Microsoft's Windows Server 2012 has
some great new features. The new operating system is ready to move our networks
towards the private cloud, while still giving us the option to integrate the
new features of Windows Server 2012 into our traditional Data Centers.
It is almost impossible to list all
the new features of Windows Server 2012. But some of the most exciting are the
new and enhanced features of Hyper-V, and File and Storage management.
Hyper-V
Virtualization
Here are just a few updates to whet
your appetite:
Hyper-V Replicas: This allows you to replicate virtual machines between
storage systems, Clusters, and Data Centers to provide business continuity.
Storage Migration: We can now move the virtual hard disks used by a
virtual machine to different physical storage, while the virtual machine
remains running.
Storage on SMB2 file shares: Hyper-V now supports the use of SMB2 file shares as the
storage location for your virtual machines.
Virtual Machine Snapshots: Although available in Windows 2008 we can now delete a
snapshot, and make the disk space it used available for re-use straight away.
Without having to shut down the virtual machine first.
Improved
File and Storage Services
Another area that has been massively
overhauled is File and Storage Services. This includes:
Data DE duplication: This allows us to save disk space by storing a single
copy of identical data on the volume.
Storage Spaces and Storage
Pools: These allow you to group
industry-standard disks into one or more storage pools. You can then create
virtual disks known as storage spaces. More disks can be added to your storage
pool, to make that space available without impacting users. Instead of managing
each disk individually, you add physical disks to one or more pools and create
virtual disks from the available capacity. Virtual disks that you create can
also be thinly provisioned so if a developer asks for 1TB of space, but will
only be initially consuming 200MB, you can create a thin disk that will only
use space based on the size of files saved there.
iSCSI Target Server : With the new iSCSI target server feature, our server can
offer block storage to other servers and applications on the network using the
iSCSI standard.
Finally, a couple more areas that
have been improved with new features or enhancements to existing ones:
Domain
Controller Cloning
With Active Directory Domain
Services (AD DS) in Windows Server 2012 we can easily deploy additional domain
controllers by cloning an existing virtual domain controller. This involves
creating a copy, and authorizing the source domain controller to be cloned in
AD DS. Cloning reduces the number of steps and time involved by eliminating
repetitive deployment tasks.
Server
Core
One great new feature is the ability
to switch between a Server Core install and a GUI install without the need to
reinstall the operating system. So if you have an application that is easily
administered through a GUI - but can run on Server Core - you can switch to the
GUI and perform the administration, and then switch back to Server Core.
There are many more new features to
explore in the new Windows Server 2012.
A great place to research them is TechNet, where you will find all the
information you need to get started with Windows Server 2012:
To find all the information you need
about the new MCSA and MCSE tracks:
