Networking with Windows Server 2008 R2

Installation and Configuration:Adding R2 to Your World
  1.System Requirements and Scalability 11
  2.Installation 14
  3.Configuration 16
  4.Windows Server Core 21
Windows Server 2008 R2 uses the same basic installation and configuration methods
as Windows Server 2008. The installer, originally introduced in Microsoft Windows
Vista, is an image-based install that is noticeably quicker than earlier versions of
Windows
Server. Configuration continues the role-based model introduced in Windows
Server 2008, now with a new ServerManager module for Windows PowerShell as an
option for adding and removing roles and features. This new capability is also available
on Server Core installations, a change from Windows Server 2008 where Windows
PowerShell
was not supported on Server Core.
Additionally, for Server Core, the command-line utility used to add and remove roles
has changed. In Windows Server 2008, the utility is Ocsetup.exe, but in Windows Server
2008 R2, it is Dism.exe.

Windows Server Core

      If you’re coming to Windows Server 2008 R2 from Microsoft Windows Server
2003, a brief explanation of Server Core is probably in order here. With the
release of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft added a new installation option
called Server Core. This installs a version of Windows Server that has a limited
subset of available roles and functionality, and no graphical interface, as shown
in Figure 2-1.


Installation and Configuration:

Adding R2 to Your World
Figure 2-1 The console interface of Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Core.
Server Core is not a separate edition of Windows Server 2008 R2, it is an installation
option that has a reduced footprint and reduced overhead, but still provides all
the underlying server functionality of the roles that are available on it. You can’t go
out and buy a copy of Windows Server Core. Instead, you buy whatever version of
Windows Server you need for your network, and when you install Windows Server,
you choose a Server Core installation, as shown in Figure 2-2.
Management of server roles can be done from the command line, or from remote
management tools running on other computers in the network.
So, why choose Server Core? After all, most Windows Server administrators are a
good deal more comfortable with the familiar Windows graphical interface than
they are with the command line, and even an experienced administrator can find
the single Cmd.exe window shown in Figure 2-1 a bit daunting. The two reasons we
find most compelling are the reduction in resource usage—a Server Core installation
is physically smaller and uses less RA M—and the improved security footprint—
because there are fewer services and features installed, there is a smaller attack
surface. This also has the added benefit of requiring fewer security-related updates
and potentially fewer server restarts.




   Figure 2-2 Server Core is an installation option, not a separate product

System Requirements and Scalability
 
     The system requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2 are essentially the same as for Windows
Server 2008, with one very important exception: There is no 32-bit version of Windows
Server 2008 R2. There are only 64-bit versions. The minimum system requirements.

Minimum System Requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2
Component Requirement
Processor
Minimum: 1.4 GHz x64 processor
Note: An Intel Itanium 2 processor is required for Windows Server 2008 for
Itanium-Based Systems
Memory
Minimum: 512 MB RAM (384 MB for Server Core installation)
Maximum: 8 GB (Foundation) or 32 GB (Standard) or 2 TB (Enterprise,
Datacenter, and Itanium-Based Systems)
Disk Space
Requirements
Minimum: 32 GB or greater (3.5 GB for Server Core installation)
Foundation: 10 GB or greater
Note: Computers with more than 16 GB of RAM will require more disk
space for paging and dump files
Display Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution monitor
Other Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device.

Installation and Configuration:

Adding R2 to Your World
Processors and Memory
The Windows Server 2008 R2 editions support the same number of physical processors and
RAM as Windows Server 2008 did, up to 64 processor sockets, and up to 2 terabytes (TB)
of RAM, for Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter and Itanium versions. Table 2-2 shows the
breakdown by edition.
 Windows Server 2008 R2 Memory and Processors by Edition
edition ma ximum # of CPUs ma ximum RAM
Web 4 32 GB
Standard 4 32 GB
Enterprise 8 2 TB
Datacenter 64 2 TB
Itanium 64 2 TB
Foundation 1 8 GB
Microsoft counts processor sockets, not logical processors, for most licensing purposes
and for the consideration of maximum number supported. The exception to this is the
Hyper-
V role of Windows Server 2008 R2, which supports a maximum of 64 logical processors
for a single physical server.

Second Level Address Translation

Windows Server 2008 R2 adds support for the enhanced memory management
capabilities of the newest Intel and AMD processors. AMD calls this
Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI) and Intel calls it Enhanced Page Tables. In both
cases, it allows the Hyper-V hypervisor to manage memory, especially of largememory
virtual machines (VMs), more effectively and with less overhead in the
parent partition. Second Level Address Translation (SLAT ) works by providing two
levels of address translation. The additional page table is used to translate guest
“physical” addresses to system physical addresses. Guest operating systems can
now be allowed to directly manage their own page tables, without the need for the
hypervisor to intercept those calls, reducing the overhead required for the Hyper-V
parent to maintain shadow page tables in software.
System Requirements and Scalability
Power Consumption

     Power consumption, and the carbon footprint it generates, is an ever increasing concern for
most information technology (IT) managers these days. The cost of the power itself, along
with the resulting cost of cooling to remove the excess heat generated, adds significantly to
the overall cost of running a datacenter. Modern server processors have helped improve this
by using less actual power per CPU, but this has been offset to some extent by the increasing
need for more RAM and more CPUs. Windows Server 2008 R2 helps manage the overall
power consumption of datacenters in several ways, including the following:
    1. Server consolidation Windows Server 2008 R2 supports more logical processors
per physical Hyper-V host, giving you the ability to consolidate more workloads onto
fewer physical servers.
   2. Core parking Windows Server 2008 R2 is able to take advantage of the ability of
modern processors to dynamically enable and disable processor cores. When Windows
Server recognizes that processors are being underutilized, it turns off or parks processor
cores that aren’t needed, reducing power consumption. When processor demand
increases, Windows Server 2008 R2 reenables cores as necessary to maintain system
performance.
   3. Group Policy management of P-states Windows Server 2008 R2 utilizes Group
Policy to change the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) power-performance
states (P-states) of the processors to manage the speed and power consumption
of the processors.
  4. Storage consolidation Windows Server 2008 R2 is able to better utilize storage
area networks (SANs), including booting directly from an SAN, allowing you to centralize
and consolidate storage more effectively.
Clustering
Windows Server 2008 R2 adds a new Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) feature to failover clustering
to enable live migration of VMs. CSV volumes enable multiple nodes in the same failover
cluster to concurrently access the same logical unit number (LUN). By storing the VHD files for
a virtual machine on the CSV, migration of a VM happens without interruption of service. Also
new in failover clustering is improved connectivity fault tolerance, and an enhanced cluster
validation tool. More on clustering is discussed in Chapter 3, “Hyper-V: Scaling and Migrating
Virtual Machines,” when we talk about Hyper-V.

Scalability

     A key design goal was to provide higher performance for Windows Server 2008 R2 on similar
hardware. Windows Server 2008 R2 features that improve performance and scalability for
applications and services include the following:
14 CHAPTER 2 Installation and Configuration:
Adding R2 to Your World
   1. Support for larger workloads by adding more servers to a workload (scaling out)
   2. Support for larger workloads by utilizing or increasing system resources (scaling up)
Increased Workload Support by Scaling Out
The Network Load Balancing (NLB) feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 allows you to combine
two or more computers into a cluster. You can use NLB to distribute workloads across the
cluster nodes to support a larger number of simultaneous users. NLB feature improvements in
Windows Server 2008 R2 include the following:
    3. Improved support for applications and services that require persistent connections
using the new IP Stickiness feature in NLB clusters
    4. Improved health monitoring and awareness for applications and services running on
NLB clusters
Installation
Installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 uses the same general steps as Windows Server 2008,
with the exception that you won’t be prompted for a license key during the installation,
as you are with some distributions of Windows Server 2008. We do not cover the detailed
step-by-step of Windows Server installation here—that’s adequately covered in many places,
including http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd540768(WS.10).aspx.
We focus in this section on the various upgrade scenarios and what is and isn’t supported.
The general rule is that upgrades of the same architecture, language, edition, and platform
from Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Server 2003 R2, and Windows Server 2008 are
supported. Upgrades from beta builds of Windows Server 2008 R2 are not supported, and
upgrades from versions of Windows Server prior to Windows Server 2003 SP2 are not supported.
If you are running a 32-bit version of Windows Server, even if the underlying hardware is
64-bit, there is no upgrade available.
The specific supported upgrade scenarios are shown in Table 2-3.
Tab le 2-3 Supported Upgrade Scenarios for Windows Server 2008 R2
source Version
supported Tar get Version of Windows
Server 2008 R2
FROM Windows Server 2003 (SP2, R2)
Datacenter Datacenter
Enterprise Enterprise, Datacenter
Standard Standard, Enterprise
Installation CHAPTER 2 15
From Windows Server 2008
Datacenter Datacenter
Datacenter Core Datacenter Core
Enterprise Enterprise, Datacenter
Enterprise Core Enterprise Core, Datacenter Core
Foundation (SP2 only) Standard
Standard Standard, Enterprise
Standard Core Standard Core, Enterprise Core
Web Standard, Web
Web Core Standard Core, Web Core
There are a couple of omissions in the upgrade paths that are worth pointing out. There is
no upgrade path for Itanium versions of Windows Server—the expectation is that a full, clean
install will be performed. There is also no way to upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation.
If you have Windows Server 2008 Foundation, which shipped at the SP2 level, you can
upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard only.
Also, Microsoft does support upgrades from both the Release Candidate (RC) and Interim
Development Server (IDS) builds of Windows Server 2008.
Even where it is technically possible and supported to upgrade, in our experience it’s
always worth considering a clean installation. This is especially true if the server being
upgraded has already gone through one or more upgrades to get to its current level.
Schema Updates
Joining a computer running Windows Server 2008 R2 to an existing Active Directory domain
doesn’t require an update to the Active Directory schema. However, before you can make a
computer running Windows Server 2008 R2 a domain controller, you do need to prepare the
forest and the domain that will have an R2 domain controller. To prepare the forest, follow
these steps:
1. Log on to the domain controller that holds the Schema Master flexible single master
operations (FSMO) role with an account that is a member of the Schema Admins
group.
2. Copy the contents of the \Support\Adprep folder on the Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD
to a local folder.
3. Open a command prompt as administrator and change to the directory where you
copied the files.
4. Run the following command:
Adprep /forestprep
16 CHAPTER 2 Installation and Configuration:
Adding R2 to Your World
5. Allow the changes to replicate before preparing the domain.
If you’re installing Windows Server 2008 R2 into an existing forest, but a new domain, you
don’t need to do anything else, but if you’re installing into an existing domain, you’ll need to
prepare that domain using the following steps:
1. Log on to the domain controller that holds the Infrastructure Master FSMO role with
an account that is a member of the Domain Admins group.
2. Copy the contents of the \Support\Adprep folder on the Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD
to a local folder.
3. Open a command prompt as administrator and change to the directory where you
copied the files.
4. Run the following command:
Adprep /domainprep /gpprep
5. Allow the changes to replicate before installing the new Windows Server 2008 R2
domain controller.
More Info See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731728(WS.10).aspx for
more information on Adprep.exe.
Installation Process
The installer for Windows Server 2008 R2 is the same installer that was introduced with
Windows
Vista. Before you start the installation on x64 systems, however, you need to verify
that you have digitally signed drivers for any hardware that will be used on the server. Starting
with Windows Server 2008, all drivers for x64 versions of Windows Server must be digitally
signed or they will not load during the boot process. This can cause the server to fail to boot,
or to have hardware unavailable, so it’s a good idea to make sure you have all the drivers you
need before you start.
Windows Server 2008 R2 doesn’t require a license key to install, but you will need to
provide one within 60 days to continue to use the software. As you can see in Figure 2-2, you
must choose the edition of R2 you want to install. This choice must match the license key you
use to activate the software or activation will fail.
Configuration
The final step of the Windows Server 2008 R2 installation is setting the password on the
Administrator account, as shown in Figure 2-3.
Configuration CHAPTER 2 17
Figure 2-3 Setting the initial Administrator password.
The default password policy for Windows Server 2008 R2 is to require a minimum of six
characters, with at least three of the four categories of characters: lowercase, uppercase, numbers,
and nonalphanumeric characters. Passwords expire in 42 days, by default. Once a server
is joined to a domain, the policies of the domain will apply for domain accounts, but the local
security policy will still apply for local accounts, as shown in Figure 2-4.
Once the password is set, you’ll see the Initial Configuration Tasks Wizard, as shown in
Figure 2-5. This wizard is also known as the Out of Box Experience (OOBE) and is similar to the
one from Windows Server 2008, with the addition of the Activate Windows option. The OOBE
is a useful wizard for the initial configuration of a server, providing easy access on a single
page to most of the tasks you need to get your server up and running.
18 CHAPTER 2 Installation and Configuration:
Adding R2 to Your World
Figure 2-4 The Local Security Policy controls password policies for local accounts.
Figure 2-5 The Initial Configuration Tasks Wizard, or OOBE.
Configuration CHAPTER 2 19
Role-Based Configuration
If you’re familiar with Windows Server 2008, you’ll already have a good start on the rolebased
configuration that is used in Windows Server 2008 R2, but if you’re new to Windows
Server 2008, then a quick overview should help. Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server
2008 R2 both use role-based configuration. All the features and roles that are available to the
server are physically installed on the server’s hard drive, as part of the image-based install.
You don’t ever have to worry about finding the right DVD for your server if there’s an update
or you need to add a new feature or role because all the necessary files are already on the
hard drive.
When you want to enable specific functionality on the server, you add the role, role service,
or feature that includes that functionality. This is an important change that ensures that each
role gets only the services and features enabled that are required by the role and no others,
limiting the overall attack surface of the server. Enabling the role also configures the Windows
Firewall for that role, enabling the role or feature to work without opening up unnecessary
ports that could create an unintended security risk.
There are 17 possible roles and 42 different features that can be enabled on Windows
Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition.

Server Manager

The primary graphical interface for server management in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the
Server Manager console, shown in Figure 2-6.
Figure 2-6 The Server Manager console.
20 CHAPTER 2 Installation and Configuration:
Adding R2 to Your World
The Server Manager console includes integrated management consoles for the roles and
features that are enabled on the server. New in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the ability to
run the Server Manager remotely without having to open a Remote Desktop session to the
remote server.
Also new in the R2 version of Server Manager are Best Practice Analyzers (BPAs) that are
directly integrated into the Server Manager for those roles that have them.