Windows Server 2012

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System Requirement 
The minimum system requirements for installing the Standard and Datacenter editions of Windows Server 2012 are as follows:
■ A 1 .4-GHz, 64-bit processor
■ 512 MB of RAM
■ 32 GB of available disk space
■ A network adapter card
■ A graphics adapter that supports 800 by 600 or higher resolution


Server Management
Server management was done through the GUI in one of the following ways:
■ By logging on interactively to a server’s console
■ By logging on remotely to a server using Remote Desktop Connection (Mstsc .exe) 
■ By using the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) installed on a workstation.


Choosing an installation option
The default installation option when you install Windows Server 2012 is now the Server Core Installation option instead of the Server With A GUI (formerly called Full) option as in previous versions of Windows Server .The reasons for this change are as follows:
■ Server Core requires less disk space than Server With A GUI, which can be important in data centers that use virtualization to consolidate multiple visualized server workloads per physical host machine .
■ Server Core has a smaller attack surface, which makes it more secure for data-center and cloud computing .
■ Server Core requires fewer software updates, which means less servicing overhead .
■ Administrators can now switch between different installation options after Windows Server 2012 has been deployed, which means you can now change your Server Core installations to Server With A GUI installations without having to wipe and reinstall


Minimal server interface
In addition to the two installation options (Server Core and Server With A GUI) you can choose from when you deploy Windows Server 2012, there is also a third installation option available in Windows Server 2012 called the Minimal Server Interface .This new installation option can be configured only after deployment by using either Server Manager or Windows PowerShell .

It has all the functionality of Server With A GUI except for the following capabilities, which are not included:
■ Desktop user interface (traditional Windows desktop)
■ Windows 8 user interface (Start screen)
■ Windows Explorer
■ Internet Explorer
■ Some of the Control Panel utilities


Server Installation
Server With A GUI installations of Windows Server 2012 have two additional features installed that are not installed on Server Core installations:
■ Graphical Management Tools And Infrastructure

This feature includes various infrastructure components and components that provide the Minimal Server Interface that supports GUI management tools, such as MMC consoles, but it does not include Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, or the start screen .The Windows PowerShell name for this feature is Server-GuiMgmt-Infra .
■ Server Graphical Shell This feature includes components that provide the full graphical user interface, such as Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, and the start screen .The Windows PowerShell name for this feature is Server-Gui-Shell.


Using Windows PowerShell
The two Windows PowerShell cmdlets used for converting between different installation options of Windows Server 2012 are the following:
■ Install-Windows Feature This cmdlet can be used generally to install one or more roles, role services, or features .The cmdlet also supersedes the older cmdlet AddWindows Feature that was used in previous versions of Windows Server, but Add-Windows Feature still remains as an alias for the newer cmdlet .

■ Uninstall-Windows Feature
This cmdlet can be used generally to remove one or more roles, role services, or features .The cmdlet also supersedes the older cmdlet Remove-Windows Feature that was used in previous versions of Windows Server, but Remove Windows Feature still remains as an alias for the newer cmdlet


Server Manager
The Server Manager console has been completely redesigned in Windows Server 2012 to make it easier for administrators to simultaneously manage multiple Windows servers Remotely.


Navigating Server Manager
Menus :- At the top of the Server Manager controls and menus:
■ Back and forward buttons for navigating through the history of the pages you previously selected
■ A breadcrumb you can use to navigate quickly through any hierarchical views
■ A refresh button you can use to manually refresh the console when its view becomes out of date
■ The Notifications flag, which you use to view any alerts or information about tasks being performed on the servers you are managing
By default, Server Manager refreshes every 10 minutes by collecting updated information for all servers being managed by the console .

■ The Manage menu, which you use to add roles and features to (or remove them from) the servers you are managing, add servers to the pool of managed servers, create new server groups, and configure Server Manager properties
■ The Tools menu, which you can use to access other management tools, such as Microsoft Management Console (MMC) consoles, the System Information and System Configuration utilities, Windows PowerShell consoles and Integrated Scripting Environments (ISEs), and so on

Dashboard 
To use Server Manager, you select a page such as the Dashboard, the Local Server page, the All Servers page, or any additional role-specific pages that might be available. Dashboard page, which displays the following tiles:
■ Welcome To Server Manager
■ Local Server
■ All Servers
■ Any role-specific tiles like File And Storage Services
■ Custom pages for servers assigned to server groups you created

Local Server
The Local Server page displays the following tiles:
■ Properties Lets you view and configure various settings of the local server, including computer name, domain membership, whether Remote Management or Remote Desktop is enabled, the TCP/IP settings for the server’s network cards, whether Windows Update is enabled, and more.
■ Events Displays events logged on the local server .
■ Services Lets you view the services for the local server, start services that are currently stopped, restart running services, and perform other service-related tasks .
■ Best Practices Analyzer Lets you initiate a BPA scan to determine whether any further configuration needs to be performed for the local server to function properly with all its installed roles .
■  Performance Lets you configure performance alerts on the local server so that alerts will be raised when CPU usage exceeds a specified threshold or available memory falls below a specified level.
■ Roles and Features Displays all roles and features installed on the local server, and also lets you install additional roles or remove installed roles


All Servers 
The All Servers page of Server Manager, is where you can simultaneously manage multiple remote servers in your environment . Initially, only the local server is displayed on this page, but you can find other servers in your environment and add them to this page to manage them .How to do this is explained in the section “Common server management tasks” later in this lesson The All Servers page displays the same types of tiles displayed on the Local Server page . The difference is that on the All Servers page, the Events tile (for example) shows events logged on all servers being managed and not just events for the local server

Role-specific pages
Depending on what additional roles and features you have installed on your server, other pages might be available on the left side of Server Manager . Server Manager provides you with a hierarchy of additional pages for managing servers, volumes, disks, storage pools, shares, and iSCSI targets on your Windows Server 2012 file servers.
Use: MMC for separate service


Configuring remote management on Windows Server 2012
■ By starting Server Manager on the local server, selecting the Local Server page, and viewing the state of the Remote Management setting in the Properties tile .This setting should display as either Enabled or Disabled, and you can modify the setting by clicking it


By running the %windir%\system32\ConfigureSMRemoting.exe command-line tool from an elevated command prompt using the appropriate parameter as follows:
■ Configure-SMRemoting –get Displays whether remote management is enabled or disabled
■ Configure-SMRemoting –enable Enables remote management if it is currently disabled
■ Configure-SMRemoting –disable Disables remote management if it is currently enabled


Server 
 A server is a network computer that shares resources with and respond to request from other network computer, including other server. Server provide centralized access and storage for resources that including application, file, printers or other hardware  and specialized services such as email…..  A server can be optimize and dedicated to one specific function, or it can serve general needs. Multiple servers of various type can exist on a single network.

• Insert the Windows Server 2012 installation media into your DVD drive. If you don't have an installation DVD for Windows Server 2012, you can download one for free from Microsoft's Windows 2012 Server Trial website.


Reboot the computer 

When prompted for an installation language and other regional options, make your selection and press Next.

Next, press Install Now to begin the installation process.

The Windows Server 2012 Setup begins as shown

• On the next Windows Setup screen, enter your Windows Server 2012 product key, and then click Next.

As shown in Figure, select the Server Core Installation option for your Windows Server 2012 edition (Windows Server 2012 Standard), and then click Next.

Server with a GUI Installation

Server with a Server Core Installation option

Read and accept the license terms by clicking to select the checkbox and pressing Next.

In the "Which type of installation do you want?" window, click the only available option –Custom (Advanced).

In the "Where do you want to install Windows?", if you're installing the server on a regular hard disk, click to select the first disk, usually Disk 0, and click Next.

The installation now begins, and you can go and have lunch. Copying the setup files from the DVD to the hard drive only takes about one minute. However, extracting and uncompromising the files takes a good deal longer. After 20 minutes, the operating system is installed. The exact time it takes to install server core depends upon your hardware specifications. Faster disks will perform much faster installs… Windows Server 2012 takes up approximately 10 GB of hard drive space.

• The installation process will reboot your computer, so make sure you remove it before going to lunch, as you'll find the server hanged without the ability to boot (you can bypass this by configuring the server to boot from a CD/DVD and then from the hard disk in the booting order on the server's BIOS)

Then the server reboots you'll be prompted with the new Windows Server 2012 type of login screen. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to log in.

After you enter the new Administrator password and verify it, click OK to acknowledge the password change

Because this is a Server Core Installation, only a command window is open after you are logged into the system.

PowerShell in a command window.

Type Get-WindowsFeature at the PowerShell Command to view the server roles and features that are installed or available on the server.

Type Install-WindowsFeature followed by the feature name listed in the GetWindowsFeature cmdlet output to install a role or feature.

As shown in the installation begins and the progress updates throughout the operation

After the installation is complete, the status of the operation is displayed as shown in Figure

Minimal Server Interface Option
• Another Windows Server 2012 configuration option, Minimal Server Interface, allows you to remove some of the graphical components installed with a Server with a GUI installation. The components that are removed include:
• Internet Explorer 10
Windows Explorer
• Desktop
• Start Screen
• Control Panel
• Taskbar