KNOW THE FEATURES OF WINDOWS SERVER 2012 R2

Transcription

1 E-Guide KNOW THE FEATURES OF WINDOWS SERVER 2012 R2 SearchWindows Server

2 T hinking of upgrading to Windows Server 2012 R2? In this eguide learn about five new features. From managing the cloud faster to the healing power of Desired State Configuration, get the most out of your new operating system. PAGE 2 OF 8

3 FIVE SUPERPOWERED WINDOWS SERVER 2012 R2 FEATURES WINDOWS SERVER 2012 R2 BRINGS HYBRID CLOUD TO THE FOREFRONT The latest and greatest Windows Server operating system is Windows Server 2012 R2. Microsoft s data center product is meant to help businesses of all sizes create applications and manage domains with a number of high-performance features. R2 offers Storage Spaces tiering, VHDX resizing and deduplication to deliver high performance. And it acts as a bridge, with crosscloud management capabilities for storage. But even the increased power of R2 isn t enough to make a data center cloud-based and mobile-ready. R2 has a posse of sidekicks, ranging from paid products to free add-ons ready to deliver on a number of management features you can t get from the vanilla installation. PAGE 3 OF 8

4 SYSTEM CENTER 2012 R2 GIVES WINDOWS SERVER SUPERPOWERS If R2 is an unstoppable force individually, the dynamic duo of R2 and System Center 2012 R2 brings an unmatched band of management tools to the enterprise. As the successor to System Center 2012, the R2 release features enterprise hybrid clouds that incorporate software-defined networking, or SDN, storage enhancements and virtual machine (VM) portability. The management suite features a server manager that gives an overhead view of an entire data center s server infrastructure. The suite includes System Center Operations Manager, System Center Configuration Manager, System Center Endpoint Protection Manager (now integrated into Configuration Manager), System Center Virtual Machine Manager, System Center Data Protection Manager, System Center Orchestrator, System Center App Controller, System Center Service Manager and System Center Advisor. Find out about the licensing plans, and get an overview of what s new in the product. PAGE 4 OF 8

5 TRANSFORM FROM VMWARE TO HYPER-V: MICROSOFT VIRTUAL MACHINE CONVERTER Hyper-V improvements in R2 include high-availability, Live Migration and more. But what happens when you have a number of VMware virtual machines (VMs) lying around? Admins can manage them, but Microsoft has another weapon up its sleeve -- a transformer. Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter (MVMC) can accept VMware VMs and virtual disks and convert them into Hyper-V VMs and virtual disks. The VM Conversion tool transforms VMware-hosted VMs, ensures the whole configuration migrates over from the initial source and adds virtual network interface cards to the VM deployed on Hyper-V. MVMC also has a command-line interface that can be invoked with Power- Shell and integrates well with automation workflows in a data center. Hyper-V also supports Linux VMs, including Red Hat and other popular Linux distributions. Here s what to do with a Red Hat Linux VM in Hyper-V. BEHOLD THE HEALING POWER OF DESIRED STATE CONFIGURATION When R2 gets hurt -- because of a rogue process or virus that messes up the configuration -- a PowerShell tool can act as the healer. PAGE 5 OF 8

6 Microsoft Windows PowerShell DSC (Desired State Configuration) will roll back to a previous known state if an outage occurs. This feature provides a set of PowerShell language extensions, cmdlets and a process known as declarative scripting. The idea behind Desired State Configuration is to provide administrators with a method for maintaining consistent configuration sets across computers or devices. Admins can write an expression about system configuration, and the system will ensure that the proper state is maintained. WINDOWS AZURE PACK MANAGES CLOUD FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET The Windows Azure Pack (WAP) is R2 in disguise. If admins are running a hybrid server deployment, WAP is a simple cloud interface that takes on the look of the Azure Web management portal cloud that users know and love. WAP is a free available download of grouped Windows Azure technologies for use in an enterprise data center and its applications. It runs on top of Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 and R2, and allows administrators to deliver new infrastructure offerings. WAP offers an Azure graphical user interface running on an on-premises server. The WAP can add a number of cloud-ready features to the data center, PAGE 6 OF 8

7 including management portals for administrators and tenants, virtual machines, websites, and service bus clouds. It also offers SQL and MySQL, integrating and automating services into a service framework. MANAGE IDENTITY IN THE CLOUD WITH AZURE ACTIVE DIRECTORY Another Windows Server sidekick that exists in the cloud and acts as a defend- Microsoft-Azure Active Directory. Azure Active Directory is a cloud service that enables administrators to manage end user identities and access privileges. The Azure service allows identity management preferences to be replicated from on-premises servers to Microsoft Azure. Beyond the free Azure Active Directory, Active Directory Premium provides additional features including user self-service password reset, groupbased application access, additional security reports and a corporate branding option. Azure Active Directory can help admins migrate away from an on-premises Exchange deployment to Office 365. In fact, Office 365 was the test bed for Azure Active Directory before it had a wider release. PAGE 7 OF 8

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