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Windows Server Administration 70-646 – Chapter 1 Lesson 2

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Continuing on in Chapter 1 brings us to Lesson 2.

In this lesson the book looks at:

  • Windows Server 2008 Answer Files
  • Windows Deployment Services
  • Multicast, Scheduled and Automatic Deployment
  • Windows Deployment Services Images
  • WDS and Product Activation
  • Rollback Preparation

Windows Server 2008 Answer Files

The first part of the lesson covers the answer file. If you want to create an answer file the recommendation is to download the Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) which is included in the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK). Once you are done save the autounattended.xml file to a removable media. Windows Server 2008 setup as part of its routine, will look for this file on a removable media. If you are running setup.exe from a network location the if mapping the location on the file as X:, the setup command is setup.exe /unattend:x:\autounattended.xml

Windows Deployment Services

The next part of the lesson covers WDS. WDS cannot be installed onto a computer running Server Core. WDS requires that it be installed to a computer which is a member of an Active Directory domain. A DNS server is required along with a DHCP server and a NTFS partition for storing images. If a DHCP server is running on the same machine as WDS, configure WDS not to listen on port 67. You also need to add option tag 60 on your DHCP server so PXE clients are able to detect the WDS server. In the GUI you can also change Multicast settings, add an unattended xml file and you can configure how the WDS server will respond to PXE request. The three responses are:

  • Do not respond to Any Client
  • Respond only to known Client Computers
  • Respond to All (Known and Unknown) Client Computers

Multicast, Scheduled and Automatic Deployment

This section covers setting up WDS to use multicast and the benefits of using it. The main benefit is it allows a reduction of network bandwidth for multiple installs. Scheduling allows an admin to limit impact on a companies network bandwidth during peak time and allows the install to be scheduled for off-peak time. Auto-cast means to install as soon as a client asks for an install image.

Windows Deployment Services Images

There are two types of images, boot images and install images. You will need separate images for x64, x32 and Itanium. Boot images are used to boot a computer prior to installing an operating system. Discover images are created for booting a computer without a PXE enabled network card from media (USB, Floppy, CD or DVD)

WDS and Product Activation

There are to types of keys, Multiple Activation Key (MAK) and Key Management System (KMS). MAK allows for a specific number of activations against a key. A MAK proxy allows for a single connection Microsoft’s activation servers. Independent Activation requires each computer connects to Microsoft.

KMS activation uses a server in your environment which computers must authenticate against every 180 days. You also need to have at least 25 computers before activation can occur.

Rollback Preparation

You can rollback an upgrade of Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 if something goes wrong during installation. Once there is a successful login to Windows Server 2008, you cannot rollback. If you need to rollback then one must follow the procedure for disaster recovery under Windows Server 2003.

The next chapter covers IPV6 and configuring the Domain Name System

*Disclaimer:

My notes in helping me prepare for the 70-646 Exam, PRO: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator are just those, notes and I am trying to help highlight what is covered in the book, not replicate it. If you want to pass the exam, you will need more than just these notes to pass. I suggest you get a good book and get familiar with the product. The expectation is that you have about one year of experience with Windows 2008 Server (your mileage may vary) when writing this exam. The book I am using for my preparation and where I am drawing the information for these notes is the Microsoft Press book, MCITP Exam Prep 70-646: Windows Server Administration; ISBN: 0735625107.

Windows Server Administration 70-646 – Chapter 1 – Lesson 1

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My exam studying didn’t go so well last weekend, so I pushed the exam out until the end of February as I try to be more realistic. This long weekend, I did manage to start doing a little reading. As I said in a earlier post, the book I am using to study is the Microsoft Press book, Windows Server Administration Self Paced Training kit.

As I am reading the book, I am summarizing key points as this helps me to remember what I have read, and I will post my summaries to my blog, one chapter per week, with lesson’s spread throughout the week. Remember, this is only a highlight of the book and I am not trying to rewrite the book on this blog.

Chapter 1 – Lesson 1: Planning Windows Server 2008 Installation and Upgrade

This week, we start at the beginning, Chapter 1 – Lesson 1. This lesson covers the basic points on Windows 2008 which are:

  • System Requirements
  • Editions
  • Server Core
  • Upgrade Path
  • BitLocker

System Requirements

The minimum system requirements are 1 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM and 15 GB of hard disk space. Recommended are 2 GHz processor, 2 GB RAM and 40 GB of hard disk space.

Editions

Considerable information is presented on the various versions of Windows Server 2008. There is Web, Standard, Enterprise and Data Center, each available are 32bit and 64bit and that Core editions are available for each. There is also an Itanium edition as well.

  • Standard Edition – network load balancing supported, failover clustering is not supported. 32bit – supports 4 GB of RAM and 4 processors in SMP configuration. 64bit – supports 32 GB of RAM and 4 processors in SMP configuration.
  • Enterprise Edition – supports network failover and Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS). 32bit – supports 64 GB of RAM and 8 processors in SMP configuration. 64bit – supports 2 TB of RAM and 8 processors in SMP configuration.
  • Datacenter Edition – supports failover clustering and ADFS. Unlimited virtual image rights. 32bit – supports 64 GB of RAM and 32 processors in SMP configuration. 64bit – supports 2 TB of RAM and 64 processors in SMP configuration.
  • Web Edition – domain services not supported, network load balancing supported. As the name implies, meant for web servers. 32bit – supports 4 GB of RAM and 4 processors in SMP configuration. 64bit – supports 32 GB of RAM and 4 processors in SMP configuration.
  • Itanium Edition – limited number of roles supported. Requires Itanium 2 processor. Supports 2 TB of RAM and 64 processors in SMP configuration.

Server Core

Benefits of Server Core:

  • Reduced Attack Surface
  • Lower Hardware Requirements

You will need to learn how to join a machine to the domain and some of the other basic commands you will need to know for server core. Check out Pierre’s post titled  My Core box. How to turn a near obsolete PC in a Lab Domain Controller for a description of how to get a machine up and going running Server Core. The book also mentions ocsetup.exe to install roles and oclist.exe to see what roles are available.

Upgrading From Windows Server 2003

This section covers upgrading. You can upgrade from Windows Server 2003. To upgrade from Windows Server 2000 you will need to upgrade 2003 first. The book doesn’t mention Windows NT 4 Server, so neither will I.  You can only upgrade to the same processor edition, i.e., 64 bit to 64 bit, not 32 bit to 64 bit. Also you can’t upgrade to a core installation and most editions can only upgrade to the same edition. The exception is Windows Server 2003 Standard. You can upgrade to Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise. Upgrades must be initiated by starting the installation from within Windows Server 2003.

BitLocker

Windows Server 2008 now contains BitLocker. BitLocker protects the server data through volume encryption and also provided integrity-checking. A system administrator must disable BitLocker during maintenance windows. To support BitLocker, prior to installing Windows Server 2008, a partition of 1.5 GB in size must created and, formatted and made the system partition prior to creating a larger partition. Also available are BitLocker group policies and the book lists some of them. Be sure to also know the difference between BitLocker and Encrypting File System. Finally, the last part covers turning off BitLocker.

That’s the extent of the material covered in Lesson 1. Lesson 2 covers Automated Server Deployment.

*Disclaimer:

My notes in helping me prepare for the 70-646 Exam, PRO: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator are just those, notes and I am trying to help highlight what is covered in the book, not replicate it. If you want to pass the exam, you will need more than just these notes to pass. I suggest you get a good book and get familiar with the product. The expectation is that you have about one year of experience with Windows 2008 Server (your mileage may vary) when writing this exam. The book I am using for my preparation and where I am drawing the information for these notes is the Microsoft Press book, MCITP Exam Prep 70-646: Windows Server Administration; ISBN: 0735625107.