William Stanek: On Windows Server 2008 R2
William here. I wrote the November 2009 cover story for TechNet Magazine to provide an advanced primer for Windows Server 2008 R2. Now Windows Server 2008 R2 is here in a big way and you can learn all about its key features in my new book Windows Server 2008 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant, Second Edition (updated for R2).
With this new book, I did things a bit differently than I’ve done in the past. For starters, I put my many months of experience working with R2 to work, with my many years of Windows Server experience behind it, to ensure I took as comprehensive a look as possible while still keeping the discussion clear and concise. What I found was that R2 had been tweaked in many more ways than most people realized, and I was one of the first to spell out exactly how so in my TechNet article.
While Windows Server 2008 shares the same core as Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 R2 shares the same core as Windows 7. This makes R2 a very different animal from R1, and I dug into as many of the changes as possible in the new edition of my book. Windows Server 2008 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant, Second Edition is meant to be used with Windows 7 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant. The former covers the server components and the latter covers the client and core components. Together, they bring you 1400 pages of clear, concise discussion.
What you may not realize is that Group Policy and Active Directory changed substantially for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. One of the biggest areas of change has to do with the introduction of Group Policy Preferences. Throughout Windows 7 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant, I discuss how you can put policy preferences to work. You’ll find more in depth discussion in Group Policy Administrator’s Pocket Consultant . I also wrote Active Directory Administrator’s Pocket Consultant . Both of these books cover Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 as well as earlier releases.
Thanks for reading! Hope my posts help you work better and smarter with Windows, Windows Server, and other Microsoft products.
William R. Stanek
williamstanek at aol dot com