As networks grow, so does the number of administrative tasks there are to perform on a regular basis, and so does the IT staff that is needed to perform them. Delegating adminis- trative tasks to specific individuals is a natural part of enterprise server management, as is assigning those individuals the permissions they need—and only the permissions they need— to perform those tasks.
NOTE DELEGATING PRIVILEGES
For information on delegating printer privileges, see Objective 2.2, “Configure Print and Document Services.” For information on delegating administrative control via Active Directory, see Objective 5.3, “Create and Manage Active Directory Groups and Organiza- tional Units.”
On smaller networks with small IT staffs, it is not uncommon for task delegation to be informal, and for everyone in the IT department to have full access to the entire network. However, on larger networks with larger IT staffs, this becomes increasingly impractical. For example, you might want the newly hired junior IT staffers to be able to create new user accounts but not to redesign your Active Directory tree or change the CEO’s password.
Delegation is the practice by which administrators grant other users a subset of the privi- leges that they possess. As such, delegation is as much a matter of restricting permissions as of granting them. You want to provide individuals with the privileges they need while protect- ing sensitive information and delicate infrastructure.
Thought experiment
In this thought experiment, apply what you’ve learned about this objective. You can find answers to these questions in the “Answers” section at the end of this chapter. Deepak is an IT technician who has been assigned the task of configuring a new server running Windows Server 2012 Server Core, called ServerA, which is to be shipped out to the company’s branch office. The server must be configured to func- tion as a file server with support for the Distributed File System (DFS), a print server with support for Internet and UNIX printing, and a secured, intranet web/FTP server for domain users.
With this in mind, answer the following questions:
1. What Windows PowerShell command should Deepak use to install the required roles on the servers?
2. What Windows PowerShell command can Deepak use to obtain the short names for the roles used by Windows PowerShell?
3. List the commands that Deepak must run on the new server to install the required modules.
Objective summary
■ The new Server Manager is designed to enable administrators to fully manage
Windows servers without ever having to interact directly with the server console, either physically or remotely.
■ There are some tasks that administrators might have to perform immediately after the
operating system installation that require direct access to the server console.
■ If you selected the Server Core option when installing Windows Server 2012, you can
perform postinstallation tasks from the command line.
■ In Windows Server 2012, the Properties tile in Server Manager provides the same func-
tionality as the Initial Configuration Tasks window in previous versions.
■ In Windows Server 2012, you can convert a computer installed with the full GUI option
to Server Core and add the full GUI to a Server Core computer.
■ NIC teaming is a new feature in Windows Server 2012 that enables administrators to
combine the bandwidth of multiple network interface adapters, providing increased performance and fault tolerance.
Objective 1.2: Configure servers CHAPTER 1 39 ■ For administrators of enterprise networks, it might be necessary to add a large number
of servers to Server Manager. To avoid having to work with a long scrolling list of serv- ers, you can create server groups based on server locations, functions, or any other organizational paradigm.
■ In addition to installing roles and features to servers on the network, Server Manager
enables administrators to install them to VMs that are currently in an offline state.
Objective review
Answer the following questions to test your knowledge of the information in this objective. You can find the answers to these questions and explanations of why each answer choice is correct or incorrect in the “Answers” section at the end of this chapter.
1. Which features must you remove from a full GUI installation of Windows Server 2012 to convert it to a Server Core installation? (Choose all that apply.)
A. Windows Management Instrumentation
B. Graphical Management Tools and Infrastructure
C. Desktop Experience
D. Server Graphical Shell
2. Which of the following NIC teaming modes provides fault tolerance and bandwidth aggregation?
A. Hyper-V live migration
B. Switch Independent Mode
C. Switch Dependent Mode
D. Link Aggregation Control Protocol
3. Which of the following command-line tools do you use to join a computer to a domain?
A. Net.exe
B. Netsh.exe
C. Netdom.exe
D. Ipconfig.exe
4. Which of the following statements about Server Manager is not true?
A. Server Manager can deploy roles to multiple servers at the same time.
B. Server Manager can deploy roles to VHDs while they are offline.
C. Server Manager can install roles and features at the same time.
D. Server Manager can install roles and features to any Windows Server 2012 server on the network.
5. Which of the following operations can you not perform on a service by using Server Manager? (Choose all that apply.)
A. Stop a running service
B. Start a stopped service
C. Disable a service
D. Configure a service to start when the computer starts
Objective 1.3: Configure local storage
Although Windows Server 2012 is designed to take advantage of remote storage and cloud computing, the configuration of local storage remains an important consideration.
This objective covers how to:
■ Design storage spaces
■ Configure basic and dynamic disks ■ Configure MBR and GPT disks ■ Manage volumes
■ Create and mount VHDs
■ Configure storage pools and disk pools
Planning server storage
A Windows server can conceivably perform its tasks using the same type of storage as a workstation; that is, one or more standard hard disks connected to a standard drive interface such as Serial ATA (SATA). However, the I/O burdens of a server are different from those of a workstation, and a standard storage subsystem can easily be overwhelmed by file requests from dozens or hundreds of users. In addition, standard hard disks offer no fault tolerance and are limited in their scalability.
A variety of storage technologies are better suited for server use, and the process of designing a storage solution for a server depends on several factors, including the following:
■ The amount of storage the server needs
■ The number of users who will be accessing the server at the same time ■ The sensitivity of the data to be stored on the server
■ The importance of the data to the organization
The following sections examine these factors and the technologies you can choose when creating a plan for your network storage solutions.
Objective 1.3: Configure local storage CHAPTER 1 41