Windows Server 2012 : Roles and Features

A colleague asked me earlier today if I knew off the top of my head how many roles and features there are in Windows Server 2012, and I had to admit that I did not know.  As Albert Einstein once said, why memorize what you can reference.  However as a quick exercise I decided to not only count them, but type them up into an article for Kalvin… and for all of you!

NOTE: I included all of the sub-roles and sub-features as well for all except for the Remote Server Administration Tools, which would show a tool for all of the roles and features.

Roles:

1. Active Directory Certificate Services

2. Active Directory Domain Services

3. Active Directory Federation Services

4. Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services

5. Active Directory Rights Management Services

6. Application Server

7. DHCP Server

8. DNS Server

9. Fax Server

10. File and Storage Services

      a. File and iSCSI Services

      i. File Server

      ii. BranchCache for Network Files

      iii. Data Deduplication

      iv. DFS Namespaces

      v. DFS Replication

      vi. File Server Resource Manager

      vii. File Server VSS Agent Services

      viii. iSCSI Target Server

      ix. iSCSI Target Storage Provider

      x. Server for NFS

      b. Storage Services

11. Hyper-V

12. Network Policy and Access Services

13. Print and Document Services

14. Remote Access

15. Remote Desktop Services

16. Volume Activation Services

17. Web Server (IIS)

Features:

1. .NET Framework 3.5 Features

    a. .NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0)

    b. HTTP Activation

    c. Non-HTTP Activation

2. .NET Framework 4.5 Features

    a. .NET Framework 4.5

    b. ASP.NET 4.5

    c. WCF Services

         i. HTTP Activation

         ii. Message Queuing (MSMQ) Activation)

         iii. Named Pipe Activation

         iv. TCP Activation

         v. TCP Port Sharing

3. Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)

    a. IIS Server Extension

    b. Compact Server

4. BitLocker Drive Encryption

5. BitLocker Network Unlock

6. BranchCache

7. Client for NFT

8. Data Center Bridging

9. Enhanced Storage

10. Failover Clustering

11. Group Policy Management

12. Ink and Handwriting Services

13. Internet Printing Client

14. IP Address Management (IPAM) Server

15. iSNS Server Service

16. LPR Port Monitor

17. Management OData IIS Extension

18. Media Foundation

19. Message Queuing

    a. Message Queuing Services

    b. Message Queuing DCOM Proxy

20. Multipath I/O

21. Network Load Balancing

22. Peer Name Resolution Protocol

23. Quality Windows Audio Video Experience

24. RAS Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK)

25. Remote Assistance

26. Remote Differential Compression

27. Remote Server Administration Tools

28. RPC over HTTP Proxy

29. Simple TCP/IP Services

30. SMTP Server

31. SNMP Server

    a. SNMP WMI Provider

32. Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications (Deprecated)

33. Telnet Client

34. Telnet Server

35. TFTP Client

36. User Interfaces and Infrastructure

    a. Graphical Management Tools and Infrastructure

    b. Desktop Experience

    c. Server Graphical Shell

37. Windows Biometric Framework

38. Windows Feedback Forwarder

39. Windows Identity Foundation 3.5

40. Windows Internal Database

41. Windows PowerShell

    a. Windows PowerShell 3.0

    b. Windows PowerShell 2.0

    c. Windows PowerShell ISE

    d. Windows PowerShell Web Access

42. Windows Process Activation Service

    a. Process Model

    b. .NET Environment 3.5

    c. Configuration APIs

43. Windows Search Service

44. Windows Server Backup

45. Windows Server Migration Tools

46. Windows Standards-Based Storage Management

47. Windows System Resource Manager (Deprecated)

48. Windows TIFF IFilter

49. WinRM IIS Extension

50. WINS Server

51. Wireless LAN Service

52. WoW64 Support

53. XPS Viewer

Now: Adding roles and features in Windows Server 2012 is easier than it was previously… either use the Add Roles and Features Wizard.  Or you can use Windows PowerShell (which is the preferred way to do it) by using the cmdlet Install-WindowsFeature.  Even though there is a distinction between Roles and Features, the cmdlet to install them is the same for both.

Microsoft MCSA & MCSE

The Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) is Microsoft’s prevailing mid-range IT certification. It covers most administrative job roles, including systems administration at both desktop and server levels, as well as more specialized job roles that include SQL Server. But the brightest lights in this group are those that address Windows Server at enterprise and server administrator levels.

While these credentials don’t all specifically use “system administrator” in their descriptions, though many do, or refer to servers instead, they all fall well inside system administration job roles and responsibilities. They’re also in fairly high demand in job postings and classified job advertisements, too.

MCSA credentials, along with the next-tier Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) credentials, have long ruled the hearts and minds of those who work on Microsoft-based systems and servers. The newly polished offerings have been simplified, and focus on the latest technologies.

The MCSA is a prerequisite to the MCSE certification, which recognizes advanced skills for running a data center. An MCSE is well-versed in networking and virtualization, and managing systems, identity and authorization, and storage.

If you currently hold the MCSA: Windows Server 2008 or one of the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) certs, you can upgrade to:

• MCSE: Server Infrastructure,
• MCSE: Desktop Infrastructure,
• MCSE: Private Cloud.

Each upgrade requires you to pass three exams, and by no coincidence whatsoever, Microsoft is offering a 3-exams-for-the-price of-two deal through May 31, 2014.

Table 1: MCSA: Windows Server 2012

Certification name	Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA)MCSA: Windows Server 2012Other certification tracks are available but for purposes of this article, we focus here solely on the certification listed above.
Prerequisites/Required courses	None, though all exams for either MCSA specified here are associated with one or more Microsoft Official Curriculum course offerings. Look for online learning deals for best bang for your bucks.
Number of exams	Exam 70-410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012Exam 70-411: Administering Windows Server 2012Exam 70-412: Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 Services
Cost per exam	$150 USD per exam in the USA; prices vary by location elsewhere
URL	www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/mcsa-windows-server-certification.aspx
Self-study materials	Practice tests, self-paced training, distance learning, books , online resources and more. Visit MS Learning for resources: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/default.aspx#tab2

Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Feature List.

This list was last updated on 05/September/2013.

3rd party Software Defined Networking	Is supported by the extensibility of the virtual switch.
Automatic Guest Activation	Customers running WS2012 R2 Datacenter can automatically activate their WS2012 R2 guests without using KMS. Works with OEM and volume licenses. Great for multi-tenant clouds.
Azure Compatibility	Azure is running the same Hyper-V as on-premise deployments, giving you VM mobility from private cloud, to hosted cloud, to Microsoft Azure.
Built-In NVGRE Gateway	A multi-tenant aware NVGRE gateway role is available in WS2012 R2. Offers site-site VPN, NAT for Internet access, and VM Network to physical network gateway.
Clustering: Configurable GUM Mode	Global Update Manager (GUM) is responsible for synchronizing cluster resource updates.  With Hyper-V enabled, all nodes must receive and process an update before it is committed to avoid inconsistencies.
Clustering: Larger CSV Cache Percentage	WS2012 allows a maximum of 20% RAM to be allocated to CSV Cache.  This is 80% in WS2012 R2.
Clustering: CSV Load Balancing	CSV ownership (coordinators) will be automatically load balanced across nodes in the cluster.
Clustering: CSV & ReFS	ReFS is supported on CSV.  Probably still not preferable over NTFS for most deployments, but it is CHKDSK free!
Clustering: Dynamic Witness	The votes of cluster nodes are automatically changed as required by the cluster configuration.  Enabled by default.  This can be used to break 50/50 votes when a witness fails.
Clustering: Hyper-V Cluster Heartbeat	Clusters running Hyper-V have a longer heartbeat to avoid needless VM failovers on latent/contended networks. SameSubnetThreshold is 10 (normally 5) and CrossSubnetThreshold is 20 (normally 5).
Clustering: Improved logging	Much more information is recorded during host add/remove operations.
Clustering: Pause action	Pausing a node no longer will use Quick Migration for “low” priority VMs by default; Live Migration is used as expected by most people. You can raise the threshold to force Quick Migration if you want to.
Clustering: Proactive Server Service Health Detection	The health of a destination host will be verified before moving a VM to another host.
Clustering: Protected Networks	Virtual NICs are marked as being on protected networks by default. If a virtual NICs’ virtual switch becomes disconnected then the cluster will Live Migrate that VM to another host with a healthy identical virtual switch.
Clustering: Virtual Machine Drain on Host Shutdown	Shutting down a host will cause all virtual machines to Live Migrate to other hosts in the cluster.
Compressed Live Migration	Using only idle CPU resources on the host, Hyper-V can compress Live Migration to make it quicker. Could provide up to 2x migrations on 1 GbE networks.
Cross-Version Live Migration	You can perform a Live Migration from WS2012 to WS2012 R2. This is one-way, and enables zero-downtime upgrades from a WS2012 host/cluster to a WS2012 R2 host/cluster.
Dynamic Mode NIC Teaming	In addition to Hyper-V Port Mode and Address Hashing. Uses “flowlets” to give fine-grained inbound and outbound traffic.
Enhanced Session Mode	The old Connect limited KVM access to a VM. Now Connect can use Remote Desktop that is routed via the Hyper-V stack, even without network connection to the VM. Copy/paste and USB redirection are supported. Disabled on servers and enabled by Client Hyper-V by default.
Generation 2 VM	A G2 virtual machine is a VM with no legacy “hardware”. It uses UEFI boot, has no emulated devices, boots from SCSI, and can PXE boot from synthetic NIC. You cannot convert from G1 VM (UEFI I am guessing).
HNV Diagnostics	A new PoSH cmdlet enables an operator to diagnose VM connectivity in a VM Network without network access to that VM.
HNV: Dynamic Learning of CAs	Hyper-V Network Virtualization can learn the IPs of VM Network VMs. Enables guest DHCP and guest clustering in the VM Network.
HNV: NIC Teaming	Inbound and outbound traffic can traverse more than one team member in a NIC team for link aggregation.
HNV: NVGRE Task Offloads	A new type of physical NIC will offload NVGRE de- and encapsulation from the host processor.
HNV: Virtual Switch extensions	The HNV filter has been included in the Hyper-V Virtual Switch. This enables 3rd party extensions to work with HNV CAs and PAs.
Hyper-V Replica Extended Replication	You can configure a VM in Site A to replicate to Site B, and then replicate it from Site B to Site C.
Hyper-V Replica Finer Grained Interval controls	You can change the replication interval from the default 5 minutes to every 30 seconds or every 15 minutes.
IPAM	IP Address Management was extended in WS2012 R2 to do management of physical and virtual networking with built-in integration into SCVMM 2012 R2.
Linux Dynamic Memory	All features of Dynamic Memory are supported on WS2012 R2 hosts with the up to date Linux Integration Services.
Linux Kdump/kexec	Allows you to create kernel dumps of Linux VMs.
Linux Live VM backup	You can backup a running Linux VM with no pause, with file system “freeze”, giving file system consistency. Linux does not have VSS.
Linux Specification of Memory Mapped I/O (MMIO) gap	Provides fine grained control over available RAM for virtual appliance manufacturers.
Linux Non-Maskable Interrupt (NMI)	Allows delivery of manually triggered interrupts to Linux virtual machines running on Hyper-V.
Linux Video Driver	A Synthetic Frame Buffer driver for Linux guest OSs will provide improved performance and mouse support.
Live Resizing of VHDX	You can expand or shrink (if there’s un-partitioned space) a VHDX attached to a running VM. It must be SCSI attached.  This applies to Windows and Linux.
Live Virtual Machine Cloning	You can clone a running virtual machine. Useful for testing and diagnostics.
Remote Live Monitoring	Remote monitoring of VM network traffic made easier with Message Analyzer.
Service Provider Foundation (SPF)	The SPF is used to provide an API in-front of SCVMM. It is required for the Windows Azure Pack. A hosting company can share their infrastructure with clients, who can interact with SPF via on-premise System Center – App Controller.
Shared VHDX	Up to 8 VMs can share a VHDX (on shared storage like CSV/SMB) to create guest clusters. Appears like a shared SAS drive.
SMB Live Migration	This feature uses SMB to perform Live Migration over 10 GbE or faster networks. It uses SMB Multichannel if there are multiple Live Migration networks. SMB Direct is used if RDMA is available.  SMB Multichannel gives the fastest VM movement possible, and SMB Direct offloads the work from the CPU. Now moving that 1 TB RAM VM doesn’t seem so scary!
SMB 3.0: Automatic rebalancing of Scale-Out File Server clients	SMB clients of the scalable and continuously available active/active SOFS are rebalanced across nodes after the initial connection. Tracking is done per-share for better alignment of server/CSV ownership.
SMB 3.0: Bandwidth controls	QoS just sees SMB 3.0. New filters for default, live migration, and virtual machine allow you to manage bandwidth over converged networks.
SMB 3.0: Improved RDMA performance	Improves performance for small I/O workloads such as OLTP running in a VM. Very noticeable on 40/56 Gbps networks.
SMB 3.0: Multiple SMB instances on SOFS	The Scale-Out File Server has an additional SMB instance for CSV management, improving scalability and overall reliability. Default instance handles SMB clients.
Storage Spaces: Tiered Storage	You can mix 1 tier of SSD with 1 tier of HDD to get a blend of expensive extreme speed and economic capacity.  You define how much (if any) SSD and how much HDD a virtual disk will take from the pool.  Data is promoted/demoted in the tiers at 1am by default.  You can pin entire files to a tier.
Storage Spaces: Parallelized Restore	Instead of using slow host spare disks in a pool, you can use the cumulative write IOPS of the pool to restore virtual disk fault tolerance over the remaining healthy disks. The replacement disk is seen as new blank capacity.
Storage Spaces: Write-Back Cache	Hyper-V is write-through, avoiding controller caches on writes.  With tiered storage, you get Write-Back Cache.  The SSD tier can absorb spikes in write activity.  Supported with CSV.
Storage QoS	You can set an IOPS limit on individual virtual hard disks to avoid one disk consuming all resources, or to price-band your tenants. Minimum alerts will notify you if virtual hard disks cannot get enough storage bandwidth.
System Center alignment	System Center and Windows Server were developed together and will be released very closely together.
Network Diagnostics	New PowerShell tools for testing the networking of VMs, including Get-VMNetworkAdapter, Test-NetConnection, Test-VMNetworkAdapter,a nd Ping -P.
VDI & Deduplication	WS2012 R2 can be enabled in VDI scenarios (only) where the VMs are stored on dedicated (only) WS2012 R2 storage servers.
Virtual Machine Exports	You can export a VM with snapshots/checkpoints
Virtual Switch Extended Port ACLs	ACLs now include the socket port number.  You can now configure stateful rules that are unidirectional and provide a timeout parameter. Compatibility with Hyper-V Network Virtualization.
vRSS	Virtual Receive Side Scaling leverages DVMQ on the host NIC to enable a VM to use more than 1 vCPU to process traffic. Improves network scalability of a VM.
Windows Azure Pack	This was previously called Windows Azure Services for Windows Server, and is sometimes called “Katal”. This is based on the source code of the Azure IaaS portal, and allows companies (such as hosting companies) to provide a self-service portal (with additional cloud traits) for their cloud.

MCSA Windows Server 2012 and MCSE Certification and Couse Roadmap.

MCSA Windows Server 2012 and MCSE Certification and Couse Roadmap.

Difference between Windows Server 2012 Hyper-v and VMware vsphere 5.1 Enterprise Plus

Difference between Windows Server 2012 Hyper-v and VMware vsphere 5.1 Enterprise Plus.

Thank.

How-To : Step-By-Step: Active Directory Migration from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2012 R2.

This Step-By-Step has been created to assist with that uncertainty and provide guidance for IT professionals looking to migrate their organizations Active Directory offering from Windows Server 2003 to 2012 R2.

Transferring the Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) Role

1. Open the Active Directory Users and Computers console on your new Windows Server 2012 R2 computer.
2. Right click your domain and select Operations Masters in the sub menu.
3. In the Operations Masters window, ensure the RID tab is selected.
4. Select the Change button.
5. Select Yes when asked about transferring the operations master role.
6. Once the operations master role has successfully transferred, click OK to continue.
7. Ensure the Operations Master box now shows your new 2012 R2 Windows Server.
8. Repeat steps 4 to 6 for the PDC and Infrastructure tabs.
9. Once completed, click Close to close the Operations Masters window.
10. Close the Active Directory Users and Computers window.

Changing the Active Directory Domain Controller 

1. Open the Active Directory Domains and Trusts console on your new Windows Server 2012 R2 computer.
2. Right click your domain and select Change Active Directory Domain Controller… in the sub menu.
3. In the Change Directory Server window, select This Domain Controller or AD LDS instance.
   
4. Select your new 2012 R2 Windows Server.
5. Click OK to continue.
6. Back in the Active Directory Domains and Trusts window, hover over the Active Directory Domains and Trusts found in the folder tree on the left hand side to ensure the server now reflects your new 2012 R2 Windows server.
7. Right click Active Directory Domains and Trusts found in the folder tree and select Operations Manager... in the sub menu.
8. In the Operations Master window, click Change to transfer the domain naming master role to the 2012 R2 Windows Server.
9. When asked if you are sure you wish to transfer the operations master role to a different computer, click Yes.
10. Once the operations master is successfully transferred, click OK to continue.
11. Click Close to close the Operations Master window.
12. Close the Active Directory Domains and Trusts console.

 

Changing the Schema Master

1. Open a command prompt in administration view on your new Windows Server 2012 R2 computer.
2. On the command prompt window, enter regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll and hit enter.
3. Once completed successfully, click OK to close the RegSvr32 window.
4. Close the command prompt.

 

Add the Active Directory Schema Console from MMC

1. Open a MMC console on your new Windows Server 2012 R2 computer.
2. Click File > Add/Remove Snap-in...
   
3. In the Add or Remove Snap-ins window, select Active Directory Schema and click the Add > button.
   
4. Click OK to continue.

 

Change the Schema Master

1. In the same MMC console, right click Active Directory Schema and select Change Active Directory Domain Controller... in the sub menu.
2. In the Change Directory Server window, select This Domain Controller or AD LDS instance.
   
3. Select your new 2012 R2 Windows Server.
4. Click OK to continue.
5. A warning will appear stating that the Active Directory Schema snap-in in not connected. Click OK to continue.
6. Hover over the Active Directory Schema folder in the folder tree to ensure the new Windows Server 2012 R2 computer is shown.
7. Now right click Active Directory Schema and select Operations Master… in the sub menu.
8. In the Change Schema Master window, click Change to transfer the schema master role to the 2012 R2 Windows Server.
9. When asked if you are sure you wish to transfer the schema master role to a different computer, click Yes.
10. Once the schema master is successfully transferred, click OK to continue.
11. Click Close to close the Change Schema Master window.
12. In the MMC, click File > Exit.
13. When asked to save the console, click No.

Once completed, open the Active Directory Users and Computers console to verify that the Active Directory database successfully replicated to your new Windows Server 2012 R2 computer.  Be aware that the database replication may take some time depending on the number of objects in Active Directory.

 

Removing the 2003 Windows Server from the Global Catalog Server

1. Open Active Directory Sites and Services on your new Windows Server 2012 R2 computer.
2. Expand the Sites folder, then the Default-First-Site-Name folder, then the Servers folder.
3. Expand both listed servers. One should be your new 2012 Windows Server and one should be you 2003 Windows Server.
4. Right click NTDS Settings found under your old 2003 Windows Server.
5. In the sub menu, select Properties.
6. Under the General Tab, unselect Global Catalog and then click the Apply button.
7. Click OK to continue.
8. Close the Active Directory Sites and Services window.
9. Verify that your new 2012 R2 Windows Server is running the FSMO role by opening the command prompt in Administrative view and running the following command: Netdom query fsmo.
   
10. In the Network and Sharing Center, be sure to change the Preferred DNS server to match the Alternate DNS server, then delete the IP address listed under the Alternate DNS server should it currently be pointed to the old 2003 Windows Server.

 

All that’s left is to demote the old 2003 Windows server by first adding the new 2012 R2 Windows Server as the Primary DNS, followed by running DCPROMO to demote the old 2003 Windows server.

How-To : Configure a Secondary DNS Server in Windows Server 2012.

How-To : Configure a Secondary DNS Server in Windows Server 2012.

We previously discussed How to install DNS role in Windows Server 2012. In this post, I will explain how to configure that dedicated DNS server as secondary DNS for redundancy.

Keep in mind that it is always a good practice to have a backup for every role you have on every server if applicable and if the resources are available.

Note: You will need access to your primary DNS server in order to finish setting up your secondary DNS

Launch your DNS Manager, can be found in your Start screen

Under your server name, right-click “Forward Lookup Zone”, then click on “New Zone…”

You will get the “New Zone Wizard” welcome screen, click Next

In the “Zone Type” screen, you will need to select “Secondary zone” as this will be your backup secondary DNS that will replicate from your primary DNS, click Next

Give your new secondary DNS zone a name, this is different than your server name, you can name it anything you want, but mostly it is a good idea to name it the same way your primary DNS is setup, or you can put your domain name

Now you need to put in your Primary DNS server name or IP address, this is where you tell your secondary DNS where to copy all the DNS info from. You will also need to make small adjustments to your primary DNS, we will cover that later on in this article

Once you put the IP address or server name, you will see the green check mark indicating that the server validated and it is ok to proceed, click Next

Lastly, verify your information and click Finish

Setting up the secondary DNS is done, but we are not entirely finished here, we need to tell our primary DNS that it is ok for this secondary DNS to pull information from it. Otherwise replication will fail and you will get this big red X

Head over to your primary DNS server, launch DNS manager, expand Forward Lookup Zones, navigate to your primary DNS zone, right-click on it and go to Properties

Go to “Zone Transfers” tab, by default, for security reasons, the “Allow zone transfers:” is un-checked to protect your DNS information. We need to allow zone transfers, if you value your DNS records, you do not want to select “To any server” but make sure you click on “Only to servers listed on the Name Servers tab”

Head over to the “Name Servers” tab, click Add

You will get “New Name Server Record” window, type in the name of your secondary DNS server. it is always better to validate by name not IP address to avoid future problems in case your IP addresses change. Once done, click OK

You will see your secondary DNS server is now added to your name servers selection, click OK

Now if you head back to to your secondary DNS server and refresh, the big red X will go away and your primary zone data will populate

Your secondary DNS is fully setup now. You can not make any DNS changes from your secondary DNS. Secondary DNS is a read-only DNS, Any DNS changes have to be done from the primary DNS.

 

Tech Net Virtual Labs Windows Server 2012 R2.

Virtual hands-on labs that you can complete in 90 minutes or less. MSDN and TechNet virtual labs are hosted using a hybrid cloud consisting of Windows Server Hyper-V and Windows Azure.   

TechNet Virtual Labs

• Desired State Configuration with Windows Server 2012 R2
• Enhancements with Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-v Replica
• Windows Server 2012 R2 – Enabling Windows Server Work Folders
• Windows Server 2012 R2: Implementing Claims-Aware Applications
• Exploring Hyper-V Server 2012 R2
• Network Automation using IP Address Management (IPAM)
• Windows Server 2012 R2 – Storage Infrastructure
• Introduction to Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials
• Windows Server 2012 R2 – Configuring and Managing Servers
• Windows Server 2012 R2 – Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration
• Windows Server 2012 R2 – Windows PowerShell Fundamentals
• Windows Server 2012 R2– RemoteApp and Remote Desktops
• Windows Server 2012 R2 – Windows Server Update Services
• Configuring Networking with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2
• Storage Management with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2
• Managing Linux Servers with System Center 2012 R2
• Managing your Datacenter devices with Windows Server and System Center 2012 R2

Thank.

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Poster and Companion References.

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Poster and Companion References.

Overview

This poster and and the companion references provide an understanding about key Hyper-V technologies in Windows Server 2012. The Hyper-V poster focuses on Hyper-V Replica, networking, virtual machine mobility (live migration), storage, failover clustering, and scalability.

Provides a visual reference for understanding key Hyper-V technologies in Windows Server 2012 and focuses on Hyper-V Replica, networking, virtual machine mobility (live migration), storage, failover clustering, and scalability.

File Name                                                                                              Download                LinkSize           

Poster Companion Reference – Hyper-V and Failover Clustering.pdf                     Click here                   1.2 MB

Poster Companion Reference – Hyper-V Networking.pdf                                    Click here                   1.8 MB

Poster Companion Reference – Hyper-V Replica.pdf                                          Click here                   1.8 MB

Poster Companion Reference – Hyper-V Storage.pdf                                         Click here                   1.4 MB

Poster Companion Reference – Hyper-V Virtual Machine Mobility.pdf                  Click here                   1.8 MB

Thank.

 

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Architecture.

This poster provides a visual reference for understanding key Hyper-V technologies in Windows Server “8” Beta. This Hyper-V poster focuses on Hyper-V Replica, networking, virtual machine mobility (live migration), storage, failover clustering, and scalability. You can find previously published posters here: • Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 Hyper-V Component Architecture • Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Component Architecture • Windows Server 2008 R2 Feature Component Poster • Windows Server 2008 Component

 

Main Link Download : Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Architecture.pdf – 6.2 MB

Backup Link Download : Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Architecture.pdf – 6.2 MB

 

Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Component Architecture.

 

• Live Migration
• Upgrading Your Private Cloud
• Hyper-V and Failover Clustering
• Hyper-V Storage
• Session Modes
• Generation 2 Virtual Machines

Main Link Download : Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Architecture.pdf – 610 KB

Backup Link Download : Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Architecture.pdf – 610 KB

Windows Server 2012 R2 Products and Editions Comparison.

It’s Windows Server 2012 R2 in detail! Download this handy chart for info on products and editions, including the need-to-know on locks, limits and supported server roles and features

Main Link Download : Windows_Server_2012_R2_Products_and_Editions_Comparison.pdf

Illustrates the differences among the various Windows Server 2012 R2 products and editions, including information about locks and limits and supported server roles and features.

 

Cloud Ecosystem Poster: Microsoft Azure, Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2

Cloud Ecosystem : Microsoft Azure, Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2

For those who enjoy the Server Posterpedia posters, there is a new one that just became available for download. It’s called the “Cloud Ecosystem: Microsoft Azure, Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2” poster and it depicts both public and on-premises cloud technologies.

Here’s a little thumbnail to give you an idea of what it looks like:

 

As you probably can’t read the small font above :-), here are some details on what this poster includes:

• Microsoft Azure Services including Service Categories, Compute Services, Data Services and App Services
• System Center 2012 R2 including App Controller, Virtual Machine Manager, Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, Service Manager, Orchestrator, Data Protection Manager and Azure Pack
• Windows Intune
• Windows Server 2012 R2 including Storage Spaces, Data Deduplication, Resilient File System, SMB Transparent Failover, Storage Quality of Service, Generation 2 Virtual Machines, Online VHDX Resize, Enhanced Session Mode, Live Migration, Failover Clustering, Cluster Shared Volumes, Scale-Out File Server, Shared Virtual Hard Disks, Hyper-V Extensible Switch, Remote Desktop Services, SMB Direct, SMB Multi-channel and NIC Teaming.

Main Link Download : Microsoft_Cloud_Ecosystem_Architecture.pdf – 263 KB

 

How-To : Install DNS Role in Windows Server 2012.

In this guide, Im going to show you how to install DNS in its own dedicated server. Ideally, you would want to install DNS with your Domain Controller on the same server and configure another secondary DNS server, or configure another secondary Domain Controller with secondary DNS for redundancy.

Notes before installing DNS:
– Make sure you have a static IP. You should not install DNS on a dynamic IP (you should have all your servers configured as static IPs anyways)
– Your preferred DNS should be the server itself, either 127.0.0.1 or whatever your server IP address is.
– In this guide, we will only talk about installing DNS, there will be another guide detailing how to configure a secondary DNS server in Windows Server 2012 .

Launch your Server Manager if it is not already up

On your Dashboard, click on “Add roles and features”

You will get the “Add Roles and Features Wizard”, click Next

Select “Role-based or feature-based installation”, click Next

In “Select destination server” screen, most likely you will only see one selection, which is the server you are on, if not, select the server you want to add the DNS role to and click Next

Check the “DNS Server” box

A smaller window will launch to confirm that there are other features that needs to be installed with your DNS role, click on “Add Features” then click Next

You do not have to select anything in the “Select features” screen, click Next

In the “DNS Server” screen you can read what DNS is and what it does, but we already know that, read the “Things to note:” part, once done, click Next

Here we just have a confirmation of what we are installing and what features, click Install

You will see the installation progress, once done, click Close

Once the installation is done, DNS should be installed, you will also notice a new “DNS” tile in your Start screen.

 

Windows Network Load Balance, Unicast or Multicast.

          WNLB (Windows Network Load Balance) is a clustering technology offered by Microsoft as part of all Windows 2000 /2003 /2008 /2012 Server family operating systems.
WNLB or NLB for short, is commonly used in small networks and some medium business companies.
It is very easy to be implemented, some clicks and you are ready to go.
Once you open WNLB you can right click on the root console and then connect to an existing cluster or simply create a new one.
If you need to connect to an existing cluster you can simply type the cluster IP and here you go, as long as you have the required permission.
If you want to create a new cluster, you can follow the wizard, its a straightforward process, just add the host IP address or name and write the Virtual IP (VIP) and  you are almost done.
While configuring the cluster, you will be presented with a simple innocent selection.

The Cluster Operation Mode, Unicast, Multicast or IGMP Multicast.

Which one to select?

          The answer is depend network topology, each one has its pros and cons, and at then end of this post you will be able to make the right decision (hopefully).

Unicast: Simply and easy way to implement WNLB, it work as the following:

               Each WNLB cluster node will replace its real MAC Address with a new MAC address which is generated by WNLB, because of this, WNLB cluster nodes will NOT be able to communicate with each other, as all of them have the same MAC address, so no packet (which is going to the other node) will not even leave the server ( as the destination MAC address is the same as the source MAC address).

               So in this case you will need to have two network interface for the cluster to work, one will be for the WNLB Cluster (you can make it the client facing interface) and another interface for the WNLB Nodes communication.

Even when you configure your WNLB to operate in Unicast Mode which have only 1 interface, you will get a warning message telling that this is not recommended.

One other problem you will face when your cluster is operating on unicast mode is,Switch Flooding.

To understand switch flooding you need to know how client and the cluster are communicating.

Lets say we got the following network

The Client Computer need to connect to a web service running the cluster.

The Client will send a ARP request asking for the MAC address for 10.6.0.168.

As the switch and the client don’t have the MAC address for this IP , the Switch will send (flood) the packet to all ports.

The Traffic reach one WNLB host, the Cluster Node will reply back using a MASKED MAC.

As you can see from the picture above, the MAC address is masked as MS-NLB-VirtServer_0.

In this case, the switch will never learn on which port is the MAC address for 10.6.0.168.

For every traffic passing for WNLB the switch will flood the traffic to all ports, Why?

 

Microsoft did this to ensure that all the traffic keep reaching all the cluster nodes, so the Switch will not assign a single interface for the NLB, thus preventing other nodes from sharing the load.

What is the impact?

A lot of unnecessary traffic reaching all other host on the switch and more processing for the switch and the hosts on the switch (As the hosts other than WNLB hosts on the switch will drop all the packet that are not sent to them).

How to Fix?

Use HUB insted of swtich, HUBs will always flood the traffic, or simply isolate the WNLB to a separate VLAN.

And the most advance solution, buy Load Balancer, they will offer a much better way to manage load balance

When to use Unicast?

Unicast is simple to implement, as other WNLB Operation mode may require some hardware configuration modification (or even hardware replacement).

What is the MAC Address for Unicast?

In Layer3: The MAC address for unicast NLB is 02-db-xx-xx-xx-xx, where xx-xx-xx-xx is the IP address of the host

In Layer 2: The MAC Address for Unicast NLB is 02-PP-xx-xx-xx-xx, where PP is the host priority and xx-xx-xx-xx is the host IP Address

Multicast

 

In multicast mode, NLB assigns a layer-2 multicast address to the cluster adapter instead of changing the adapter’s station address. Multicast allows inter-host communication because it adds a layer two multicast address to the cluster instead of changing it. This makes inter-host communication possible as the hosts retain their original unique MAC addresses and already have unique dedicated IP addresses. However, in multicast mode, the ARP reply sent out by a host in the cluster, in response to an ARP request, maps the clusters Unicast IP Address to its multicast MAC Address. Such a mapping in an ARP reply is rejected by some routers so administrators must add a static ARP entry in the router mapping the Cluster IP Address to its MAC Address.

Multicast is way more better for people using VMWare as VMWare recommend

Cons:

It does not work automatically on all network equiment (ex. Cisco)

Will require to add static ARP entry on the router to be able to connect with the cluster.

Pros:

No Switch flooding

No need for additional NIC on each host

What is the MAC Address for Multicast?

It will start with 03-bf-xx-xx-xx-xx

Recommendation ?

– The highest recommendation is to go for hardware load balance (Kemp – F5 …).

– Dont go for Unicast, stay with Multicast.

– I faced a very strange problem with RDP that keep disconnecting, once I changed the NLB to Multicast, everything went OK.