Lesson 1
Server Overview

Objective Domain Matrix

Key Terms

• BIOS
• clean installation
• disk cloning
• drives
• firmware
• motherboard
• network connections
• Nano Server
• ports
• power supply
• processor
• RAM
• server
• Server Core
• server features
• server role
• system preparation tool
• unattended installation
• upgrade installation
• virtual server
• Windows Activation
• Windows Deployment Services (WDS)
• Windows Updates

Lesson 1 Case

You just got hired at the Acme Corporation. They have several Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 Servers and a Windows Server 2016 Server. While talking to your management team, you determine that you need to upgrade all of the servers to Windows Server 2016 and you need to create a web farm consisting of 3 new web servers and a single backend SQL server, also running Windows Server 2016. Therefore, you need to figure out the best way to get to your goal.

Understanding What a Server Does

With today's computers, any computer on the network can provide services or request services depending on how the network is set up. A is a computer that is a meant to be a dedicated service provider, and a client is a computer that requests services. A network that is made up of dedicated servers and clients is known as a client/server network. A server-based network is the best network for sharing resources and data, while providing centralized network security for those resources and data. Networks with Windows Server 2016 are usually client/server networks.

If you have been using Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, or Windows 10 for a significant amount of time, you should realize that your computer is providing services and requesting services (although it most likely requesting services more than it is providing services). When you access a web page over the Internet, access your email, access a data file on another computer, or access a printer that is connected to the network, you are requesting services. While Windows servers are designed to provide a wide range of network services, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 10 can provide printer and file sharing and web pages (although you are limited by the number of concurrent connections especially when compared to Windows servers and are not optimized for multi-user access). Therefore, while these versions of Windows are designed as clients, they can also provide services.

While computers with Windows Server 2016 are designed to provide services, they can also request services from other computers. For example, they can access a web server locally or over the Internet, access a software repository, or print to a network printer.

When determining the hardware and software needs, you need to look at the role that the computer needs to fill and the load the computer will be placed under. You can then start researching the hardware (including the number of computers, number of processors, amount of RAM, and amount of disk storage) and software requirements to reach those goals. You also need to look at disaster recovery including looking at the steps you will need to take if a server fails and you lose data.

Don't forget to plan your server for growth. Most servers should be designed for 3-5 years of service. So make sure you look at what your landscape may look at 3-5 years from deployment of the server. This will help you avoid purchasing and reinstalling the server several months later. It should also be noted that the bare basic of a server leaves little room for growth.

Introducing Server Roles

Before selecting the hardware and software components of a server, you must first understand what your server is supposed to do. The first step is to identify the server roles and network services that the server will need to provide. You also need to look at how many people will be accessing the server at once to help determine the load the server needs to fulfill.

Certification Ready?

Can you list and describe the basic server roles? 2.1

A is a primary duty that a server performs. You should note that a server could have multiple roles. Some of the more common server roles include:

• File services
• Print services
• Web services
• Remote access
• Application servers
• Email server
• Database server

A file server allows you to centrally locate files to be accessed by multiple people. Since the files are centrally located, it makes it easier for multiple users to access and find files (assuming they are organized well) and it is easier to back up these files since they are located in a single place. When using Microsoft Windows to provide file sharing, you will usually be using Server Message Block (SMB) to access Microsoft Shares or shared folders. Windows Servers can also provide NFS shares for Unix/Linux users.

Print services allow multiple users to access a centrally located printer. This allows you share an expensive printer that is fast or is a heavy-duty printer or supports advanced options such as color. Printers can be accessed as a network printer that is connected directly to the network or through a Microsoft Windows server (again using SMB).

Since the Internet has become more prevalent in today's business application, so has the use of web services. A web server will provide web services so that users can access web pages using their browser. These web services may be used to do research, provide leads for sales, allow customers to purchase goods and services, and provide customer support over the Internet. It can also be used to provide an easy method to access databases, run reports, track sales leads, provide customer support, and even help you with payroll and human resources. Since you are using your standard browser such as Internet Explorer, you will be using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or HTTP Secure (HTTPS) protocols. Microsoft provides web services using Internet Information Services (IIS).

Remote access is a service that supports multiple inbound requests to connect to the server or network. It can provide terminal services so that multiple users can log on to a server remotely and access a desktop, start menu, and programs much like if they were sitting in front of the server. On the other hand, remote access can also provide network access over the Internet using a virtual private network (VPN), which allows a user to be at home yet have full access to their internal network resources such as email and data files.

Lastly, the application server role provides an integrated environment for deploying and running server-based business applications. In other words, the server will provide a network application. Different from accessing a file from a shared folder and your PC doing all of the work, the server will also do some of the processing.

When talking about server and server applications, you may hear the terms front end and back end. In client/server applications, the client part of the program is often called the front end, and the server part is called the back end. The front end is the interface that is provided to a user or another program. It may be accessed via a web page or a customized application that runs on the client PC. The back end will often contain a database that is used to store, organize, query and retrieve data.

One commonly used application server that is essential for most corporations is the mail server. The mail server is a server that stores and manages electronic messages (email) among users. If you are using Microsoft email products, you will be using Microsoft Exchange to act as your mail servers, and you would most likely access the email using Microsoft Outlook or a web browser.

Another example of an application server is if you have a sales tracking application or inventory control applications. You would access this type of server on your company network by using a customized program or using your browser. You will then request information or input some data, which will then be retrieved from or sent to the backend server running a database such as Microsoft SQL server.

When Windows Server 2016 is installed, an administrator has a very important decision to make. They need to decide which roles and features will be installed on the new server. Many administrators do not properly utilize their servers; they may overuse or underutilize them. Domain controllers...