The Complete Guide to Windows Server 2008

by Savill, John

• ISBN13: 9780321502728
• ISBN10: 0321502728
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-10-01
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

Summary

Windows Server 2008 is Microsoft's first revision of their main networked operating system in five years. It offers many new features, including PowerShell and Hyper-V (Microsoft's new virtualisation product.) Even experienced Windows administrators will be looking for help in getting up to speed on it. The early reviews of Windows Server 2008 have been overwhelmingly positive, so we expect a fairly rapid adoption for it. Yet the sense in the field is that folks really aren't prepared for it yet, and there is a real need for the information in this book. The author is one of the most visible and most trusted experts on Windows Server 2008, and has been working with the OS since its early pre-beta days. He uses this experience to guide the reader through the complete process of planning for, installing, configuring, and maintaining not just the core OS, but also all the ancillary tools. He wrote the book on the final release code, not the beta code, unlike many other books. and unlike most other books on the subject, this is a brand new book, not a revision of a book on a previous OS, so it was written from the first sentence to follow closely the best way to teach this new version of Windows.

Author Biography

JOHN SAVILL, BS, MCSE, MS ITP Server Administrator, MS ITP Enterprise Administrator, Microsoft MVP, is Central US manager for EMC’s Microsoft technical infrastructure practice and the firm’s chief Microsoft architect. Savill’s Windows NT site evolved into ntfaq.com, the Internet’s most widely used independent NT resource. A frequent writer for Windows IT Pro and TechNetmagazines, Savill spoke at Microsoft Tech Ed 2006, 2007, and 2008. His books include The Windows XP/2000 Answer Book.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xvii
About the Author	p. xviii
Preface	p. xix
Windows	p. 101
Its Origins, Present, and the Services It Provides	p. 1
Origin of the Windows Operating System	p. 1
Features of the Windows Server 2008 Product Line	p. 21
Licensing	p. 35
Summary	p. 41
Windows Server 2008 Fundamentals: Navigating and Getting Started	p. 43
Windows Vista at 30,000 Feet	p. 44
The Logon Experience	p. 46
User Access Control	p. 50
Windows Elements	p. 56
The Desktop Windows Manager (DWM)	p. 64
Windows Aero Effects	p. 67
Task Manager	p. 71
Fast User Switching	p. 77
Windows Explorer	p. 78
The Microsoft Management Console	p. 86
The Control Panel	p. 93
Summary	p. 96
Installing and Upgrading Windows Server 2008	p. 99
Installing Windows Server 2008	p. 99
Upgrading to Windows Server 2008	p. 126
Advanced Installation	p. 130
Viewing Installation Log Files	p. 131
Automating Installation	p. 133
Summary	p. 139
Securing Your Windows Server 2008 Deployment	p. 141
Authentication and Authorization	p. 142
The Physical Environment	p. 143
BitLocker	p. 145
Active Directory Certificate Services (ADCS)	p. 156
Authentication Protocols	p. 171
Securing Windows Server 2008	p. 179
Summary	p. 224
File System and Print Management Features	p. 225
File System Types and Management	p. 225
File Management240
File Server Resource Manager257
Print Management	p. 290
Summary
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Preface PrefaceEveryone knows the saying, "Be careful what you wish for." It had long been my goal to write a complete guide to Windows Server, but I never felt I had sufficient time to do justice to the subject. In the middle of 2006, I convinced myself that I could organize my time to allow the undertaking of writing a book on the largest Microsoft server release everfrom scratch. I started writing the book a few months later and finished the final copy editing in June 2008, basically two years from start to finish. Fortunately, Microsoft delayed the release of Windows Server 2008 enough that this book will hit bookshelves while Windows Server 2008 is still new to the market.With this book, I tried to create a resource that explains the major features of Windows Server 2008, when to use them, how to design the best implementation, and how to manage the deployed environment.Windows Server 2008 has so many features that I had to leave some out. Those features not discussed are ones I felt would not be interesting to most readers; however, I point out what is not covered and suggest some resources. Windows 2008 is trying to put books out of business; however, although the online help is great, it is task focused. Therefore, I encourage you to follow the online help tool. I concentrate on items that require more design, decision, or are just "cool."Windows Server 2008 is very customer focused and focuses on a key number of areas such as virtualization, the Web, and security. Usability is also a major area for Windows 2008. A customer does not point to a server and say "that's my windows server," a customer says "that's my domain controller" or "that's my file server." Windows Server 2008 is designed around how the server is used. Only the basic functions are installed; additional components are installed as roles and features are added to the server and their management tools accessed through a single server manager interface.Design of Microsoft-based systems will change in the future. I predict that the process we perform today to design the best practice implementation for our environment will be automated entirely within ten yearsand I'll need a new day job. Think of the process today: We look at the environment and how to use it, and then create a design following experience and best practices. We have a number of tools today to help with this: Best Practice Analyzers that check that an installation follows guidelines; System Center Capacity Planner that allows a designer to input information about locations, users, servers and bandwidth and then creates a server design that services needs; and Microsoft Solution Accelerators that help create solutions with Microsoft technologies. The next step is bringing these together. System Center Configuration Manager and System Center Operations Manager can ascertain the information needed about an environment. This information can then be automatically fed into Capacity Planner-type solutions to produce a best practice design and periodically verify that the design still meets requirements. With the move to virtualization, the design tools will partner with deployment technologies to automatically build new virtual machines for services, as needed, without administrator intervention. Microsoft already has a direction to this type of environment with the Dynamic Systems Initiative. Our involvement will likely be telling thes