windows server 2012

[ascomputers]

Hi all,

I've just purchased a HP micro server (£100 cashback deal) as want to learn windows server 2012 and also look to setup a home server.

can anyone recommend or point me in the direction of books, videos on where i can learn about installation / setup and maintaining a server setup for either home and in a business environment?

Many Thanks
andrew

 

[Shadowjk]

Hi all,

I've just purchased a HP micro server (£100 cashback deal) as want to learn windows server 2012 and also look to setup a home server.

can anyone recommend or point me in the direction of books, videos on where i can learn about installation / setup and maintaining a server setup for either home and in a business environment?

Many Thanks
andrew

What version of server 2012 do you have? Also what client operating systems do you have? Windows 7 Home premium, professional, ultimate?

This can affect what services you can offer to clients.

Josh

 

[ascomputers]

Hi Shadowjk. I don't have any copy of server 2012 at the moment. I was going to download the 3months evaluation pack from the Microsoft website but wanted to ensure I had all the books etc before I started.

we are all running windows 7 and 8 pro in the house in order that we can back up to a network drive. I believe I am correct in stating that this is not an option on the home premium.

 

[ascomputers]

I was going to look at home server OEM Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011 64bit - CCQ-00128 - CCL Computers but was informed that support was being pulled on this and wasn't sure how much it would help me learn servers aspects for business.

 

[Shadowjk]

If you wish to do a domain environment (I strongly advise!) then you will need Windows Server 2012 Standard or Data-center. You will also require Windows 7 Professional and higher or Windows 8 Pro/Enterprise in order to successfully join the domain. This way you can setup a single user that can you can log on to on any machine with.

A home server may be good however yes it is losing support and isn't used by businesses at all. That being said for home server tasks it seems alright. I personally would be more inclined in trying to get Windows Server 2012 essentials since it offers many storage features of the full version. Microsoft | Windows Server 2012 Essentials | Windows Small Business Server Next Version

To get into the real business functions you will need at least Server 2012 standard or above however they can be costly.

For books, I have Server 2012 unleashed which I feel is great for finding out about everything. If you are going for the essentials option then you may not be able to do some content. It also goes into depth about best business practices

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Windows-Server-2012-Unleashed-Morimoto/dp/0672336227

Hope This Helps,
Josh

 

[ascomputers]

that's great... really appreciate that. will look to purchase the book in the first instance before starting the 3 month trial.

I read the other day that they are simplifying the options for windows server 2012 into 4 categories.

foundation, essentials, standard and data centre.

what's the difference between 2012 and 2011. would you recommend 2011 to buy?

sorry for all the questions but its such a costly project or area of work to get into unless you are using the product on a day to day basis from a work place.

 

[Shadowjk]

that's great... really appreciate that. will look to purchase the book in the first instance before starting the 3 month trial.

I read the other day that they are simplifying the options for windows server 2012 into 4 categories.

foundation, essentials, standard and data centre.

what's the difference between 2012 and 2011. would you recommend 2011 to buy?

sorry for all the questions but its such a costly project or area of work to get into unless you are using the product on a day to day basis from a work place.

Yep, four categories.

The 2012 editions were designed for organisations while the 2011 editions were for the SOHO (Small Office Home Office) environment. The only reason I suggest the 2012 line is because you wanted to get into business operations on servers. If you wish you can get 2011 or 2012 foundation and then just practice and develop your skills on a separate machine or dual boot with the 2012 evaluation copy.

Josh

 

[ascomputers]

purchased the book last night.

yes I want to move into the business operations side of work so will take this on board and look at 2012.

just one more question. if I purchase foundation to start with can you upgrade to essentials and then standard as your business develops and grows.?

 

[jimbo45]

Hi all,

I've just purchased a HP micro server (£100 cashback deal) as want to learn windows server 2012 and also look to setup a home server.

can anyone recommend or point me in the direction of books, videos on where i can learn about installation / setup and maintaining a server setup for either home and in a business environment?

Many Thanks
andrew

Hi there
If you are a TechNet member you can download a copy of W2012 server -- but not to worry if you aren't as you can download a FREE "Test drive" version.

My suggestion would be to set the server up to run as a "Virtual machine" - that way you can get the server up and running quickly without having to hunt all over the internet for possible drivers etc.

Use VMWARE as you can set the server to run "In the background" which means you can log on to it from another machine - say a laptop without you having to logon to the host.

Try and just logon to the server first before doing any of the server "Geeky" stuff.

With Server 2012 you get 3 choices for the GUI - a total command line, a minimal desktop, and a "Windows 8" type of full desktop.

My advice in the beginning (I know real "Server I.T types" will probably shudder at the thought) would be to go for the full windows 8 GUI - it's easier to mess around with until you understand the command line etc - and it's easier to install programs / applications on it too.

This is the advantage of using a VM - you can try out all sorts of possibilities.

Try sharing a few files and a printer first to get a bit of idea about managing a server and in the beginning while testing and learning try and remove a lot of the "Nag" messages.

To start with I'd try and use it as a "Desktop" OS - even though it's on a VM

Desktop Experience « Convert your Windows Server 2012 to a Workstation!

Once you've got the hang of the server then you can start doing all the "Geeky" stuff like managing domains etc etc.

Using the server as a VM gives you the maximum flexibility - and if you hose it all up just kill that VM and create another one. !!!

Don't forget the first time you power on the server VM you will need to install VMWARE TOOLS (from the VM menu) - this will fix things like proper mouse control, video resolution etc.

Note Audio works in W2012, but there was a problem in playing VIDEO (flash) files - this might not have been fixed but video playing on a server IMO isn't really important anyway. (You can STREAM video FROM a server though).

Get the trial from here

Microsoft | Windows Server 2012 | Trial

note also VMware player is FREE too.

(You can get a preview copy of W8 (lasts into 2014) to install as the HOST OS on your server box so you can install the SERVER as a Virtual machine. Otherwise use Windows 7 as the HOST OS).

Installing W2012 as a HOST means you have to go through the whole kybosh every time you hose something up (and on a server it's easy to do). I really would recommend the VM option.

Another option as a host is VMWARE's ESXI (free) but it's a bit fiddly to set up and you will need a separate machine for connecting and controlling the W2012 server. If you CAN make that work though IMO it's a great idea.

http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/

(Windows 8 also has a HYPERVISOR in it - you can't run that AND VMware - so you have to select one or the other - in the control panel use Windows features - and don't install VMWARE or VBOX software. There are posts on W8 Forum about using HYPER-V for setting up VM's on W8)

Have fun

Cheers
jimbo

 

[ascomputers]

cheers Jimbo45.

waiting on delivery of 2 x 2TB hard drives which should be here on Monday then going to get started.

do you have any links for VMWARE? don't know much about it to be honest.

this is turning out to be a massive subject area...

 

[essenbe]

You can download VMware player (free if for personal use) here VMware Virtualization for Desktop & Server, Application, Public & Hybrid Clouds - United States Just click on downloads and the far right column is the free versions.

 

[jimbo45]

cheers Jimbo45.

waiting on delivery of 2 x 2TB hard drives which should be here on Monday then going to get started.

do you have any links for VMWARE? don't know much about it to be honest.

this is turning out to be a massive subject area...

HI there.

for VMware player (FREE) - for you - UK site.

VMware site VMware Player Plus: Easiest Way to Run a Virtual Machine - UK

Ignore the "Buy" in Plus -- anything Plus or Pro usually means PAY -- all this means in this case is that it's FREE for personal use but organisations have to pay.

Have a read too for other VM products -- I still think using a Virtual machine is the BEST way of learning about servers etc since you can try anything out and if you hose it up then you just roll out another one.

What I would do is after you've got your base configuration (before changing anything etc- just get it booted up).

At this point after ist activation MAKE A COPY - with VMware you can either clone the VM or with windows simply save the data files - to the HOST OS the VM files are simply DATA. Then use this every time you want to start again - so you won't have to keep re-activating.


The Esxi option is also interesting since you can use some of your actual hardware in the VM ("Passthru") but I'd suggest if you are new to VM's then use the VMWARE option to start with.

There's also an interesting feature in VMware WORKSTATION (this is a paid app -- you don't really need this unless you anticipate doing a huge amount of development on many different VM's) where the disks can be set to NON-persistant -- this means that at the end of the session all changes are backed off and the disks are restored to the initial state.

Bit of "light bed time reading" for you I'm afraid.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[theveterans]

I just wanted to say that I'm also using VMware player to virtualize Windows Server 2012 R2 on my laptop. There are no problems that I found with the VMware tools nor functionality (well you can't use Hyper-V when the OS is virtualized). Virtualized Bluetooth doesn't work though. I use it run Metro Apps and Metro games (Pinball FX2, Adera, Jetpack Joyride, etc), but I've never used it as a "server". I don't know if it can actually do "server" roles (can be configured on the server manager) since it's inside a VM.

 

[ascomputers]

lovely. will keep you posted once i have had a play with this over the weekend.

great little machine for the price. just need to get some more RAM as only supplied 2GB. ESXi needs at least 4GB.

 

[ascomputers]

hi all,

just have a question that you might be able to help with. I purchased HP microsoft windows small business server 2011 client access licenses suite from CCL Computers the other day.

no disc or link down download the software. called CCL who were no help at all informing me that i needed to contact microsoft directly.

this may sound like a silly question but were do you find the download for this content? why sell a product with no disc or download link?

thanks
andrew

 

[Shadowjk]

Did you purchase the operating system or just the CALs? The CALs are just licenses that dictate how's my users or devices can be connected in the client/server network. The operating system will have a different license.

For example, I have Windows Server 2012 R2 license for the operating system and then 5 additional CALs that state that I can have 5 users that can access the server at any one time.

Josh

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
for testing you don't need to install extra CALS - obviously for running Production type applications you need to.

You can install things like Office on the server - use the Terminal Service key from TechNet (Office 2010) rather than the standard one --you don't need to install the VL version.

Access the server via RDP is probably the easiest way -- then I'd try and set it up as a VPN and then you can have all sorts of fun with it. There's some quite decent FREE VPN software out there too.

(Accessing the server remotely by ONE user doesn't require a CAL also I believe that you can have several RDP connections as well - 4 I believe (although that was with W2003 server so it might have changed a bit).


Note if you run your Virtual Server in the background you can connect to it without even needing a User Id / Logon id on the HOST too - so the host can just be left trundling away in the corner with nobody logged on. Just set the VM to run in the background.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[ascomputers]

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2011 - 644261-B21 - CCL Computers

 

[Shadowjk]

My assumption is that you have purchased a CAL and not the operating system. The website appears to be extremely vague and not showing any identification between the two types. My main judgement for this is the price. £35 for a server operating system? That's lower than Windows 7 client operating system!

It would appear that you would need something like this:

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server Standard 2011 - T72-02881 - CCL Computers

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server Essentials 2011 - 2VG-00202 - CCL Computers

That being said the specification stated that the product was an operating system under form factor therefore I would be on the phone demanding what I paid for or a full refund for false advertisement.

Josh

 

[ascomputers]

Hi Shadowjk... agreed. appreciate that you have the same thoughts as mayself.

i also asked some questions before buying and at no point did they mention that i could not run this as an operating system and not just a cal license.