Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Code name: Longhorn consists
of 8 editions. Each and every edition can be installed in two different ways
which is the Server Core and the GUI installation. Server core is the new
installation option which is included by Microsoft in this version of windows
Server core installation method can be deployed to support a
single role or multiple roles. By using the server core installation it’s
possible to optimize performance for the server roles you’re running because by
default none of the services or any server roles get installed. After the
installation what you basically get is a command prompt, also note that there’s
no Graphical User interface installed when the server core installation method
is used. Even if you connect to a server core installed server via RDP you will
still get only the command prompt. But it’s possible to monitor using the
computer management console remotely by using another server. When talking in
terms of security which is a very critical aspect of a good network infrastructure,
Server core installation will reduce the attack possibility since only certain
server roles what is required by the administrators are installed in the server,
also there’s no GUI shell
Another benefit of the server core installation is that it
reduces the number of patches since only specific roles are running. Also the
server core installation will only take 1.5GB of hard disk space but the full
installation will take up to 5.5GB from disk space. Also the server core
installation doesn’t support any sound adapters, because the audio stack is not
included in the server core installation. Also note that it doesn’t contain any
of the printer drivers unlike other Server operating systems. When the server
core is configured as a print server you need to manually install the printer
drivers from the cd
When deploying Windows Server 2008 it comes to a screen
where you could choose between the Server core installation and the server
installation with the GUI shell. Server core configuration could be done
manually or by using an unattended file. The only difference is that you have
to mention server core on your unattended file. Other than that it’s similar to
an ordinary unattended file. Also note that if you have specified any features
which are not available on the server, the unattended setup will not crash.
It’ll still get installed but it’ll contain some extra registry keys e.g. - :
some security features mentioned for IE 7, since IE7 is not available on the
Server Core installation it’ll just get added to the registry
When deploying windows server core you should consider these
facts
- · Only a fresh new installation is supported
- · It’s not possible to upgrade for a previous
version of windows
-
After installation Windows Server Core, it’s not
possible to upgrade to the GUI Shell and also vice-versa
Now let’s look at how to do some of the initial
configurations
Change Password: - net user administrator *
Activation : slmgr.vbs script can be used. Also it’s
possible to activate remotely
Configure IP: - netsh interface ipv4
Join a domain:- Netdom
How to add Server roles
Server roles can only be added by using the command line
by using the Ocsetup
Start /w ocsetup %packagename%
Also note that you can’t install active directory using
ocsetup command
Only way to promote the domain controller is to use a
dcpromo unattended file
Dcpromo /unattended:unattendedfile
When IIS 7 Server roles is installed unlike other roles it
runs on reduced functionality. The following functions are not available on the
IIS 7 server core installation
- ·
Management Service and the GUI tools
- ·
ASP.Net
- ·
Powershell Cmdlets
These are the server roles available in the server core
installation
- ·
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
- ·
File
- ·
Print
- ·
Active Directory
- ·
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
- ·
Media Services
- ·
Domain Name System
- ·
Internet Information Service 7
- ·
Windows Virtualization Service
Also the following options are also available
- ·
WINS,
- ·
Failover
- ·
Clustering,
- ·
Subsystem for UNIX-based applications,
- ·
Backup,
- ·
Multipath IO
- ·
Removable storage management
- ·
BitlockerDrive Encryption
- ·
SNMP
- ·
Telnet Client
- ·
Qos