Hardware consideration required for the installation of Windows Server 2012/R2Windows Server 2012/R2 has four editions that require different advanced requirements in installations. However, there are minimum requirements that are essential for Windows Server 2012/R2 regarding CPU, RAM, Disk as well as virtualization (Tulloch & Microsoft Windows Server Team, 2013). The actual requirements of the processor are determined by the processor cores, clock frequency as well as processor cache. However, Microsoft recommends a 1.4 GHz, 64-bit processor or a faster multi-core. The RAM minimum requirements which are essential for the server is 512 MB for boot installation and 2 GB for the installed system. The minimal disk storage published by Microsoft is 332 GB for installation and 60 GB of installed system (Tulloch & Microsoft Windows Server Team, 2013). Apart from the minimum hardware requirements, there are recommendable minimum requirements for effective performance of Windows Server 2012/R2. The recommendation for CPU processor is 3.1 GHz 64 bit or faster multicore, RAM space is 8 GB, and Disc storage space is 160 GB.
Steps to include in the planning, installation, and configuration of the first server on a new network.
No.
Step
Explanation
1
Determine the edition of the server to install
For a particular Windows server, there are several editions. This step is performed in planning stage where one chooses the appropriate version as per the requirements. For instance, the functionality of Windows Server 2012 Standard Edition is different from the Essential edition.
2
Access the system requirement
For every edition of the Windows server chosen, there are specific system requirements. Before proceeding with the installation process, one should be aware of the minimal requirements of the system regarding RAM, CPU speed and Disk storage space.
3
Perform the pre-installation tasks
Done after accessing the system requirements and the right edition of a Windows server to install. The pre-installation tasks are done to ensure the windows are installed in the right way. Some of the tasks are Connecting UPS devices and any other device connected to serial ports, disabling the virus protection software etc.
4
Installing Windows Server Core
Windows Server Core refers to the minimal version of the server software that does not possess the GUI. It is the first process during installation after which the initial configurations are done.
5
Installing Full GUI Server
Taking into consideration that Server Core does not have a GUI, it is installed after installing Windows Server Core. This process requires access to a network connection.
Steps to consider when a wrong edition of windows server is installed.
Incidents occur when one installs the wrong edition of windows server. To re-install the correct edition, the process is as follows. Uninstall the current edition, including all its features and rules. It is important to do a backup of all the data on the server before full installation and subsequent installation. The second step is to uninstall server core to ensure that all the roles of the “wrong edition” are completely removed. The third step is to install the new and preferred edition. Install server core first after approving the preferred edition is compatible with the system properties. Finally, the preferred edition is installed.
The pros and Cons for selecting “to install Server Core” option when installing windows server.
Windows Core Serve is a feature in windows server 2012. It has several benefits. It reduces the time and expenditure in servicing since it only installs what is necessary and required for any managed server. It requires less disk space since the less important roles and features are not installed. Server Core requires very small space to install (a minimum of 4 GB). Server Core reduces attack surface owing to the fact that there are fewer features and roles running on the server (Zacker & Camardella, 2015). Server Core requires less RAM since there are fewer services running on the server. The memory is left free to be used by server applications. Server Core is also associated with several disadvantages. It requires an expensive learning process since initially administrators were used for features such as PowerShell. Another disadvantage is that not all the roles as well as applications in a server would work in the server (Zacker & Camardella, 2015). The process of installing server core is time-consuming since one is required to install some features and roles for the server to function fully.
The technology “Features on Demand”
Features on demand is a found on windows server 2012 and the later versions such as Windows 10. It is a feature that gives the capacity to completely remove certain features of a windows server by completely removing their payloads as opposed to simply disable them (Turley, Bruckner, Silva, Withee, & Paisley, 2012). Payloads in this aspect refer to binary components of the feature, such as registry, permission, settings, etc. by removing certain features including their payloads assists in freeing disk space during installation as well as maintaining a smaller attack surface. The two features that I will consider removing are Fax Server and Data Deduplication. The main reason for removing the features above are in free space (Turley, Bruckner, Silva, Withee, & Paisley, 2012). Apart from freeing space, the fax server is not necessary for people nowadays rarely communicate using fax, hence no need to have the fax server. The role of data deduplication is not necessary since in places where there is sufficient hard disk space to store all the available data.
- Tulloch, M., & Microsoft Windows Server Team. (2013). Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2 technical overview (1st ed.). Redmond, U.S.: Microsoft Press.
- Turley, P., Bruckner, R. M., Silva, T., Withee, K., & Paisley, G. (2012). Professional Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services (4th ed.). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
- Zacker, C., & Camardella, D. (2015). MCSA 70-410 cert guide: Installing and configuring windows server 2012 R2 (1st ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Pearson.
