Summary

Comprehensive, practical reference to the new version of Microsoft's flagship server operating system bull; Windows Server 2008 is a major update, so IT Pros will need information on it bull; Will be the first overall reference to Windows Server 2008 on the market bull; Authors have been working with Windows Server 2008 since early alpha builds bull; Loaded with practical, independent advice that will save IT Pros time, effort, and money

Author Biography

Rand Morimoto, Ph.D., MCSE, CISSP Rand Morimoto has been in the computer industry for more than 30 years and has authored, co-authored, or been a contributing writer for dozens of bestselling books on Windows 2003, Exchange 2007, Security, BizTalk Server, and Remote and Mobile Computing. Rand is the president of Convergent Computing, an IT-consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay area that was one of the key early adopter program partners with Microsoft, implementing beta versions of Windows Server 2008 in production environments more than 3 years before the product release. Rand speaks at conferences and conventions around the world on tips, tricks, and best practices on planning, migrating, and implementing Windows 2008 and Exchange 2007.

Michael Noel, MCSE+I, CISSP, MCSA, MVP Michael Noel has been involved in the computer industry for nearly two decades and has significant real-world experience with enterprise information technology environments. Michael has authored several major publications, such as SharePoint 2007 Unleashed, Exchange 2007 Unleashed, ISA Server 2006 Unleashed, Windows Server 2003 Unleashed, and many more, with a total worldwide circulation of more than 150,000 copies. Currently a partner at Convergent Computing in the San Francisco Bay area, Michael’s writings are leveraged from his real-world experience designing, deploying, and administering IT infrastructure.

Omar Droubi, MCSE Omar Droubi has been in the computer industry for more than 15 years, has co-authored one of Sams Publishing bestselling books, Windows 2003 Unleashed, and has been a contributing writer and technical reviewer on several other books on Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2000, 2003, and 2007. Omar has been involved in testing, designing, and prototyping Windows Server 2008 infrastructures for the past 2 years, and has primarily focused on upgrading existing networks and utilizing many of the new features included in the product. Also during this time, Omar has assisted several organizations with the development of technical roadmaps to plan for future deployments of Windows Server 2008 and Vista.

Ross Mistry, MCTS, MCDBA, MCSE Ross Mistry is a seasoned veteran in the Silicon Valley and has spent more than a decade in the computer industry. As a principal consultant and partner with Convergent Computing (CCO), he has had the opportunity to work with Windows Server 2008 for 3 years before the product released to the public. Ross focuses on Active Directory, Exchange, and SQL Server, where he designs and implements solutions for Fortune 500 organizations with a global presence. His specialties in the Windows space are Active Directory upgrades, high availability, and disaster recovery. Ross has also taken on the roles of lead author, contributing writer, and technical editor for many bestselling books published by Sams. His recent works include lead author on SQL Server 2005 Management and Administration, contributing writer on Exchange Server 2007 Unleashed and SharePoint 2007 Unleashed, and technical editor on SQL Server 2005 Unleashed. In addition to consulting and authoring, Ross is also a public speaker and conducts seminars on Microsoft topics around the world, in which he leverages best practices based on his experiences in the industry.

Chris Amaris, MCSE, CISSP Chris is the chief technology officer and cofounder of Convergent Computing. He has more than 20 years’ experience consulting for Fortune 500 companies, leading companies in the technology selection, design, planning, and implementation of complex information technology projects. Chris has worked with Windows 2008 3 years before its release to the general public. A Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) with an Information System Security Architecture Professional (ISSAP) concentration, Certified Homeland Security (CHS III), Windows 2003 MCSE, Novell CNE, Banyan CBE, and a Certified Project Manager, Chris is also an author and technical editor for a number of IT books, including Network Security for Government and Corporate Executives, Windows Server 2003 Unleashed, SQL Server 2005 Management and Administration, Exchange Server 2007 Unleashed, and Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Unleashed. Chris presents on messaging, operations management, security, and information technology topics worldwide.

Introduction xlix
Windows Server 2008 Overview
Windows Server 2008 Technology Primer 3
Planning, Prototyping, Migrating, and Deploying Windows Server 2008 Best Practices 39
Installing Windows Server 2008 and Server Core 73
Windows Server 2008 Active Directory
Active Directory Domain Services Primer 105
Designing a Windows Server 2008 Active Directory 139
Designing Organizational Unit and Group Structure 165
Active Directory Infrastructure 185
Creating Federated Forests and Lightweight Directories 217
Integrating Active Directory in a UNIX Environment 235
Networking Services
Domain Name System and IPv6 251
DHCP/WINS/Domain Controllers 297
Internet Information Services 331
Security
Server-Level Security 375
Transport-Level Security 399
Security Policies, Network Policy Server, and Network Access Protection 415
Migrating to Windows Server 2008
Migrating from Windows 2000/2003 to Windows Server 2008 439
Compatibility Testing for Windows Server 2008 473
Windows Server 2008 Administration and Management
Windows Server 2008 Administration 499
Windows Server 2008 Group Policies and Policy Management 533
Windows Server 2008 Management and Maintenance Practices 581
Automating Tasks Using PowerShell Scripting 639
Documenting a Windows Server 2008 Environment 685
Integrating Systems Center Operations Manager 2007 with Windows Server 2008 715
Remote and Mobile Technologies
Server-to-Client Remote and Mobile Access 737
Terminal Services 783
Desktop Administration
Windows Server Administration Tools for Desktops 839
Group Policy Management for Network Clients 865
Fault Tolerance Technologies
File System Management and Fault Tolerance 935
System-Level Fault Tolerance (Clustering/Network Load Balancing) 993
Backing Up the Windows Server 2008 Environment 1043
Recovering from a Disaster 1077
Optimizing, Tuning, Debugging, and Problem Solving
Optimizing Windows Server 2008 for Branch Office Communications 1111
Logging and Debugging 1145
Capacity Analysis and Performance Optimization 1189
Integrated Windows Application Services
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 1233
Windows Media Services 1281
Deploying and Using Windows Virtualization 1313
Index 1339
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Supplemental Materials

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Excerpts

Introduction IntroductionWindows Server 2008 is the latest release of the Windows Server operating system. Over the years, it has evolved quite dramatically from the early days of Windows NT Server or even Windows 2000 Server. With the release of Windows 2008, Microsoft again has introduced a number of new technologies intended to help IT professionals improve their ability to provide network services to the clients they serve.I've had the opportunity to write a book on every version of Windows Server over the past dozen years, and when my coauthors and I set out to write this book, we wanted to once again provide you, the reader, with a lot of really valuable information. Not just marketing fluff that talks about features and functions, but to really dig down into the product and share with you best practices on planning, preparing, implementing, migrating, and supporting a Windows 2008 environment.Even though Windows 2008 released in early 2008, we've been fortunate enough to work with Windows Server Codename "Longhorn" since as early as 2005, so we've had almost three full years on an early adopter program. The thing about being involved with a product so early on is that our first experiences with Longhorn Server were without any documentation, Help files that provided guidance, or any shared experiences from others. We had to learn Longhorn Server from experience, usually the hard way, but that has given us a distinct advantage of knowing the product forward and backward better than anyone could ever imagine. And we started to implement Longhorn Server in production environments for a select group of our enterprise customers over a year before the product release--where organizations were depending on Longhorn Server to run key areas of their business.So, the pages of this book are filled with years of experience with Windows 2008, live production environment best practices, and fully updated RTM code specifics that will hopefully help you design, plan, prototype, implement, migrate, administer, and support your Windows 2008 environment!This book is organized into 11 parts, each part focusing on core Windows Server 2008 areas, with several chapters making up each part. The parts of the book are as follows:Part I: Windows Server 2008 Overview--This part provides an introduction to Windows 2008 not only to give a general technology overview, but also to note what is truly new in Windows 2008 that made it compelling enough for organizations to implement the technology in beta in production environments. We also cover basic planning, prototype testing, and migration techniques, as well as provide a full chapter on the installation of Windows 2008 as well as the new Server Core.Part II: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory--This part covers Active Directory planning and design. If you have already designed and implemented your Active Directory, you will likely not need to read through this section of the book in detail. However, you might want to look through the best practices at the end of each chapter because we highlight some of the tips and tricks new to Windows 2008 that are different from Windows 2000/2003. You might find that limitations or restrictions you faced when designing and implementing Windows 2000/2003 and Active Directory have now been revised. Topics such as federated forests, lightweight directory services, and identity lifecycle management capabilities might be of interest.Part III: Networking Services--This part covers DNS, DHCP, domain controllers, IPv6, and IIS from the perspective of planning, integrating, migrating, and coexisting. Again, just like in Part II, you might find the Notes, Tips, and best practices to have valuable information on features that are new in Windows 2008; they mig