Microsoft Launch Part 2

Well, the launch event was a week ago and I'm just getting to my notes now. Busy days!

The event started by letting the audience know about the software that all would get after the presentation. It included a 1 year Win2K8 server and virtual server license, Visual Studio 2008, trial software for Forefront and MS System Center. The surprise was that they also included a full version of Windows Vista Ultimate, bundled with SP1! Nice treat, along with a Microsoft lunch bag filled with a decent lunch.

The presentation focused first on the foundation technologies of Win2K8 Server. The installation is a straight-forward image-based process, requiring a brief initial configuration with network and domain settings. the system then goes through an update process , searching for patches before the server is deployed to production. Finally, the Server Manager screen will appear at the first logon.

Power Shell is a much talked about feature in Win2K8. Using both command line and scripting, the shell is downloadable for XP, Vista and Win2K3. The output of one command can now be the input for a second. The shell is actually creating an instance of a .NET object. Very useful.

Group Policy is now a separate service in Win2K8. There is now step-by-step logging for services for better troubleshooting. Group Policy now also include printer and drive mapping. Group Policy is taking on a DIY approach. While there are now thousands of options available to administrators, it is easier than ever to create custom policies.

Windows Remote Management was highlighted next, as a prelude to the introduction of Core Server Installation. Remote management is enhanced with support for http and https. This is also the basis for event log consolidation. I was glad when Win2K server updated the navigation within the event viewer. I'm hoping for even more functionality. The Windows Remote Shell was demonstrated, using the winrs command.

After the winrs demo, we got into server roles and installation options. One of the most interesting new wrinkles with Win2K8 server is that a server can be configured as a Full or Core server. A core installation removes the GUI desktop and assusmes that the system will be managed remotely. If logged on locally, the administrator only has a power shell command window at their disposal. By limiting the services and installed features, Microsoft seems to be moving more toward a specialized, appliance-type system.

One more note about the Event Viewer: It was mentioned that subscriptions can be created for events and servers. A view can be created to view subscribed events on Core servers. It is also possible to create custom, persistant views.

As far as networking, there are new features such as Windows autotuning and a new Windows filtering platform. These were not discussed in depth at the event. I'm interested in researching the approach. Receive-side scaling got about a minute of discussion. I'll need to read more. Also, there will be the ability to implement policy-based QOS on the Windows network. The Windows Firewall, which tends to be more of a hassle than anything else, will now have advanced IPSec features.

Clustering was brought up and new features include a new validation wizard that includes a test prior to roll-out. There are a lot of new technologies supported in clustering, such as IPv6, multi-site clustering (over a WAN link), stability, GUID partition disk support and what seems to be a more simple approach to migration.

There were some fine grained changes/updates to Active Directory. There are new pssword policies, a new backup and restore tool and an AD snapshot. the presenter seemed a bit hesitant to get too deep into this feature and the demo didn't go as planned.

Finally, IIS 7 was reviewed. The interface received a much needed update. I'd like to use it before levelling a decision.

That's it in a nutshell (power shell).