RTM’d today: Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012
NOTE: This book has been updated for R2, You can buy it here from The Microsoft Press Store.
We’re happy to announce that Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 (ISBN 9780735673106) has shipped to the printer! This book—Microsoft Press’s first offering in the newly-created Training Guide series—will be available at retail stores by the end of the month.
If you’re an IT professional with a few years’ experience administering previous versions of Windows Server and you need to upgrade your skills to support Windows Server 2012 in your workplace, this is the book for you. It provides detailed technical information as well as practice exercises to help you prepare for deploying, managing, and maintaining servers running Windows Server 2012. This book alsoincludesmost of the topics and skillscovered in the Microsoft certification exam 70-410, so this Training Guide could also serve as a supplement to your exam preparation.
In today’s post we share the Contents at a Glance and an excerpt from the Introduction.
Contents at a glance
CHAPTER 1 Preparing for Windows Server 2012
CHAPTER 2 Deploying servers
CHAPTER 3 Server remote management
CHAPTER 4 Deploying domain controllers
CHAPTER 5 Active Directory administration
CHAPTER 6 Network administration
CHAPTER 7 Hyper-V virtualization
CHAPTER 8 File services and storage
CHAPTER 9 Print and document services
CHAPTER 10 Implementing Group Policy
CHAPTER 11 Configuring Windows Firewall and IPsec
Introduction (excerpt)
This training guide is intended for information technology (IT) professionals who need to upgrade their skills to support Windows Server 2012 in their workplace. The primary focus of the book is on job-role training for system administrators and IT support staff in midsize to large environments. The book contains detailed technical information and hands-on practice exercises to help you prepare for deploying, managing, and maintaining servers running Windows Server 2012. The book assumes that you have at least three years of experience administering previous versions of Windows Server, including experience with operating systems deployment, Active Directory administration, server virtualization using Hyper-V, network and storage management, file and print services, and Group Policy.
Because automation is such an essential skill for administrators who manage the modern, virtualized datacenter, much of this book focuses on learning how to administer server roles and features using Windows PowerShell. While it will be helpful if you have at least rudimentary knowledge of using Windows PowerShell to manage earlier versions of Windows Server, readers who have no prior familiarity with Windows PowerShell should still be able to learn and perform most of the exercises in this book.
This book covers some of the topics and skills that are the subject of the Microsoft certification exam 70-410. If you are using this book to complement your study materials, you might find this information useful. Note that this book is designed to help you in the job role; it might not cover all exam topics. If you are preparing for the exam, you should use additional study materials to help bolster your real-world experience. For your reference, a mapping of the topics in this book to the exam objectives is included in the back of the book.
By using this training guide, you will learn how to do the following:
■ Assess the hardware and software in your current environment to plan for a migration to Windows Server 2012.
■ Build customized reference images of Windows Server 2012, and deploy them using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.
■ Perform remote server management and role installation using Server Manager and Windows PowerShell.
■ Deploy domain controllers using Server Manager and Windows PowerShell.
■ Administer Active Directory and enable advanced Active Directory features using the Active Directory Administrative Center and Windows PowerShell.
■ Ensure DHCP availability, implement DNSSEC, configure IPv4/IPv6 interoperability, and perform network administration tasks using Windows PowerShell.
■ Deploy, configure, and manage Hyper-V hosts and virtual machines using Hyper-V Manager and Windows PowerShell.
■ Deploy Storage Spaces and provision and manage shared storage, including iSCSI storage, using Server Manager and Windows PowerShell.
■ Deploy and manage print servers using the Print Management console and Windows PowerShell.
■ Plan, configure, and manage Group Policy policies and preferences using the Group Policy Management console and Windows PowerShell.
■ Configure Windows Firewall with Advanced Security and implement IPsec connection security.
System requirements
The following are the minimum system requirements your computer needs to meet to complete the practice exercises in this book. To minimize the time and expense of configuring physical computers for this training guide, it’s recommended that you use Hyper-V, which is a feature of Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012. Note, however, that
■ The exercises in Chapter 1 recommend using a physical server instead of a virtual environment.
■ The exercises in Chapters 7 and 8 require using a physical server instead of a virtual environment.
Hardware requirements
This section presents the hardware requirements for Hyper-V, the hardware requirements if you are not using virtualization software, and the software requirements.
Virtualization hardware requirements
If you choose to use virtualization software, you need only one physical computer to perform the exercises in this book. That physical host computer must meet the following minimum hardware requirements:
■ x64-based processor that includes both hardware-assisted virtualization (AMD-V or Intel VT) and hardware data execution protection (DEP). On AMD systems, the data execution protection feature is called the No Execute or NX bit. On Intel systems, this feature is called the Execute Disable or XD bit. These features must also be enabled in the BIOS.
■ 8 GB or more RAM
■ 500 GB or more available hard disk space
■ Integrated 1-GbE networking
■ Integrated SVGA (800 x 600) or higher video
■ DVD-ROM drive
■ Internet connectivity
Physical hardware requirements
If you choose to use physical computers instead of virtualization software, use the following list to meet the minimum hardware requirements of the practice exercises in this book:
■ Two servers, each with a 1.4-GHz or faster processor, 2 GB or more RAM, 500 GB or more available hard disk space, integrated 1-GbE networking, integrated SVGA (800 x 600) or higher video, and a DVD-ROM drive. At least one of these servers must:
■ Include hardware-assisted virtualization (AMD-V or Intel VT) and hardware data execution protection (DEP). On AMD systems, the data execution protection feature is called the No Execute or NX bit. On Intel systems, this feature is called the Execute Disable or XD bit. These features must also be enabled in the BIOS.
■ Have dual 1-GbE networking.
■ Have at least two additional physical disks (either internally or externally connected) of a type supported by the Storage Spaces feature (for example, SAS or SATA disks).
■ One workstation with a 1-GHz or faster processor, 2 GB or more RAM, a 250 GB or greater hard disk drive, a network card, a video card, and a DVD-ROM drive.
■ All three computers must be physically connected to each other and to the Internet through a Network Address Translation (NAT) router or gateway device.
■ The test network that includes these computers should be isolated from your production network. (For example, your test network cannot already include a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol [DHCP] server that automatically assigns
addresses to computers.)
Software requirements
The following software is required to complete the practice exercises:
■ Windows Server 2012. You can download an evaluation edition of Windows Server 2012 from the TechNet Evaluation Center at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx.
■ Windows 8 Enterprise. You can download an evaluation edition of Windows 8 Enterprise from the TechNet Evaluation Center at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/hh699156.aspx.
■ Windows Server 2008 R2. You can download an evaluation edition of Windows Server 2008 R2 from the TechNet Evaluation Center at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/ee175713.aspx.
■ The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 7.0 (MAP 7.0). You can download MAP 7.0 from the Microsoft Download Center at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?&id=7826.
■ The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 8. You can download the ADK for Windows 8 from the Microsoft Download Center at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30652.
■ The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 Update 1. You can download MDT 2012 Update 1 from the Microsoft Download Center at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=25175.
■ Microsoft Office 2010. You can download an evaluation edition of Office Professional Plus 2010 from the TechNet Evaluation Center at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/ee390818.aspx.
■ If you are not using virtualization software, you need software that allows you to handle .iso files. This software needs to perform either of the following functions:
■ Burn .iso files to CDs or DVDs. (This solution also requires CD/DVD recording hardware.)
■ Mount .iso files as virtual CD or DVD drives on your computer.