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Covering Identity and Access Solutions, Unified Communications, Collaboration, and Infrastructure

Category Archives: Windows Server

Overview of Windows Server 2012 Editions and Pricing

Microsoft recently announced the editions that will be available with Windows Server 2012, as well as pricing. The table below provides a summary of Windows Server 2012 editions and pricing…

Edition

Ideal for…

High Level Feature
Comparison

Licensing Model

Pricing
Open NL (US$)

Datacenter

Highly virtualized
private & hybrid
cloud environments

Full Windows
Server functionality
with unlimited
virtual instances

Processor + CAL*

$4,809**

Standard

Low density or non-
virtualized
environments

Full Windows
Server functionality
with two virtual
instances

Processor + CAL*

$882**

Essentials

Small business
environments

Simpler interface,
pre-configured
connectivity to
cloud based services; no
virtualization rights

Server (25 User
Account Limit)

$425**

Foundation

Economical general
purpose server

General purpose
server functionality
with no
virtualization rights

Server (15 User
Account Limit)

OEM Only

*CALs are required for every user or device accessing a server directly or indirectly

Windows Server 2012 Jump Start Videos Published

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8 Release Preview

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8 Release Preview enables IT administrators to manage roles and features that are installed on computers that are running Windows Server 2012 from a remote computer that is running Windows 8 Release Preview.

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8 Release Preview includes Server Manager, Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins, consoles, Windows PowerShell cmdlets and providers, and command-line tools for managing roles and features that run on Windows Server 2012. In limited cases, the tools can be used to manage roles and features that are running on Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008. Some of the tools work for managing roles and features on Windows Server 2003.

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8 Release Preview can be found here.

Windows Server “8” Beta Understand and Troubleshoot Guides

The Windows Server “8” Beta Understand and Troubleshoot Guides (UTG) help IT administrators and architects develop awareness of key technical concepts, functionality, and troubleshooting techniques. This understanding enables a successful early adoption experience during the product evaluation phase.

  • Technical overview
  • Server role or feature installation, configuration, management tasks  
  • Component architecture and interaction
  • Methodology for troubleshooting

Note:
The UTGs do not provide deployment planning content.

The following UTGs are available:

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Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is RTM

In case you haven’t heard, SP 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 has been released to manufacturing. General availability (through Windows Update and direct download) is February 22nd. However, Volume Licensed, MSDN and TechNet subscribers get access to the Service Pack on February 16th.

For more information on SP1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, check out the post on the Windows Server Blog.

I also posted a summary of the changes specific to AD DS in Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1, which can be found by going to http://policelli.com/blog/archive/2011/01/17/active-directory-domain-services-and-windows-server-2008-r2-service-pack-1/.

Supported Upgrade Methods for Hyper-V

Microsoft recently released a KB that outlines the methods that you can use to upgrade a Windows Server 2008, that has the Hyper-V role installed, to Windows Server 2008 R2.

The following methods are discussed in the KB:

  1. Perform an in-place upgrade of the parent partition from Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2008 R2.
  2. Export a virtual machine from a Windows Server 2008-based computer that has Hyper-V enabled, and then import it to a server that has Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V enabled
  3. Using backup software that leverages the Hyper-V VSS Writer, back up a virtual machine that is running on Windows Server 2008, and restore it to Windows Server 2008 R2

As you may have heard, Windows Server 2008 R2 introduces a number of important changes and new features for Hyper-V, so if you are planning to upgrade then you should be familiar with this KB. The KB can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/957256.

Designing and Implementing a Microsoft-Based Public Key Infrastructure

I designed and implemented a fairly complex three-tier PKI, using Windows Server 2003 Certificate Services, a number of years back that proved to be a painful experience. At that time, there was not a lot of documentation available on MS Certificate Services. I recently stumbled across a couple of posts on the Ask the Directory Services Team Blog, which are worth a read of you’re dealing with PKI. They can be found here: