Windows Server 2016 Administration Fundamentals

Windows Server 2016 Administration Fundamentals

by Bekim Dauti
Released December 2017
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781788626569

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Book description

Manage and administer your environment with ease

About This Book

  • Get your hands on learning the fundamentals to managing and administering Windows Server 2016.
  • A step-by-step guide that will help you develop necessary skills and knowledge to manage an enterprise environment.
  • Learn to implement strong networking and security practices into your Windows Server environment.

Who This Book Is For

If you are a System administrator or an IT professional interested in configuring and deploying Windows Server 2016 then, this book is for you. This book will also help readers clear the MTA: Windows Server Administration Fundamentals: 98-365 exam.

What You Will Learn

  • Become familiar with Windows Server OS concepts
  • Learn how to install Windows Server 2016
  • Learn how to install device drivers and run services in Windows Server 2016
  • Learn how to add and install roles in Windows Server 2016
  • Learn how to apply GPO to your Windows Server 2016 environment
  • Learn how to tune, maintain, update, and troubleshoot Windows Server 2016
  • Prepare for the MTA 98-365 exam

In Detail

Windows Server 2016 is the server operating system developed by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems, developed concurrently with Windows 10. This book is designed to get you started with Windows Server 2016. It will prepare you for your MTA 98-365 exam. With step-by-step instructions driven by targeted, easy-to-understand graphics, you will be able to understand the roles, features, functions, and quirks of Windows Server 2016.

The book begins with the basics of Windows Server 2016, which includes the installation process and basic configuration. You will then move on to roles and features such as Active Directory, Hyper-V, Remote Access, Storage, and Printer. With the help of real-world examples, you will get to grips with the fundamentals of Windows Server 2016, which will help you solve difficult tasks the easy way. Later, the book also shows you maintenance and troubleshooting tasks, where with the help of best practices you will be able to manage Windows Server 2016 with ease. Each chapter ends with a questionnaire to ensure you make the best use of the content provided. By the end of this book, you will have the knowledge required to administer and manage Windows Server environments.

Style and approach

With step-by-step instructions driven by targeted, easy-to-understand graphics, this book explains and shows you how to use the roles and features, functions, and quirks of the Windows Server 2016. The chapters are presented in a step by step format accompanied by graphics wherever applicable.

Publisher resources

View/Submit Errata

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright
    1. Windows Server 2016 Administration Fundamentals
  3. Credits
  4. Foreword
  5. About the Author
  6. About the Reviewer
  7. Customer Feedback
  8. www.PacktPub.com
    1. Why subscribe?
  9. Preface
    1. What this book covers
    2. What you need for this book
    3. Who this book is for
    4. Conventions
    5. Reader feedback
    6. Customer support
      1. Downloading the color images of this book 
      2. Errata
    7. Piracy
    8. Questions
  10. Introducing Windows Server
    1. Computer network overview
      1. Understanding hosts and nodes
      2. Understanding clients and servers
      3. Understanding network architectures
      4. Understanding IP addressing and subnetting
    2. Windows Server overview
      1. Understanding Network Operating Systems (NOS)
      2. Understanding server hardware and software (5.1)
      3. Understanding Windows Server
      4. Introducing Windows Server 2016
      5. Windows Server 2016 editions (1.3.1)
      6. Minimum and recommended system requirements
      7. Downloading Windows Server 2016
    3. References from Windows IT Pro Center
    4. Summary
    5. Questions
  11. Installing Windows Server
    1. Understanding server installation (1)
      1. Understanding partition schemes (1.3.2)
      2. Understanding boot options
      3. Advanced startup options (1.3.3)
      4. Desktop Experience versus Server Core versus Nano Server installation options (1.3.4)
    2. Understanding server installation options (1.3)
      1. Performing a clean installation (1.3.5)
      2. Performing installation over a network using WDS (1.3.7)
      3. Performing an unattended installation (1.3.6)
      4. Upgrade and migration overview (1.3.8)
        1. Performing an upgrade (1.3.8.1)
        2. Performing a migration (1.3.8.2)
    3. References from Windows IT Pro Center
    4. Summary
    5. Questions
  12. Post-Installation Tasks in Windows Server
    1. Understanding devices and device drivers (1.1)
      1. Computer devices and device drivers
      2. Working with devices and device drivers
        1. Accessing devices and Device Manager
          1. Adding devices and installing device drivers (1.1.1)
          2. Updating device drivers (1.1.4)
          3. Removing devices and uninstalling device drivers (1.1.2)
          4. Managing devices and disabling device drivers (1.1.3)
          5. Rolling back device drivers (1.1.5)
          6. Troubleshooting a device driver (1.1.6)
      3. Explaining PnP, IRQ, DMA, and driver signing
        1. Plug and Play (1.1.7)
        2. Interrupt Request (IRQ) and Direct Memory Access (DMA) (1.1.8)
        3. Driver signing (1.1.9)
    2. Understanding the registry and services (1.2)
      1. Windows Registry
      2. Windows services (1.2.1)
      3. Services startup types (1.2.3)
      4. Working with the registry and services (1.2.2)
        1. Accessing and managing Windows Registry keys and values
          1. Modifying a registry value
          2. Renaming a registry value
          3. Deleting a registry value
        2. Accessing and managing Windows services
          1. Service recovery options (1.2.4)
          2. Service delayed startup (1.2.5)
          3. Run As settings for a service (1.2.6)
          4. Starting the service (1.2.7)
          5. Stopping the service (1.2.7)
          6. Restarting the service (1.2.7)
      5. Explaining registry entries, service accounts, and dependencies (1.2.8)
        1. Adding a new registry key
        2. Adding service accounts
        3. Adding a service dependency
    3. Windows Server initial configuration
      1. Performing a server's initial configuration
        1. Desktop Experience
          1. Changing the server name
          2. Joining the domain
          3. Enabling Remote Desktop
          4. Setting up the IP address
          5. Checking for updates
          6. Turning off IE enhanced security
          7. Changing the time zone
          8. Activating Windows Server 2016
        2. Server Core
          1. Changing the server name
          2. Joining the domain
          3. Enabling Remote Desktop
          4. Setting up the IP address
          5. Checking for updates
          6. Changing the time zone
          7. Activating Windows Server 2016
    4. References from Windows IT Pro Center
    5. Summary
    6. Questions
  13. Directory Services in Windows Server
    1. Understanding the Active Directory infrastructure (3.3)
      1. Adding the Active Directory Domain Services role
      2. Domain controller (3.3.1)
      3. Domain
      4. Tree
      5. Forest (3.3.2)
      6. Child domain (3.3.5)
      7. Operations master roles (3.3.3)
      8. Domain versus workgroup (3.3.4)
      9. Trust relationship (3.3.6)
      10. Functional level (3.3.7)
      11. Namespace (3.3.8)
      12. Site (3.3.9)
      13. Replication (3.3.10)
      14. Schema
    2. Understanding Domain Name System (DNS)
      1. Adding the DNS role
      2. Understanding hosts and lmhosts files
      3. Understanding hostname
      4. Understanding DNS Zones
      5. Understanding WINS
      6. Understanding Universal Naming Convention (UNC)
    3. Understanding organizational units (OUs) and containers (3.2)
      1. Purpose of OUs (3.2.1)
      2. Default containers (3.2.4)
      3. Default hidden and visible containers
      4. Uses for different container objects (3.2.2)
      5. Delegating control to an OU (3.2.3)
    4. Understanding accounts and groups (3.1)
      1. Domain accounts (3.1.1)
      2. Local accounts (3.1.2)
      3. User profiles (3.1.3)
      4. Computer accounts
      5. Group types (3.1.4)
      6. Default groups
      7. Group scopes (3.1.5)
      8. Group nesting (3.1.6)
        1. Understanding AGDLP and AGUDLP
    5. References from Windows IT Pro Center
    6. Summary
    7. Questions
  14. Adding Roles to Windows Server
    1. Understanding server roles and features (2)
    2. Identifying application servers (2.1)
      1. Mail servers (2.1.1)
      2. Database servers (2.1.2)
      3. Collaboration servers (2.1.3)
      4. Monitoring servers (2.1.4)
      5. Threat management (2.1.5)
    3. Understanding web services (2.2)
      1. What is IIS? (2.2.1)
      2. What is the WWW? (2.2.2)
      3. What is FTP? (2.2.3)
      4. Separate worker processes (2.2.4)
      5. Adding components (2.2.5)
      6. Sites (2.2.6)
      7. Ports (2.2.7)
      8. Secure Sockets Layer (2.2.8)
      9. Certificates (2.2.9)
    4. Understanding Remote Access (2.3)
      1. Remote Assistance (2.3.1)
      2. Remote Server Administration Tools (2.3.2)
      3. Remote Desktop Services (2.3.3)
      4. Licensing (2.3.4)
      5. Remote Desktop Gateway (2.3.5)
      6. Virtual Private Network (2.3.6)
      7. Application virtualization (2.3.7)
      8. Multiple ports (2.3.8)
    5. Understanding file and print services (2.4)
      1. The File Services role
      2. The Print and Document Services role
      3. Local printers (2.4.1)
      4. Network printers (2.4.2)
      5. Printer pooling (2.4.3)
      6. Web printing (2.4.4)
      7. Web management (2.4.5)
      8. Driver deployment (2.4.6)
      9. User rights, NTFS permissions, and share permissions (2.4.7)
      10. Auditing file servers (2.4.8)
    6. References from Windows IT Pro Center
    7. Summary
    8. Questions
  15. Group Policy in Windows Server
    1. Understanding Group Policy (GP) (3.4)
      1. Group Policy processing (3.4.1)
      2. Group Policy Management Console (3.4.2)
        1. From the Start menu
        2. From the Run dialog box
        3. From Server Manager
      3. Computer policies (3.4.3)
      4. User policies (3.4.4)
      5. Local policies (3.4.5)
    2. References from Windows IT Pro Center
    3. Summary
    4. Questions
  16. Virtualization with Windows Server
    1. Understanding server virtualization (2.5)
      1. Virtualization modes (2.5.1)
      2. Hyper-V architecture
      3. Hyper-V installation requirements
      4. Hyper-V Manager
      5. Configuring Hyper-V settings
      6. Creating and configuring virtual hard disks (VHDs) (2.5.2)
      7. Managing virtual memory (2.5.3)
      8. Setting up virtual networks (2.5.4)
      9. Checkpoints (2.5.5)
      10. Physical to virtual (P2V) conversions (2.5.6)
      11. Virtual to physical conversions (2.5.7)
      12. Configuring virtual machine settings
      13. Managing virtual machines
    2. References from Windows IT Pro Center
    3. Summary
    4. Questions
  17. Storing Data in Windows Server
    1. Understanding storage technologies (4)
      1. Identifying storage technologies (4.1)
        1. Advantages and Disadvantages of different storage types (4.1.1)
        2. ATA, PATA, SATA, and SCSI interfaces (4.1.2)
        3. PCI and PCI Express (PCIe)
        4. Direct-attached storage
        5. Network attached storage (4.1.3)
        6. Storage area networks (4.1.4)
        7. Block-level storage versus file-level storage
        8. Adapter and controller types
        9. Serial bus technologies (4.1.7)
        10. Storage protocols (4.1.5)
        11. File sharing protocols (4.1.6)
        12. FC, HBA, and FC switches (4.1.9)
        13. iSCSI hardware (4.1.8)
        14. Storage Spaces Direct
        15. Data deduplication
        16. Storage tiering
        17. Managing storage with Server Manager and Windows PowerShell
    2. Understanding RAID (4.2)
      1. Types of RAID (4.2.1)
      2. Hardware versus software RAID (4.2.2)
      3. Software-defined storage
      4. Redundancy using S2D
      5. High availability
    3. Understanding disk types (4.3)
      1. Hard disk drive
      2. Solid-state drive
      3. Optical disks (4.3.7)
      4. Basic disk (4.3.1)
      5. Dynamic disk (4.3.2)
      6. Mount points (4.3.3)
      7. Filesystems (4.3.4)
      8. Mounting a virtual hard disk (VHD) (4.3.5)
      9. Distributed File System (4.3.6)
    4. References from Windows IT Pro Center
    5. Summary
    6. Questions
  18. Tuning and Maintaining Windows Server
    1. Identifying major server hardware components (5.1)
      1. Processor (5.1.1)
      2. Memory (5.1.2)
      3. Disk (5.1.3)
      4. Network interfaces (5.1.4)
      5. 32-bit and 64-bit architecture (5.1.5)
      6. Removable drives (5.1.6)
      7. Graphic cards (5.1.7)
      8. Cooling (5.1.8)
      9. Power usage (5.1.9)
      10. Ports (5.1.10)
    2. Understanding performance monitoring (5.2)
      1. Performance monitoring methodology (5.2.1)
      2. Performance monitoring procedures (5.2.2)
      3. Server baseline (5.2.3)
      4. Performance Monitor (5.2.4)
      5. Resource Monitor (5.2.5)
      6. Task Manager (5.2.6)
      7. Performance counters (5.2.7)
    3. Understanding logs and alerts (5.3)
      1. Purpose of performance logs and alerts (5.3.1)
        1. The Performance logs and alerts service
        2. The Performance Monitor Logs folder
        3. Performance data logs
        4. Performance counter alerts
    4. References from Windows IT Pro Center
    5. Summary
    6. Questions
  19. Updating and Troubleshooting Windows Server
    1. Identifying steps in the startup process (6.1)
      1. The Basic Input/Output System (6.1.1)
      2. Boot sector (6.1.2)
      3. Boot loader (6.1.3)
      4. Master Boot Record (MBR) (6.1.4)
      5. Boot menu (6.1.5)
      6. Boot Configuration Data (6.1.6)
      7. Power-On Self-Test (6.1.7)
      8. Safe Mode (6.1.8)
    2. Understanding business continuity (6.2)
      1. Backup and restore (6.2.1)
      2. Disaster Recovery Planning (6.2.2)
      3. Clustering (6.2.3)
      4. Active Directory restore (6.2.4)
      5. Folder redirection (6.2.5)
      6. Data Redundancy (6.2.6)
      7. Uninterruptible power supply (6.2.7)
    3. Understanding updates (6.3)
      1. Software (6.3.1)
      2. Drivers (6.3.2)
      3. Operating systems (6.3.3)
      4. Applications (6.3.4)
      5. Windows Update (6.3.5)
      6. Windows Server Update Services (6.3.6)
    4. Understanding the troubleshooting methodology (6.4)
      1. The troubleshooting process (6.4.1)
      2. Troubleshooting procedures (6.4.2)
      3. Best practices (6.4.3)
      4. Systematic versus specific approach (6.4.4)
      5. Event Viewer (6.4.5)
      6. Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) (6.4.6)
      7. Central logging (6.4.7)
      8. Event filtering (6.4.8)
      9. Default logs (6.4.9)
    5. References from Windows IT Pro Center
    6. Summary
    7. Questions
  20. Studying and Passing the MTA 98-365 Exam
    1. Objective 1—Understanding Server installation (10 - 15%)
      1. Objective 1.1 - Understanding device drivers
      2. Objective 1.2 - Understanding services
      3. Objective 1.3 - Understanding server installation options
    2. Objective 2—Understanding server roles (25 - 30%)
      1. Objective 2.1 - Identifying application servers
      2. Objective 2.2 - Understanding web services
      3. Objective 2.3 - Understanding Remote Access
      4. Objective 2.4 - Understanding file and print services
      5. Objective 2.5 - Understanding server virtualization
    3. Objective 3—Understanding Active Directory (20 - 25%)
      1. Objective 3.1 - Understanding accounts and groups
      2. Objective 3.2 - Understanding organizational units (OUs) and containers
      3. Objective 3.3 - Understanding the Active Directory infrastructure
      4. Objective 3.4 - Understanding Group Policy (GP)
    4. Objective 4—Understanding storage (10 - 15%)
      1. Objective 4.1 - Identifying storage technologies
      2. Objective 4.2 - Understanding RAID
      3. Objective 4.3 - Understanding disk types
    5. Objective 5—Understanding server performance management (10 - 15%)
      1. Objective 5.1 - Identifying major server hardware components
      2. Objective 5.2 - Understanding performance monitoring
      3. Objective 5.3 - Understanding logs and alerts
    6. Objective 6—Understanding server maintenance (15 - 20%)
      1. Objective 6.1 - Identifying steps in the startup process
      2. Objective 6.2 - Understanding business continuity
      3. Objective 6.3 - Understanding updates
      4. Objective 6.4 - Understanding troubleshooting methodology
    7. References for MTA 98-365 exam
  21. Examples of GPOs for Sys Admins
    1. GPOs of interest to Sys Admins
      1. Renaming the administrator account
      2. Disabling the Guest Account
      3. LAN Manager authentication level
      4. Do not store LAN Manager hash value on next password change
      5. Minimum password length
      6. Maximum password age
      7. Blocking Microsoft accounts
      8. Disabling anonymous SID
      9. Disabling Everyone permissions to apply to anonymous users
      10. Machine account threshold
      11. Prohibiting access to Control Panel and PC Settings
      12. Preventing access to the Command Prompt
      13. Preventing access to Registry editing tools
      14. Preventing adding features to Windows 10
      15. Denying access to all removable media drives
      16. Turning off Windows Installer
      17. Preventing the usage of OneDrive for file storage
      18. Removing access to use all Windows Update features
      19. Turning off Windows Defender
      20. Preventing installation of devices not described by other policy settings
  22. Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows Server
    1. Windows key combinations in Windows Server 2016
  23. Answers to Chapter Questions
    1. Chapter 1 — Answers
    2. Chapter 2—Answers
    3. Chapter 3—Answers
    4. Chapter 4—Answers
    5. Chapter 5—Answers
    6. Chapter 6—Answers
    7. Chapter 7—Answers
    8. Chapter 8 — Answers
    9. Chapter 9 — Answers
    10. Chapter 10 — Answers

Product information

  • Title: Windows Server 2016 Administration Fundamentals
  • Author(s): Bekim Dauti
  • Release date: December 2017
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781788626569