Advanced Skills: Mastering Microsoft Server 2012 R2

A short overview video of the expectations for building your virtual lab environment using VirtualBox.

How to easily download legal ISO images of Microsoft operating systems.

In this first lab of the course, you will create a virtual install of Server 2012 r2 full install. These first three labs are the foundation for all labs to follow. It is imperative students successfully complete this first series of three labs. Windows users can use either VMWare or VirtualBox. MAC users will need to use VirtualBox, VMWare Fusion for MAC and Parallels for MAC.

These first three labs are the foundation for all labs to follow. It is imperative students successfully complete this first series of three labs. Windows users can use either VMWare or VirtualBox. MAC users will need to use VirtualBox, VMWare Fusion for MAC and Parallels for MAC.

In this lab, you will install Windows Server 2012 Core. When installed as a core (default option), the server not only has a smaller footprint but also needs less patching. For lab users and testers of  Server 2012 r2, this type of installation saves in storage space.  Especially useful when SSDs are never large enough to contain all your  VMs.

In this short video, you will learn how to take a snapshot of your current configuration that will allow you to roll your machine back to an earlier point in time. Before changing the current configuration of any virtual machine, you can take a snapshot of the current configuration to roll back the machine if something goes wrong.

In this short video and lab, you will learn how to prepare your network for Active Directory.

In this lab, you will learn how to install Active Directory Domain Services using PowerShell.

In this lab, you will learn how to promote Server 2012 to a domain controller using PowerShell.

In this lab, you will learn to switch between a Server 2012 Full install with GUI and Server 2012 minimal install and Server core using PowerShell.

In the lesson, you will learn how to join a Windows 10 client to a Microsoft domain.

In this lesson, you will learn how to install the WDS role on a Windows Server and create a Windows 10 deployment image.

In this lesson, you will learn how to perform an unattended installation of Windows 10 using WDS.

In this lab, you will learn how to transfer the Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) roles for both the forest and the domain using Active Directory.  This is referred to as a graceful transfer and would occur if the domain controller that holds the FSMO roles needed to be taken offline for an extended period or the machine was to be permanently removed from the network.

In this lab, you will learn how to transfer the Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) roles for both the forest and using PowerShell.  This is referred to as a graceful transfer and would occur if the domain controller holding the FSMO roles needed to be taken offline for an extended period or the machine was to be permanently removed from the network.

In this lab, you will learn how to seize the Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) roles using the NTDSUTIL. If the domain controller, which owns the FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operation) roles, has a catastrophic failure, the FSMOs for that machine must be moved to the replica domain controller for the forest or domain.

In this short video presentation, you will learn how to mitigate the loss of your forest root by building a replica for your forest root and having a backup DNS server and DHCP configured for failover.

In this lab, students will learn to set up a Windows Server 2012 two-node cluster. A server cluster is a collection of servers, called nodes, that communicate to make a set of services highly available to clients. Server clusters are based on one of the two clustering technologies in the Microsoft Windows Server 2012 operating systems. The other clustering technology is Network Load Balancing. Server clusters are designed for applications that have long-running in-memory state or frequently updated data. Typical uses for server clusters include file servers, print servers, database servers, and messaging servers.   

In this short video, you will learn how to reset the Directory Services password.

In this short video presentation, you will learn how to backup and restore the Windows registry. 

In this short video, you will learn how to install and use the Windows Server Backup Utility.

In this lab, you will learn to monitor processes and resource usage on a Server 2012 r2. 

In this video presentation, you will learn how to use BGINFO to create a heads up display of your server or clients important information.

In this short video presentation, you will be given a quick overview of the Windows event viewer.

For this lab, you will create a second virtual disk using the settings of your hypervisor. This procedure can be repeated any number of times to create as many of virtual drives as needed for creating additional volumes, a mirrored partition or for a RAID 5.

In this lab, you will learn how to reset a lost administrator password for a Windows Server 2012, 2016 or 2019 standalone server or domain controller. Anyone who works with Microsoft operating systems long enough will be called upon to either reset or attempt to recover a lost or forgotten administrative password. Administrator’s quit or get terminated, and some will reset the administrator password on the way out the door. Office managers forget their server administrator password or the machine has become infected with malware   

In this lab, you will configure your network for IPv6 addressing. Microsoft has a strong history of supporting IPv6; unfortunately, they still have some work ahead of them for the unwary. Microsoft supports IPv6 in Server 2012, but it could be said they support the Microsoft version of IPv6 and not the industry standard.

This lab will provide students with an overview of the IPv6 capabilities in Server 2012 r2 and highlight some potential areas of concern. I won't be going into too much detail about what IPv6 is or how it works, but the lab links to an IPv6 primer.

One main issue is the lack of any real support for configuring IPv6 on Server Core. The sconfig utility does not allow IPv6, so we are left with PowerShell, which is fine as long as you can figure out the correct syntax. Again, Google should be your go-to source.

There are other documented issues with Microsoft and IPv6, mainly with third-party hardware such as routers and firewalls. In addition, there are registry hacks for clients and servers to help get IPv6 working.

The other issue is the total lack of support for mapping network devices and shares using IPv6. The UNC path for a share does not understand IPv6 addressing and treats the letters and the colons as separate drive letters. Microsoft does have a workaround.

This is the most difficult lab of the course. The Server Core portion is what makes this so. If you try and run through the lab, you will crash and burn and experience a feeling best described as 'epic failure.' Slow and steady wins the race! So, again, take your time with this lab. Use Google to find a workaround, and don't forget the basics of troubleshooting network connectivity.

In this short video and lab, you will learn how to install the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) using PowerShell.

In this short video and lab, you will learn how to configure NIC teaming for fault tolerance.

In this short video and lab, you will learn how to create a two-node load balancing cluster.

In this lab, you will learn how to configure the Distributed File System (DFS) for Windows Server 2012, 2016 or 2019. The Distributed File System allows you to set up shared folders deployed on different servers into one or more logically structured namespaces. Each namespace will appear to users as a single shared folder with a series of subfolders.

In this lab, you will install and configure the File Server Resource Manager (FRSM) on Server 2012 R2.  File Server Resource Manager is a set of features that allow you to manage and classify data stored on file servers. The FSRM gives you greater control allowing you to block file types (file screening),  create quotas, and generate storage reports.

In this lab, you will configure the File Server Resource Manager (FRSM) role installed in the previous lab.

In this lab, you will learn to configure FSRM File Screening. File Screening Management allows you to create file screens to block  types of file from being saved on a volume or in a folder tree.

In this lab, you  will learn to configure the File Server Resource Manager Quota Management. By using File Server Resource Manager  to create a quota for a volume or folder, you can limit the disk space  allocated for it.

In this lab, students will configure Work Folders in a domain environment.

In this lab, you will learn to install and configure Remote  Desktop Services for Server 2012 r2 and deploy desktop applications.

In this lab, you will learn how to publish Server Manager on a Windows client using RDS.