Planning And Installing A Windows Server Computer Science Essay

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Hi and welcome to the new series of articles related to Windows Server 2012. In this article and next couple of articles we will discuss and learn the basics about the Windows Server 2012 and its features. In this series of articles I will focus to install and configure a new server and move on to the intermediate and advance configurations.

Planning a Server Installation:

If we compare installation of Windows Server 2012 with the earlier Window Server release. The thing is different from the older one. And those are, in older versions of Windows Server support for both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms was available and decisions are to be made whether to install a Server Core or full graphical user interface (GUI). And once decided the actions are irrevocable.

But in Windows Server 2012 only support for the 64 - bit platform is available, and thereby reducing the space of decision regarding platform selections. And another thing is in Window Server 2012, Server Core and full GUI installation is also available along with third Minimal Server Interface. And all of these installations do not require a reinstall, if you desire to switch between them. That is a great thing to have.

Selecting Desired Windows Server 2012 Edition:

And we know that, everybody has its own scope of work and required a different level of sophistication when dealing with the choice of operating system. Microsoft provides different Window Sever 2012 Edition to full fill desired demands. The factors that govern the choice of selected edition are:

The intended role of the server which is desired or to be performed.

Required Virtualization strategy.

Desired Licensing strategy.

There exist four Windows Server 2012 editions. And I will discuss four of them one by one.

Windows Server 2012 Datacenter

Large and powerful servers, support up to 64 processors. With fault tolerant features like hot add server support. And is available through the Microsoft Licensing Program, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) shipped with a machine.

Windows Server 2012 Standard

Provide all the featured that are given by the Microsoft Windows Server 2008. The only difference with the Datacenter edition is the number of virtual machines (VMs) instances allowed by the license.

Windows Server 2012 Essentials

Provide almost all features of Datacenter and Standard edition, only AD (Active Directory) Federation Service, Hyper V, and Server Core is not available. In this edition we can have either one physical or virtual server instance (one at a time) and provide support up to 25 users.

Windows Server 2012 Foundation

This edition provides very limited services and best suits to the small business, those requiring file and print services. No Virtualization is supported and limited to provide support to 15 users.

Keeping the above capabilities in view and administrator can easily decide that which serves edition is best suited and full fill their needs. And they can also decide to purchase cheep edition.

In my next article we will further discuss about the various server roles, server Virtualization, server licensing and minimum hardware requirements. And later we will discuss different installation options available in Windows Server 2012.

Server Role, Server Virtualization, Server Licensing and Minimum Hardware Requirement of Windows Server 2012

In my earlier article we were discussing about the planning and selection of desired server edition. In this article we will further discuss supporting server roles and Virtualization in detail.

Supporting Server Roles:

First deal with the question, that what is a role? A collective set of specific predefined services is called a role. Along with the included software and third party software Windows Server 2012 provide a variety of tasks. After installing the Windows Server 2012 we can use Server Manager or Widows Power Shell to add or assign more roles in the system.

In some edition of Windows Server 2012 all the roles are included, while in other only some of roles are available. And a selection among in this role is made according to the tasks a desired computer must perform. It is a matter of our selection that we assign domain controller roles, web server role and another to which computer.

And while dealing of implementing Virtualization, we can modify our network’s deployment strategy at our will, to full fill varying workloads and other business requirements.

Supporting Server Virtualization:

Both the Windows Server 2012 Datacenter and Standard editions support the Hyper-V, but differ in number of VMs allowed by their licenses. When we install a server physically on a machine it is classified as Physical Operating System Environment (POSE) and each virtual installation done using Hyper-V is classified as Virtual Operating System Environment (VOSE).

All four Widows Server 2012 editions support one POSE installation. Windows Server 2012 editions are restricted by the License, in term of number of VOSE instances.

NOTE: These VOSE limitations are software limits, implemented by the License.

Number of VOSE instances for the datacenter edition is unlimited, for Standard edition it is a maximum of 2 VOSE instances, Foundation edition can’t have a VOSE instance and Essentials edition can be a POSE or VOSE one at a time.

Server Licensing:

Different sales channels for Windows Server 2012 license are provided by the Microsoft. You can further dig into licensing related information over Microsoft official website. And a detail beyond this is out of scope of this article.

Minimum Hardware Requirements for Installation:

Minimum required hardware specification are listed below, Windows Server 2012 will incorrectly / not install al all below this hardware requirement.

The minimum processor requirement for the Windows Server 2012 is 1.4 GHz (64-bit only) processor, along with a minimum of 512 MB Random Access Memory. At least 32 GB of disk space is required for the installation. A DVD drive is needed. A super VGA with (800 × 600) or higher resolution monitor. A Standard Keyboard and mouse or other compatible pointing devices. And at last a good connection to the internet.

In case if you are installing over the network or have a physical memory (RAM) more than 16 GB, an additional disk space for the purpose of paging, hibernation and dump files are required.

In my next article I will discuss maximum hardware configuration and server core installation option.

Maximum Hardware Configurations and Server Core Installation Option of Windows Server 2012

In my earlier article we were discussing about the server roles, server Virtualization, server licensing and minimum hardware requirement. In this article we will cover the Maximum Hardware specifications and further discuss choosing installation options.

Maximum Hardware Configurations:

In these days cloud computing has gained a tremendous importance. And many organizations like Amazon, Google and Microsoft as well are providing software as a service (SaaS). And now a day’s cloud computing and Virtualization technology and their implementations are very beneficial, cost effective and provide help implementing a variety of business strategies.

Keeping all above to view Microsoft has also increased emphasis on Virtualization and cloud computing in its server products. And have raised maximum hardware configurations notably in Windows Server 2012.

Windows server 2012 support up to 640 logical processors, while in Windows server 2008 R2 it was 256 logical processors. Amount of the 2 terabytes of RAM in Widows Server 2008 RE has been raised to the 4 terabytes in Windows Server 2012. The number of failover cluster nodes in Windows Server 2008 R2 was 16, but now in Windows 2012 number of failover clusters is raised to the 64.

Installation Option Selection:

As we have discussed earlier that the Window Server 2012 has equipped with three installation options. First one is Server Core, second one is the GUI and the third one is a Minimal Server Interface. In this article we will discuss the Server Core installation option in detail.

Server Core:

As we know that in Window Server 2008 R2, supports the Server Core installation option. And was irrevocable, and lacks Start menu, virtual graphical application, MMC and desktop explorer. But in Windows Server 2012 the Server Core option is also available with all the disabilities like in Window Server 2008 R2. The only thing that makes Windows Server 2012 special is that we can switch between installation options as we desired.

Note: Server core an installation option included with Windows Server 2012 Standard and Datacenter editions.

When using Server Core option (which is a default installation option) an administrator can get various advantages. Like in GUI, which is composed of memory and processor intensive elements the Server Core option does not require this memory and processor intensive elements. Therefore Server Corer required less hardware resources. Disk usage is also less when we choose Server Core as our installation option. The GUI based installation option requires comparatively more patches than the Server Core installation option. Due to the fact that the Server Core option engage less software therefore chance of being attacked or exploit is also reduced.

The most important thing to remember is that in we can easily switch from the Server Core option to the Server with a GUI option, and back again, at our desire by using Power Shell commands.

In my next article I will discuss server core capabilities and further move to the minimal server interface installation option.

Serve Core Capabilities and Minimal Server Interface with Configuration Steps of Windows Server 2012

In my earlier article we have discussed Maximum Hardware Configurations and some basics of Server Core option. Now in this article we will learn about the capabilities of Server Core installation options and further move to the Minimal Terminal Service.

Capabilities of Server Core:

As we know that and have discussed in the earlier article about the benefits of Server Core installations. The benefits gained by this installation option on the other hand omit some of the server roles, found in Server GUI installation. Support for SQL Server 2012 and 13 server roles out of 19 are provided by Server Core option. Where as in older versions that is Windows Server 2008 R2 only provide only 10 server roles.

Server Roles which are not available in Windows Server 2012 are Active Directory Federation Services, Application Server, Fax Server, Network Policy and Access Services, Remote Desktop Services (Remote Desktop Gateway, Session Host & Web Access), Volume Activation Services and Windows Deployment Services.

Available Server roles are AD Certificate Services, AD Lightweight Directory Services, AD Domain Services, AD Rights Management Services, Hyper V, File and Storage Services, DHCP Server, DNS Server, Print and Document Services, Remote Desktop Services (Remote Desktop Connection Broker, Licensing & Virtualization Host), Remote Access, Web Server (IIS) and Windows Server Update Services.

Note: We will discuss details of each and every role of a server as we will install and configure a particular role in our future articles.

Minimal Server Interface:

As an administrator if you do not want to give up GUI based interface and can only compromise hardware-intensive elements. Then the Minimal Server Interface is the right choice for the installation option.

The Minimal Server Interface eliminates the hardware-intensive elements like Windows Explorer, Desktop, Internet Explorer and Windows 8 Desktop applications. Along with these basic hardware-intensive components this interface also omits some of Control Panel items, which includes Programs and Features, Network and Sharing Center, Device and Printers Center, Devices and Printers Center, Display, Firewall, Windows Update, Fonts and Storage Spaces.

The Server Manager and Microsoft Management Console applications, Device Manager and entire Power Shell interface is provided in the Minimal Server Interface.

Steps to Configure Minimal Server Interface:

Log on as Administrator or with Administrative privileges. In the Server Manager Window.

Click on the Manage, and further click on the Remove Roles and Features. A Wizard labeled as Before You Begin appears.

Click Next to open the Server Selection page.

From the Sever Pool list, select the desired server and click Next.

Click Next to open the Remove Features page.

From the Features list, select the User Interfaces And Infrastructure feature.

Uncheck the Server Graphical Shell check box and click Next.

Click Remove to open the Removal Progress page.

When the removal is complete, click Close.

Restart the server.

One thing I would like to explain is that I have not installed any Windows Server 2012 instance yet. I am listing these Minimal Server Interface steps only to get you familiar in advance.

Using Features on Demand and Upgrading Servers of Windows Server 2012

After discussing the installation options and some basic features of Windows Server 2012, now I will move to the final steps of pre planning phase. After this step I will move to the Windows Server 2012 instance installation.

And as far as Migration from Window Server 2008 to Windows Server 2012 is concerned, I will only discuss the details regarding migration. But will not perform a migration practically.

Now I will move to the last steps of planning phase.

Using Features on Demand:

As we will install the Windows Server 2012, the Setup program will copy the files for all of the operating system components from the installation medium to the directory called WinSxS. Here WinSxS stands for the side-by-side component store.

Benefit of coping, the operating system components to the WinSxS directory is that an administrator can activate any feature included with Windows Server 2012 without the need of installation media.

But at the same time this WinSxS directory covers a significant amount of disk space. And most of the data contained in this directory is not going to be used in future.

And if we use Virtual instances of servers then with each instance of the server you can guess the amount of disk space wasted by WinSxS. And we all know that advance disk spaces like SANs (Storage Area Networks) and Solid State Drives (SSDs) are making disk space more costly.

In Windows Server 2012 the Features on Demand is new and provide a third state for operating system features. An administrator can conserve disk space by removing specific features; both from the operation and WinSxS directory.

In Windows Server 2012 three states are provided regarding any feature, which are Enabled, Disabled and Disabled with payload removed. Power Shell Uninstall Window Feature command lets is used to implement this third state. Following is the command to disable Server Graphical Shell and remove its source file from the WinSxS directory:

Uninstall –WindowsFeature Server –Gui –Shell –Remove

As we remove the source file for the feature from the WinSxS folder, we will be able to retrieve back all the data in the WinSxS folder if we enable that particular feature in the later time. In actual the system will download it from the Windows Update or, alternatively retrieve it from the image file.

Note: In actual the ability to retrieve the source file from the other location is the main functionality of the Features on Demand.

Upgrading Servers:

As far as upgrading is concerned it is the most complicated, time consuming, lengthy and full of errors job while it is in execution. It is always recommended by the Microsoft that if possible performs a neat and clean installation, or migrated required roles, application and settings only.

I will further progress the Upgrading Server in my next article. And after that I promise that I will move to the steps involved in the neat and clean installation of Windows Server 2012 Standard edition.