Windows Server 2012 Storage Spaces, Domain Controller, and 5 Tips to Get Started

The community is already sharing experiences with Windows Server 2012 and giving tips to help fellow IT pros get started. Let me give you a couple of examples of users who have reviewed Windows Server 2012. I hope these reviews will inspire you to write your own review of a Microsoft server product (Windows Server 2012, SQL Server 2012, System Center 2012, Windows Azure) and post it here. If you want help getting started, please just send me an email to karenfor@microsoft.com.

Windows Server 2012 Storage Spaces

Windows Server 2012 has hundreds of new game-changing features, but the storage capabilities are truly amazing. In his Petri IT Knowledgebase review (https://www.petri.co.il/storage-spaces-windows-server-2012.htm), "Is Storage Spaces the Killer Feature for Windows Server 2012," Michael Simmons writes, "Storage Spaces, the Windows Server 2012 storage subsystem, is worth a closer look." He goes on to review and explain Storage Spaces from his personal experience with it. He concludes, "Storage Spaces, which are actually virtual hard drive images, are able to be thinly provisioned, allowing you to provision more space than you actually have currently, and add more space as you need it. They also have redundancy options built into the hard drive, and are very easy to both add storage to and administer."

Windows Server 2012 as a Domain Controller"

As Michael Simmons notes in his second review (https://www.petri.co.il/windows-server-2012-as-domain-controller.htm), " Add Windows Server 2012 as a Domain Controller), "Windows Server 2012 provides advancements to every area of IT services, and that certainly includes Active Directory. Whether you're looking to take advantage of Dynamic Access Control, begin virtualizing your Active Directory infrastructure, or start using one of the other amazing features that Windows Server 2012 Active Directory offers, it all begins with getting a Windows Server 2012 added as a domain controller."

Michael goes on to not only explain how things work in the new OS, but he also gives step-by-step instructions. He concludes, "Though Windows Server 2012 removes the dcpromo that system engineers have been using since 2000, they have not removed the functionality. If a GUI is preferred by an active directory engineer, they may still have much of the look and feel provided through Server Manager. If a script or a command line interface is preferred, new cmdlets in PowerShell provide all of the flexibility of the GUI, with the added benefit or scalability and reusability."

5 Tips for Getting Started with Windows Server 2012

""I think Windows Server 2012 will fundamentally change the way IT Pros manage their Windows environments," begins Jeff Hicks in his review (https://www.petri.co.il/windows-server-2012-fixes.htm). He goes give tips on how to make getting started with Windows Server 2012 easy. Here's a great example of an IT pro helping colleagues by giving the benefit of his experience.

Jeff concludes, "As we gain experience with Windows Server 2012 I expect this list will change slightly and certainly grow. I’ll be adding more content on Server 2012, especially once it is finally released."

What Are Your Experiences?

Michael and Jeff posted their reviews on a community site. I hope their thoughts give you some ideas for writing your own reviews. What are you waiting for?