Windows Server 2012: 7 highlights of the new server

At the Microsoft Management Summit in mid-April, Microsoft announced the name for its new server operating system, which was previously known under the code name Windows Server 8: Windows Server 2012. Windows-Tweaks reveals the most important new features and shows how virtualization and the cloud play first fiddle in the new server. [By Sandro Villinger]

Days before the initial release of the Windows Server 8 beta in September 2011, I received an invitation from Microsoft Corp. to the - then secret - Windows Server 8 workshop: We were presented with the highlights from over 300 secret functions. It quickly became clear that the release was a significant leap from 2008 R2. Find out why here.

Where is the journey going?

One thing is clear: Compared to R2, Windows Server 2012 a significant leap forward. At the workshop in Redmond, Bill Laing, Corporate Vice President of the Server and Cloud Division, explained that feedback loops were conducted with over 6000 IT admins, CIOs and developers worldwide during the early development phase of Windows Server 2012. The server is a "major release" with fundamental changes - in other words, a nightmare for all administrators who have just implemented Windows Server 2008 R2 in their infrastructure. But are the new features interesting enough to justify the effort of a migration? The highlights presented here should answer your question...

Before it starts: Ingenious server competition!

There are a total of seven posts in this thread with download links to Microsoft Server products. Download the test versions and get to know them. Each of the download postings contains a question about the downloads. Send the answer to the respective question to serverwochen@mcseboard.de. Each correct answer counts as one ticket for the prize draw. You can enter our prize draw with up to seven tickets! The closing date for entries is May 31, 23:59. The timestamp of the email we receive counts, and the winners will be chosen by lot on June 2 and informed of their prize by email! Profits: - One HP ProLiant Server - A Samsung 40-inch LED backlight television - A Lenovo ThinkPad E420s - An Acer Veriton nettop - Two Harman Kardon Soundsticks III Design loudspeaker systems - Two external USB3 2.5" 1TB hard disks

But now, without delay, to the 7 highlights of Windows Server 2012:

One For All: The server dashboard

The Windows 8 Server Manager has been given a major makeover: It now has a fresh new look in the "Metro" style defined by Microsoft for Windows 8 and allows roles and features to be added with just a few mouse clicks:

IT admins need a nimble and efficient way to manage workloads in today's data centers and servers. Thanks to new WMI providers, the deployment and configuration of servers and clients is made easier. Admins already have access to remote desktop services (e.g. VDI clients), file system roles and IP address management in the Server Manager. Interesting: earlier versions of Windows Server (2008 and 2008 R2) can also be managed.

By the way: Server Manager uses nothing other than PowerShell (in the background) to execute the tasks - this means that admins with scripting experience can easily do it themselves!

Virtualization is king

The consolidation of servers through virtualization saves resources and costs. The problem has often been management, scaling and adaptation to the cloud. With Windows Server 2012, there are numerous new virtualization functions:

• Isolation of virtual machines: Virtual machines can be isolated from each other. This ensures the protection of private LANs:
  
  This is achieved by various methods such as DHCP Guard and ARP/N poisoning protection.
• Extension of Hyper-V: The "Hyper-V Extensible Switch" is an open platform with which Hyper-V can be extended with plug-ins from third-party manufacturers. These include firewall filters or programs for monitoring traffic. Further information can be found in the official Windows Server blog post on the Extensible Switch.
• Migration without downtime: Moving from a new virtual machine to a new server (whether in-house or in the cloud) is now possible without any downtime and faster than before. Migration speeds of up to 10 GB/s are possible as standard. The virtual machine is mirrored 1:1 in the background - this includes both the VHD and the storage pages. After mirroring, the virtual machine is put into operation and the migration (IP rerouting) is carried out automatically.
• Virtual Fibre Channel in Hyper-V: It is now possible to access Fiber Channels (SAN) directly from the virtual machine (via ports) and thus obtain fast access.
• Definition of a minimum bandwidth (QoS): Would you like to guarantee your customers a minimum bandwidth in your infrastructure? This is now possible thanks to improved Quality of Service. Whereas with Windows Server 2008 R2 it was only possible to limit the bandwidth (rate limiting), Server 2012 also allows you to set a minimum bandwidth.
• BranchCache When transferring data over a WAN, bandwidth must be kept to a minimum. This is where BranchCache comes in. It enables data to be transferred more efficiently between remote clients. With BranchCache, administrators specify that data, intranet pages and applications will in future be stored on a local network server to which clients have access. Instead of constantly transferring data over the WAN, clients will in future access the data stored in the BranchCache via LAN - saving time and possibly costs. Performance should also be improved. In Exchange, for example, the databases are cached locally instead of the time-consuming transfer via WAN. BranchCache has been improved in Windows Server 2012: the cached files are encrypted, for example, and clients can also act as temporary BranchCache servers. By the way: BranchCache uses all the important file server functions of Windows Server 2012 so that synchronization is faster. For example, file duplicates are eliminated and data is split into small pieces to simplify transfer.
• PowerShell 3.0Script gurus will get their money's worth with PowerShell 3.0: 2.0 has turned what was once a rather limited language into a serious tool for admins. Version 3.0 goes one step further. This is new:
• Recordable sessions: PowerShell sessions are also resumed after crashes or disconnections.
• Simpler syntax: The scripting language is now based less on program code and more on human language. From now on, admins can dispense with script blocks, curly brackets and variables to type in complex commands.
• PowerShell Jobs: PowerShell scripts can be created in such a way that they are executed at a specific interval or in response to various system events.
• Inheritance of rights: Critical PowerShell jobs can now also be executed by users who have fewer system rights.

Deduplication of data

One of my highlights from the Windows Server 8 workshop in Seattle: data deduplication. While the cost of disk drives continues to fall, the amount and size of data in companies is also increasing. Transferring this data is becoming a problem. To reduce the bandwidth and also the size of the files, Windows Server 2012 introduces so-called "Data Deduplication". It eliminates duplicate data records so that two files with relatively similar content (e.g. virtual clients) only need to access one data record in future. Microsoft estimates that up to 50% of data can be saved for files and up to 95% for virtual machines. This is how it works:

If the file system finds duplicate data records between two (as shown above) or more files, they are copied to the so-called "chunk store". When accessing the files, only the individual metadata is read, the rest is taken from the chunk store. Clearly, this not only saves bandwidth, but also a whole lot of storage space! Imagine a virtual server farm of 20 VHDs that hardly need more storage space than 1!

Fancy a fondue? Features-On-Demand-User-Experience!

With FONDUE, you can run server core installations and add functions from an external source as required. This saves performance and memory resources on servers with resource restrictions, as functions will only be loaded as required in future. Space can also be saved on virtual servers. And how does it work? Simply use the command line (Dism.exe /online /get-features /format:table) to list and activate/deactivate the features:

Ingenious hard disk check: The Chkdsk classic reworked

Admins with large amounts of data can breathe a sigh of relief: If there are problems with the file system structure, the Checkdisk devil will no longer be waiting for you after a restart. Until now, the duration of a Checkdisk scan was proportional to the number and size of the files. Annoying when larger data records are scanned: Either the entire server or the individual file was available during the scan. Windows Server 2012 puts an end to this:

• NTFS healing powers: NTFS tries to heal itself without being checked by Chkdsk.
• Check with access to data: Possibly damaged files are still available on the drive. Only when they are completely damaged are they switched offline by Checkdisk.
• Offline scan only if required: After scanning a file or data carrier area, the file system evaluates whether it is actually necessary to restart the system. Good: Even then, the admin can decide when the reboot should take place. Even then, Checkdisk only repairs files that are really damaged!

Microsoft states that downtimes due to file repairs amount to seconds instead of hours:

Curious? Try it out for yourself: Windows Server 2012 is available in the form of a 64-bit ISO and VHD for download.