Top 10 things you don’t know about Windows Server 2008 R2

Let’s take a brief look at 10 of them you might not have heard much about:

1. Out of the box, Windows Server 2008 R2 uses less power on the same hardware than Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 – with no additional configuration. This isn’t a gimmick, but a proven 10% to 15% reduction on identical boxes, just with a different operating system.
2. Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5, included with Windows Server 2008 R2, supports .NET on Server Core installations. The big shortcoming in the original Server 2008 edition was the lack of support for running managed code on Server Core-based Web servers. This is now resolved.
3. Microsoft’s new BranchCache feature can speed up perceived access to files for users at branch offices while allowing you to save on data line and bandwidth costs. In this environment, your users might be clamoring for increased speeds on your data lines that you can’t afford. Caching in their branch will help increase productivity and remove user frustrations without bailing out a telco.
4. The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) has been enhanced in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7, allowing for far smoother media playback, multi-monitor support and more. It makes remoting into virtual machines a lot more palatable as the experience is barely distinguishable from using a real machine at your current location.
5. The Agile VPN feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 allows a virtual private network connection to generate multiple paths between discrete points in the VPN tunnel. If a problem occurs, the Agile VPN feature uses other network paths to maintain the tunnel without interruption.
6. You can use BitLocker on removable drives to eliminate easy information leakage. This isn’t just a Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2 feature either. If you protect a removable drive with BitLocker, the BitLocker to Go reader is also copied to the drive. This provides backward compatibility so that machines running Windows XP Service Pack 2 and higher can read the encrypted contents if the user enters the correct password.
7. Offline Files, a feature that helps mobile users maintain access to their network share files when disconnected, is now enabled on slow network connections. This reduces network traffic while not degrading the user experience too much.
8. IIS 7.5 now has a Best Practices Analyzer (BPA). Microsoft Exchange Server, Windows Small Business Serve, and other server products have had these BPAs for a while now. The BPA itself scans your environment and compares a number of different elements against known best-practice states, delivering the results in a very consumable format—an instant quick-check for your configuration.
9. Windows Server 2008 R2 also contains enhancements to PowerShell. Windows PowerShell 2.0, includes more than 240 new pre-built cmdlets along with a new graphical user interface with colored syntaxing, new production script debugging capabilities, and testing tools.
10. You don’t need new client access licenses, or CALs, specifically for Windows Server 2008 R2.  — Windows Server 2008 CALs are still valid.

Source: http://searchwindowsserver.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid68_gci1369268,00.html?track=NL-468&ad=728030&asrc=EM_NLT_9363437&uid=7796367

Troubleshoot Disks di Server Core

Pada saat kita menjalankan Virtual Machine di Hyper-V Server 2008 (Atau Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V dengan Server Core Enabled), kadangkala kita perlu melakukan troubleshoot di Host Server seperti converting, menambah disk baru, meningkatkan kapasitas  volume  disks, shrinking ataupun menghapus disks yang sudah ada. Dan semua itu harus dilakukan di Server Core  yang tentunya tidak mempunyai GUI.

 

1.       Disks Converting

Default di Windows Server 2008 adalah Basic Disk. Dan di Windows Server terdapat dua macam type disk yaitu Basic dan Dynamic.  Dynamic Disk diperkenalkan di Windows Server 2000. Dengan Dynamics Disk kita bisa melakukan  simple volumes, spanned volumes, striped volumes dan RAID-5 volumes.

Dengan command diskpart.exe kita bisa melakukan converting disk, contoh:

diskpart.exe
DISKPART> select disk 0
DISKPART> convert dynamic
DISKPART> exit

2.       Membuat Volumes Baru 

 

Masih mengunakan command diskpart.exe, kita dapat membuat volumes seperti:

Create volume simple ; Create volume stripe ; Create volume raid 

Contoh membuat RAID5 volumes dengan disks ID 1,2 dan 3:

diskpart.exe
DISKPART> create volume raid size=20483 disk=1,2,3
DISKPART> exit

3.       Membuat Partisi Baru 

 

Menggunakan diskpart.exe, kita dapat membuat partisi baru, seperti:

Create partition primary ; Create partition extended ; Create partition logical 

Contoh membuat primary partition di unused space menggunakan basic disks:

diskpart.exe
DISKPART> select disk 0
DISKPART> create partition primary size=3078

DISKPART> exit

 

4.       Shrinking 

 

Contoh melakukan shrinking disk di volume pertama dengan 3000 MBs:

diskpart.exe
DISKPART> select disk 0
DISKPART> select volume 1
DISKPART> shrink desired=3000
DISKPART> exit

5.       Extending 

 

Contoh melakukan extending  disk di volume pertama dengan menambah 3000 MBs mengunakan disk2:

diskpart.exe
DISKPART> select disk 0
DISKPART> select volume 1
DISKPART> extend size=3000 disk=2
DISKPART> exit

 

Command ini sering saya gunakan untuk menambah volumes disks dengan case study:

1.       Pada saat melakukan converting dari Physical Server ke Virtual Server,  kapasitas volume 0  adalah 15GB.

2.       Setelah selesai melakukan converting, di virtual server dilakukan extending volumes 0 menjadi 30GB.

 

6.       Deleting 

 

Contoh melakukan penghapusan  disk:

diskpart.exe
DISKPART> select disk 0
DISKPART> select volume 1
DISKPART> delete volume
DISKPART> exit

7.       Formating 

 

Contoh melakukan format disk dengan NTFS kemudian enable compress dan member label “Data” dan disk bisa diakses melalui drive F :

diskpart.exe
DISKPART> select disk 0
DISKPART> select volume 1
DISKPART> format fs=ntfs label=”Data” compress
DSKPART> assign letter=f
DISKPART> exit

8.       Checking Disk

Bisa dilakukan dengan command: chkdsk.exe D: /f   – Check drive D dan fix errors  

 

9.       Defragmenting Disk

 

Bisa dilakukan dengan command:defrag.exe -c  – Defrag semua volumes

 

Kesimpulan:

Gunakan command ? atau help, jika anda membutuhkan bantuan di Server Core. Menggunakan Server Core mengingatkan saya kembali ke jaman DOS. Ataukah Server Core = MS DOS 2008? J