installing a Sample Server Network for This Book’s Examples

The Bottom Line

Chapter 3: Introduction to Server Core

What’s New in Server Core

Installing Server Core

Server Core Survival Guide

Initial Configurations for Server Core

Administering Server Core Remotely

Configuring Roles and Features

The Bottom Line

Chapter 4: Windows Server 2012 R2 Networking Enhancements

The Journey to IPv6

Better Networking Manageability with PowerShell

Microsoft NIC Teaming

Configuring NIC Teaming

Enhanced QoS

802.1X Authenticated Access

BranchCache Improved

Managing Network Performance

The Bottom Line

Chapter 5: IP Address Management and DHCP Failover

IPAM

IPAM Installation

Using IPAM

IPAM Delegation

IPAM Troubleshooting

DHCP Failover

Installing DHCP Failover

The Bottom Line

Chapter 6: DNS and Name Resolution in Windows Server 2012 R2

Understanding the DNS Server Role

Installing DNS

Understanding Active Directory’s DNS

Supporting Internet-based DNS Resolution

Administration and Troubleshooting with DNS Tools

The Bottom Line

Chapter 7: Active Directory in Windows Server 2012

An Introduction and Active Directory Basics

Fine-grained Password Policies

SYSVOL: Old and NEW

Upgrading Your Active Directory

Using Microsoft’s Free Migration Tool: ADMT

An Introduction to Windows Azure Active Directory

Overview of Workplace Join

The Bottom Line

Chapter 8: Creating and Managing User Accounts

Creating and Managing User Accounts

Managing Groups

Monday Morning Admin Tasks

Using the New Features for User and Group Management

Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell

The Bottom Line

Chapter 9: Group Policy: AD’s Gauntlet and Active Directory Delegation

Group Policy Concepts

Group Policy Basics

Local Policies and Group Policy Objects

Creating GPOs

Modifying Group Policy Default Behavior

Group Policy Application

Group Policy Setting Possibilities

The New and Improved GPMC

Troubleshooting Group Policies

Active Directory Delegation

Delegating Control Using Organizational Units

Advanced Delegation: Manually Setting Permissions

Finding Out Which Delegations Have Been Set, or Undelegating

The Bottom Line

Chapter 10: Active Directory Federation Services

Understanding AD FS Key Components and Terminology

Planning, Installing, and Configuring an AD FS Infrastructure

The Bottom Line

Chapter 11: Shared Storage and Clustering Introduction

Shared Storage Basics

Clustering

Clusters and Virtualization

Setting Up a Cluster

The Bottom Line

Chapter 12: Windows 2012 R2 Storage: Storage Spaces, SANish Abilities, and Better Tools

What’s New in Windows Server 2012 R2 Storage?

In-depth Look at Storage Spaces

Creating a Storage Space

iSCSI on Storage Spaces

NFS Shares

Deduplication: Disk and Network

The Bottom Line

Chapter 13: Files, Folders, and Basic Shares

Understanding the File and Storage Services Role

Creating Shares

Managing Permissions

Connecting to Shares

File Server Resource Manager

Understanding SMB 3.0

Implementing BitLocker

Using Offline Files/Client-Side Caching

The Bottom Line

Chapter 14: Creating and Managing Shared Folders

Creating Shared Folders

Managing Permissions

Working with Hidden Shares

Exploring the Distributed File System

Exploring the Network File System

The Bottom Line

Chapter 15: Dynamic Access Control: File Shares, Reimagined

A New Way to Secure File Shares

DAC Players: User, Device, Resources, and Claims

Enabling DAC

Claims—Using Different Attributes

Classification

The Bottom Line

Chapter 16: Sharing Printers on Windows Server 2012 R2 Networks

Print Services Overview

Installing the Print and Document Services Role

PowerShell Cmdlets Reference

Deploying Printers to the Masses

Adjusting Print Server Settings

Managing Printer Properties

Managing Print Jobs

Using Custom Filters

Troubleshooting Printer Problems

The Bottom Line

Chapter 17: Remote Server Administration

Remote Desktop for Administration

Windows Remote Management Service

Remote Server Administration Tools

The Bottom Line

Chapter 18: Connecting Windows and Mac Clients

What to Know Before You Begin

Verifying Your Network Configuration

Joining the Domain

Changing Domain User Passwords

Connecting to Network Resources

Connecting Mac OS X Clients

The Bottom Line

Chapter 19: Web Server Management with IIS

What’s New in IIS 8.0 and 8.5

Installing IIS 8

Website Provisioning

Hosting Multiple Websites

Installing and Configuring SMTP

Integrating FTP into IIS 8 Web Pages

Advanced Administration

The Bottom Line

Chapter 20: Advanced IP: Routing with Windows

The Life of an IP Packet

From Classes to Classless

Sockets, Ports, and Winsock

Testing and Troubleshooting

The Bottom Line

Chapter 21: Getting from the Office to the Road: VPNs

Introducing VPNs

Understanding the Tunneling Protocols

Using the Network Policy and Access Services Role

Using the Remote Access Role

Introducing DirectAccess

Installing DirectAccess

Managing DirectAccess

The Bottom Line

Chapter 22: Adding More Locations: Sites in Active Directory

Mastering Site Concepts

Exploring Sites

Configuring Intersite Replication

Configuring Clients to Access the Next Closest Site

Using PowerShell

The Bottom Line

Chapter 23: The Third DC: Understanding Read-only Domain Controllers

Introducing RODCs

Installing the RODC

DNS on the RODC

The Bottom Line

Chapter 24: Creating Larger Active Directory Environments: Beyond One Domain

The Foundations of Multiple-Domain Designs

Planning Your Active Directory Environment

Creating Multiple Domains

Functional Levels

FSMOs and GCs

Trusts

The Bottom Line

Chapter 25: Migrating, Merging, and Modifying Your Active Directory

Upgrade and Migration Strategies

Using Microsoft’s Free Migration Tool: ADMT

The Bottom Line

Chapter 26: Advanced User Account Management and User Support

Experiencing the Flexible Desktop

Configuring Home Directories

Creating Roaming Profiles

Managing Roaming Profiles

Redirecting Folders

Work Folders

Managing the Desktop Using Group Policy

Managing Users with Group Policy Preferences and Logon Scripts

The Bottom Line

Chapter 27: Server Virtualization with Hyper-V

Understanding Server Virtualization

What’s New in Hyper-V 2012 R2?

Understanding the Hyper-V Architecture

Installing and Configuring Hyper-V

Understanding Virtual Disks

Understanding Virtual Switches

Getting Started with Virtual Machines

The Bottom Line

Chapter 28: Managing Virtual Machines

Domain Controllers and Hyper-V

Moving VMs: Export and Import

VM Maintenance

Disaster Recovery

Online Resources for Hyper-V

The Bottom Line

Chapter 29: Installing, Using, and Administering Remote Desktop Services

Who Needs Remote Desktop Services?

Understanding the Remote Desktop Services Processing Model

Server and Client Requirements

Adding Remote Desktop Services

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

Monitoring Remote Desktop Services

The Bottom Line

Chapter 30: Monitoring Windows Server 2012 R2

Using Server Manager to Monitor Multiple Servers

Utilizing the Best Practice Analyzers

Monitoring Your System with Event Viewer

Subscribing to Event Logs

Troubleshooting Event Forwarding

Monitoring Performance

PAL and PerfView

Advanced Monitoring with System Center 2012 R2

The Bottom Line

Chapter 31: Patch Management

What’s New in Windows Server 2012 R2 Windows Server Update Services

Installation and Configuration of Patch Management

Deploying Updates and Migration for Windows Server Update Services

The Bottom Line

Chapter 32: Windows Server 2012 R2 and Active Directory Backup and Maintenance

Introducing Windows Server Backup

Stopping and Restarting Active Directory

Capturing Active Directory Snapshots

Backing Up and Restoring Active Directory

The Bottom Line

Appendix: The Bottom Line

Acquisitions Editor: Mariann Barsolo

Development Editor: Tom Cirtin

Technical Editor: Gavin McShera

Production Editor: Rebecca Anderson

Copy Editor: Linda Recktenwald

Editorial Manager: Pete Gaughan

Production Manager: Tim Tate

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley

Associate Publisher: Chris Webb

Book Designers: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama; Judy Fung

Proofreader: Sarah Kaikini, Word One New York

Indexer: J&J Indexing

Project Coordinator, Cover: Katherine Crocker

Cover Designer: Ryan Sneed

Cover Image: ©Getty Images, Inc./Thomas Northcutt

Copyright © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-1-118-28942-6

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ISBN: 978-1-118-33172-9 (ebk.)

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Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing Mastering Windows Server 2012 R2. This book is part of a family of premium-quality Sybex books, all of which are written by outstanding authors who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching.

Sybex was founded in 1976. More than 30 years later, we’re still committed to producing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles, we’re working hard to set a new standard for the industry. From the paper we print on, to the authors we work with, our goal is to bring you the best books available.

I hope you see all that reflected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear your comments and get your feedback on how we’re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any other Sybex book by sending me an email at [email protected]. If you think you’ve found a technical error in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com. Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex.

Best regards,

Chris Webb

Associate Publisher, Sybex

Acknowledgments

The author team wishes to thank Gavin McShera for his extensive assistance and constructive criticisms as technical editor (Gavin blogs at mcshera.com), and thanks also go to developmental editor Tom Cirtin, who wrestled our widely varying original drafts into publishable form. We thank the production team at Wiley: editorial manager Pete Gaughan, acquisitions editor Mariann Barsolo, production editor Rebecca Anderson, copy editor Linda Recktenwald, and proofreader Sarah Kaikini.

—The authors

Special thanks first to my beautiful wife, Laura, for her patience and support throughout the long hours I’ve spent writing my chapters for this book! Of course a big thanks has to go to my two sons, Matthew and Dylan, for making sure I woke up early on weekends to continue writing!

Thanks to Mariann Barsolo and Pete Gaughan for asking me to come on board with this book and for giving me the opportunity to work with some fantastic technical minds throughout the process. I found it very inspiring working with the other authors, contributors, and editors on this project—even though we had to rewrite half the book for the R2 release!

Another thank you has to go to my colleagues at Ergo, who’ve given me the opportunity to work on the type of enterprise-level projects that helped me gain the experience required to write a book like this.

Finally, I would like to dedicate my work in this book to my father-in-law, Cecil Anderson, who has been a father figure to me for many years. His strength and courage are an inspiration to us all.

—Kevin Greene

I would like to thank my family for their support. The time invested in this book seemed like an eternity, with lots of weekends involving me stuck at the keyboard writing chapters. I am very thankful for your patience. I love you all! Go Braves!

—Christian Booth

I would like to thank my wife Nicole, and our two boys Alex and Miles. Their love and support help me through everything I do.

—Robert Butler

I’d like to thank my wife, Sharon, and three kids, Sophie, Adam, and Sam, for their patience throughout the last year. It’s not easy trying to balance a hectic workload with family life!

—John McCabe

First, I have to thank Kevin Greene for giving me the opportunity to work on this book and guiding me through the first steps. Also special thanks to my wife, Simona, for her patience and accepting the hours I spent with the book instead of with her!

My final thanks go to my family, my friends, and my company, itnetx, for supporting me in many ways so I could keep up with the project.

—Stefan Roth

About the Authors

Mark Minasi is a best-selling author, popular technology columnist, commentator, keynote speaker, and IT consultant. He first got the chance to play with a computer at a university class in 1973. At that time, he learned two things:

First, computers are neat. (People still said “neat” back in 1973. Hey, it was back in the 20th Century.)

Second, many technical people are very nice folks, but they can sure put you to sleep in an instant while explaining technical things.

Mark transformed those two insights into a career making computers and networking easier and more fun to understand. He’s done that by writing over a thousand computer columns, several dozen best-selling technical books, and explaining operating system and networking planning, installation, maintenance, and repair to crowds from two to two thousand. An independent voice hailed as “Favorite Technical Author” by CertCities four times out of four, Mark has the unusual ability to take even the most technical topics, filter out the hype and explain them in plain English. Perhaps that’s why when TechTarget hired him to deliver a webcast on PC tuning, he drew three times as many attendees as any of their previous webcasts, crashing Yahoo’s servers, and why he’s been hired to deliver keynote addresses at hundreds of techie conferences around the world.

Mark is probably best known for his Mastering Windows Server and Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide books, both of which have seen more than 12 editions and sold over 1 million copies.

Mark’s humorous, provocative and yet informative style makes him a favorite of audiences around the world. Through his firm, MR&D (www.minasi.com), Mark offers technical seminars, classes, and talks, as well as a technical forum. You can also sign up for Mark’s newsletter.

Kevin Greene, who led the team of authors on this book, is a Microsoft MVP for System Center Cloud and Datacenter Management and has been working in IT since 1999. He is employed as a subject matter expert for System Center at Ergo in Dublin, Ireland. In this role, he works with clients to deliver enterprise-grade solutions with Windows Server and System Center. In the past, he has held such roles as IT administrator, IT engineer, technical team lead, and senior consultant. He has been on the Microsoft certification track since the days of Windows NT 4.0 and holds qualifications that include MCSE, MCSA, MCITP, MCP, and MCTS. Kevin is an active participant in the Windows Server and System Center (WSSC) community through his blog at http://kevingreeneitblog.blogspot.com, and he can also be found hanging around Twitter as @kgreeneit.

He regularly delivers presentations and participates in podcasts on Windows Server and System Center and is a co-author of Mastering System Center 2012 Operations Manager (Sybex, 2012).

Kevin lives in Sallins, Co. Kildare, Ireland, with his wife, Laura, and two sons, Matthew and Dylan. When he’s not working on his laptop, he spends his free time with his family and supporting Manchester United. He also holds a second-degree black belt in freestyle kickboxing, and although not as involved in the sport as he used to be, he’s still an avid follower of the martial arts.

Christian Booth was previously a Microsoft MVP in the System Center: Cloud and Datacenter Management discipline and recently retired his MVP to work fulltime at Microsoft as senior program manager for the System Center team, focusing on the Cloud and Datacenter Management MVP program.

He has worked as a director, lead technical architect, and solutions engineer in the Seattle area for the last 17 years. His experience and focus have always been on the Microsoft platform with specialization in System Center, Windows Server, and virtualization.

Christian has contributed as a subject matter expert, exam item writer, training designer, and technical reviewer on many Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) courses. You can find out more about Christian at http://about.me/chbooth.

Robert Butler has been an IT professional for the past 17 years. He works for Affirma Consulting, where he specializes in integrating the various parts of the Microsoft System Center stack into existing environments.

He has been a Microsoft Certified Professional for the last 16 years, and he currently holds many other Microsoft certifications including MCSE PC, MCSA 2012, MCITP EA, and MCTS for SCCM 2012.

Robert lives in Seattle, Washington, with his wife, Nicole, and two children, Alex and Miles. You can find more information on Robert at his System Center blog, http://rbutler.me, or by following him on Twitter at @robert_butler.

John McCabe works for Microsoft as a premier field engineer. Through this role, he gets to work with some of the world’s largest companies supporting various technologies ranging from unified communications to private cloud and everything in between. Before joining Microsoft, he was an MVP for Unified Communications.

John lives in Ireland with his wife, Sharon, and three kids, Sophie, Adam, and Samuel. When not working, he enjoys training in martial arts, namely Bujinkan Budo Taijitsu and when time permits you will find him behind some turntables.

Robert Panek is an independent consultant who has enjoyed a successful career in IT and software development. Since 1995 Robert has worked for companies such as AIG, L-3, Radianse, and IPOSyndicate, where in 2000 his work was awarded Forbes Magazine’s “Best of the Web” for four consecutive quarters. Due to his vast achievements at IPOSyndicate, he advanced to chief technology officer.

Throughout his 19 years working in IT, Robert has achieved qualifications such as MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCSD – Web Applications, and MCDBA, and his experience along with his mentoring of junior-level IT professionals has brought him to Sybex publishing to further educate and certify students.

Robert is currently living in New Hampshire with his wife, Jeannie.

Michael Rice continues to thrive as a talented and successful datacenter administrator for a Department of Defense contracting company, Intelligent Software Solutions Inc.

He specializes in leading the way for corporate infrastructure in the areas of virtualization, storage, and systems administration. Over the past eight years as an IT professional, he has earned multiple IT certifications such as MCP, MCTS, MCSA, MCSE, VCP 5, and Net + and has received numerous awards for outstanding performance and dedication to excellence.

Michael lives in the beautiful state of Colorado with his wife, Jessica, and his two wonderful children, Kristen and Anthony. He plans to one day become a certified trainer and further differentiate his career by leading the way in technology for other IT professionals around the globe.

Stefan Roth works as a private cloud architect at itnetx gmbh, a consulting and engineering company located in Switzerland, which was awarded Microsoft’s “Partner of the Year – Datacenter” in 2011, 2012, and 2013. He presents at technical events and works closely with his customers and Microsoft to evangelize cloud and datacenter technologies.

Working in IT for the past 13 years, he was previously employed as a systems engineer and consultant for national and international companies, where he gained a great deal of experience in datacenter management. His main focus is Active Directory, System Center Operations Manager, and System Center Orchestrator, and he has achieved certification from Microsoft in the MCITP: Enterprise Administrator and MCSE: Private Cloud disciplines.

You can get more information about Stefan on his System Center Operations Manager blog at http://blog.scomfaq.ch or on Twitter at @scomfaq.

Introduction

Welcome to this book on Windows Server 2012 R2. All of the enhancements and new features that this latest release of Microsoft’s flagship enterprise operating system offers have definitely raised the bar for future versions of Windows Server. To give you an insight into how much extra you get with 2012 R2, you only have to look at the original Windows Server 2012 release that reached general availability in September 2012. Shortly after that version hit the shelves, Sybex got this group of authors together to write a book on it, but just as we were coming to the final edits of our chapters, Microsoft announced that Windows Server 2012 R2 was to be released in October 2013—that’s just over 12 months since the original version of Server 2012. In that short period of time, the amount of new functionality that was packed into Server 2012 R2 meant that we literally had to rewrite nearly half of the original Server 2012 book!

The team of authors who have worked on this book have an abundance of experience designing, deploying, managing, and troubleshooting Windows Server in large-scale enterprise environments, and we’re really excited to tell you all about this version of the product.

If you’re new to Windows Server, then this book will strive to give you the knowledge you require to go out and start working with it straight away. If you’re an experienced administrator or consultant and are already familiar with it, then don’t worry; we definitely have loads of new information in here for you to learn to help keep you ahead of the pack.

Who Should Read This Book?

Like every other book in the Mastering Windows Server series, we’ve aimed this book at people who need to know how to install, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot a Windows Server environment. We assume that you already have at least a basic understanding of standard TCP/IP networking and that you have a basic working level of comfort with previous versions of the Windows GUI and Microsoft Management Console (MMC) in particular.

As complex as software products are becoming, no one can be an expert on all of them. If you are like most administrators, you have time to learn only enough about a product so that you can manage it effectively. However, there is probably a lot more that you could be doing with any one product. This book will get you up to speed quickly and then help you through some of the more arcane topics.

Not every administrator will have the same type of infrastructure to work with. What works well in a large corporation does not always work for small companies. What works well for small companies may not scale well for large organizations. Microsoft has attempted to address the differences among companies and deliver a product that can be implemented quickly for a small company yet will still scale well for large organizations. No matter which scenario fits you, you will want to learn how this product will work for you.

What’s Inside?

Chapter 1 starts out with an overview of what’s new in Windows Server 2012 R2 (let’s henceforth abbreviate that to “Server 2012 R2”), and Chapter 2 shows you how to install it on your servers and how to begin to integrate it with your existing network, if you have one.

Veterans of Windows networking will expect Server 2012 R2 to look like other versions of Windows does, with a desktop, a Start menu, and a host of graphically based tools, but as you will quickly learn, there’s a whole new GUI to get to grips with. Chapter 3 gets you started on Server Core, and we recommend that you spend time learning it. Chapter 4 looks at the networking enhancements in Server 2012 R2, and Chapter 5 introduces you to some new functionality around IPAM and DHCP Failover. Chapter 6 walks you through DNS, answering the question, “How do I build a DNS infrastructure that is both secure and crafted to serve an Active Directory best?”

Speaking of AD, Chapter 7 is the first chapter to address that essential Windows Server technology, with an explanation of how to build the most common, and simplest, type of Active Directory: one that contains just one domain and just one location. Even if you’re going to build huge, globe-spanning ADs, this first look provides a necessary foundation, so don’t skip it. Then, once you have your AD up, you’ll need to create and manage user accounts, and Chapter 8 shows you how. Once you have a working AD in place, then it’s time to get some payback from all your design and setup work, and the tool for that is Group Policy. The good news is that Group Policy is a great way to control 10 or 10,000 machines and user accounts centrally; the bad news is that Group Policy can be a mite complex—but Chapter 9 helps on that score. The fourth AD-related chapter, Chapter 10, covers Active Directory Federation Services, which is a way to provide single sign-on access to your resources across organizational boundaries.

In Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 you get an introduction to shared storage and clustering, which are the pillar components of delivering a highly available IT infrastructure back to the business, along with an introduction to the new “SANish” capabilities of Server 2012 R2 using Storage Spaces.

Chapter 13 through Chapter 15 give you a three-part series on sharing files and folders in Windows Server by initially covering the basics of sharing folders and files and using Windows’s security to control who can get to particular files. You will then be walked through Dynamic Access Control, which is a new way of controlling and auditing your file share access. Many servers serve not only files but shared printers as well, and Chapter 16 shows you how to accomplish this with Server 2012 R2.

Following that, Chapter 17 shows you how to maintain and control your servers remotely using a number of built-in technologies, including Remote Desktop. By now, you have some working servers (which is nice) but no clients to use those services (which makes the whole thing sort of pointless), so Chapter 18 shows you how to hook up the various varieties of Windows created in the past decade to a Windows Server 2012 R2 network. What’s that, you say? You’ve got a Mac? No problem, you’ll learn how to connect that up too.

Chapter 19 gets you up and running with one of Windows’s most complex Server add-ons, Microsoft’s Internet Information Services (IIS), better known as the web server. You’ll learn how to get IIS running, how to set up a simple website, and how to find your way around the IIS management tools built into Server 2012 R2.

Chapter 20 discusses how a Server 2012 R2 system can facilitate IP routing, which may sound like an odd topic until you consider that you need to understand a bit of IP routing on a Windows Server before you can tackle Chapter 21, which shows you how to use your Server 2012 R2 system to set up a virtual private network. In Chapter 21, you will also learn about the really cool DirectAccess functionality that comes out of the box with Server 2012 R2.

Now it’s time to return to Active Directory and take on some more advanced AD topics with four chapters. Chapter 22 shows you how to add multi-location awareness to your AD with a look at sites, site links, and subnets, AD-style. And if you have multiple sites, then you may have some sites that you might be a bit uneasy about installing a domain controller into—which is why we have read-only domain controllers (RODCs); learn about them in Chapter 23. After that, it’s time to consider when you’d need to complicate your AD a bit by adding one, two, or a hundred more domains to it, in Chapter 24. Mergers, acquisitions, or just plain-old reorganizations may require you to reshape your AD in a manner that’s not all that easy, unless you learn about domain migrations, SID histories, and trust relationships—as you will in Chapter 25. Continuing the Active Directory theme, Chapter 26 dives deep into advanced user account management and support.

You might have already read that Hyper-V is a pretty big thing in Windows Server 2012 R2, so we can’t call the book complete without a couple of chapters on that topic—step forward Chapters 27 and 28. Even if you don’t do virtualization, give these two chapters a look, because they will help you understand the technology and issues in server virtualization, which is a must-know field.

In Chapter 29, we will walk you through installing, using, and administering Remote Desktop Services, which will help you to design and deliver an optimal remote access and application publishing solution to your organization.

Up to this point, you’ll have a lot of time invested in getting your server up and running, so to wrap up the final sections of the book you’ll be ready for Chapters 30 through 32—monitoring your system’s performance, patching it, and backing it up.

The Mastering Series

The Mastering series from Sybex provides outstanding instruction for readers with intermediate and advanced skills, in the form of top-notch training and development for those already working in their field and clear, serious education for those aspiring to become pros. Every Mastering book includes:

Real-World Scenarios, ranging from case studies to interviews that show how the tool, technique, or knowledge presented is applied in actual practice.

Skill-based instruction, with chapters organized around real tasks rather than abstract concepts or subjects.

Self-review test questions, so you can be certain you’re equipped to do the job right.

Final Comments

Make sure you take the time to become familiar with Windows Server 2012 R2. The more comfortable you are with it, the more you will be able to do with it. At the very end of each chapter, you’ll find Master It self-tests that help reinforce the topics in the chapters. Instructions have been included that allow you to create a small lab environment. Building a lab environment can come in handy when you are trying to work through a new topic or troubleshoot a problem.

Most of all, have fun as you are going through the topics contained herein. Once you find out how much power this product has in store for you, you will be amazed at some of the things you can do.

How to Contact the Authors

You can contact any of the authors by using the personal blog or Twitter links mentioned in their bios earlier.

Sybex strives to keep you supplied with the latest tools and information you need for your work. Please check our website at www.sybex.com/go/masteringwindowsserver2012r2, where we’ll post additional content and updates that supplement this book if the need arises.

Chapter 1

What’s New in Windows Server 2012 R2

Windows Server 2012 R2 has over 300 new features, and it’s the first Microsoft Server OS that has connectivity with the cloud. Explaining all of those features would take much more than a chapter (which is, of course, why we wrote a book!), but let’s use these first few pages to give you the lay of the land. Now, we realize that some reading this book are just getting started with Windows Server, and so for them, everything is new, but many others of you reading this already know tons about Windows networking and would just like a summary of what’s new in Server—this chapter summarizes that and where to find it in the book.

By now, we’ve sat through about a zillion Microsoft presentations on Windows Server, and they all start the same way, so apparently we’re required by law (or at least by custom) to present the following as the first heading when doing an overview.

In this chapter, you’ll learn about:

The dramatic changes to the user interface

New Active Directory features enhancing deployment and manageability

Improvements to PowerShell

New technology added to Hyper-V

Enhancements to Windows networking, making it faster and more secure

The new management tools

The important features of IIS 8.0

Windows Server 2012 R2 Introduction

Well, with a slogan like, “Built from the cloud up,” it doesn’t take a mental heavyweight to figure out what was intended with Windows Server 2012 R2. So what is cloud technology? In a nutshell, it’s the practice of using a network of remote servers to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server. Windows Server 2012 R2 extends these technologies to corporations to be used in the same way for their employees. All corporate data using either virtual machines or individual workstations can be backed up directly to the cloud either on or off site. Cloud technologies are the driving force for the way the world conducts business today and in the near future.

From small business to some of the largest datacenters in the world, Windows Server 2012 R2 is one hot ticket. With virtually hundreds of new features from virtualization, networking, storage, usability, and much more, Windows Server 2012 R2 will not disappoint. The more we use it, the more we like it, and we think you will too!

The following sections offer a brief overview of what’s new in this book and where to read more about those features.

Because this is an introductory chapter, all of the topics covered here will be talked about in depth elsewhere in the book.

Windows Server Editions

When Windows Server 2012 was released, you had the choice between Standard and Datacenter editions in both the Server Core and GUI versions. With the release of Windows Server 2012 R2, you have two more editions to choose from: Foundation and Essentials. Not only does each version have different features, but the price for each license reflects each version’s features. Let’s discuss the differences among all the editions.