Windows Server 2008 R2 - Changes That Simplify Tasks

Windows Server 2008 R2 has added several new capabilities that simplify tasks. These capabilities could appear to be simply cosmetic changes; however, they actually provide significant benefits for administrative management.



New Server Manager Tool
A tool that was added in Windows Server 2008 is the Server Manager console. Server Manager consolidates all of the administrative management consoles from Windows 2000/2003 into a single management tool. Now instead of having to open up the Active Directory Users and Computers console, Control Panel system properties, the DNS management console, and so on, and then toggle to the appropriate console you want, all of the information is now available in one screen. Updated in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the ability for an administrator to use the Server Manager tool to access not only the server resources on the current server system, but also to remotely access server resources through the Server Manager tool on remote server systems. This remote capability of Server Manager minimizes the need of the administrator to remotely log on to systems to manage them; it allows the administrator to sit at a single Server Manager console and gain access to other servers in the organization.

Additionally, other tools like the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) show up in Server Manager under the Features node and provide an administrator with the ability to edit group policies, change policies, and apply policies from the same console to which the administrator can make DNS changes, add users, and change IP configuration changes to site configuration settings.



PowerShell for Administrative Tasks
Another updated server feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the extension of PowerShell for server administration and management. PowerShell has now been extended to be a full scripting language for administration tasks in Windows Server 2008 R2. PowerShell was first introduced in Exchange 2007 as the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) that underlies all functions of Exchange 2007 administration. PowerShell (version 2.0) is now installed by default in Windows Server 2008 R2, as opposed to being an add-in feature in Windows Server 2008. As a built-in component, all administrative tasks are now fully PowerShell enabled.

PowerShell in Windows Server 2008 R2 provides the ability for administrators to script processes, such as adding users, adding computers, or even more complicated tasks such as querying a database, extracting usernames, and then creating Active Directory users, and to provision Exchange mailboxes all from a PowerShell script. Additionally, PowerShell in Windows Server 2008 R2 allows an administrator to script installation processes so that if, for example, the administrator creates a Remote Desktop server or web server with specific settings, the administrator can use a PowerShell script and deploy additional servers all identically configured using the same script over and over.

And with PowerShell 2.0 built in to Windows Server 2008 R2, PowerShell scripts and commands can be run against remote servers. This enables an administrator to sit at one server and remotely execute scripts on other servers in the environment. Using secured server-to-server session communications, an administrator can configure a group of servers, manage a group of servers, and reboot a group of servers all from a series of PowerShell commands.

All future server products released from Microsoft will have the PowerShell foundation built in to the core Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system, thus making it easier for products running on Windows Server 2008 R2 to use the same administrative scripting language. PowerShell is covered in detail in Chapter 21, “Automating Tasks Using PowerShell Scripting.”



Active Directory Administrative Center
New to Windows Server 2008 R2 and built on PowerShell v2.0, the Active Directory Administrative Center is a customizable console that an organization can create for specific administrators in the organization. As an example, an organization might have an administrator who only needs to reset passwords, or another administrator who only needs or manage print queues. Rather than giving the administrator access to the full Active Directory Users and Computers or Print Management consoles, an Active Directory Administrative console can be created with just a task or two specific to the administrator’s responsibilities.

The console is built on PowerShell, so underlying the GUI are simple PowerShell scripts. Anything that can be done in PowerShell on a Windows Server 2008 R2 server can be front-ended by the administration console.

Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed