Windows Server 2016 - Practical Guide for Beginners

Explore Active Directory basics, including domains and trees, learn how to add computers to a domain, and review Windows Server 2016 system requirements for your first server installation.

Explore the basic Active Directory topology, including domains, trees, forests, and organizational units, and learn to manage users and groups using Active Directory Users and Computers.

Implement a centralized domain with Active Directory Domain Services to manage users, access, and devices, and promote servers to domain controllers for redundancy.

Discover what's new in Windows Server 2016, including Nano Server, core set, and nested virtualization, along with edition options, system requirements, and essentials for small businesses.

Explore VirtualBox tuning for Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10, including powering off VMs to change RAM, choosing NAT, internal, or bridged networks, and installing guest additions.

Explore a new cool feature of Windows Server 2016: resizing memory for running virtual machines in Hyper-V, demonstrated with Windows 8 and Windows 10 VMs.

Install Windows 10 in a new virtual machine with two gigabytes of RAM, choose a local account by disabling internet, then update and install VirtualBox guest additions.

Change the server name, set a static IP, disable the firewall, and verify connectivity with ipconfig and ping on Windows Server 2016, preparing for DNS and active directory.

Install Active Directory domain services and DNS, promote the server to a new domain controller for a fresh forest, and verify the AD deployment using Server Manager.

Use the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in to manage users, computers, and groups, create accounts, set options, and prepare for joining Windows Server 2016 to a domain.

Join a Windows 10 PC to a domain, reboot, and sign in as a domain user. Verify domain membership with whoami and understand no local admin rights.

Learn how to map a network drive in Windows Server 2016 using the GUI and the net use command, and deploy drives to many users with GPO.

Learn how to enable and use remote access tools for Windows Server 2016, including rdp, vnc, and alternatives like TeamViewer, while securing connections with vpn networks and avoiding insecure internet exposure.

Enable remote desktop on Windows Server 2016 and allow a user group; connect from a Windows 10 client via RDP and explore multi-user sessions.

Identify key protocols in chapter six, including DCP, VPN, and virtualization, and understand IP ports and related terms. Build comfort with these terms to support practical deployment.

Explore how the domain name system translates names into IP addresses, test DNS resolution with ping and nslookup, and manage A and CNAME records on Windows Server.

Learn how DHCP assigns IP addresses from a server to devices on a network, using client discovery and server responses, scopes, reservations, and options like gateway and DNS.

Understand how IP addresses define networks, explain IPv4 and IPv6 differences, and learn how subnet masks determine if devices share the same subnet or local network in Windows Server.

Contrast DCP's reliable, connection-oriented delivery with UDP's fast, best-effort transmission, highlighting concepts like sessions, sequence numbers, windowing, and flow control.

Explore the control panel and group policy objects, and deploy a GPO to restrict desktop and control panel access. Learn what comes next after mastering Windows Server 2016 basics.

Create and link a group policy object (GPO) in Group Policy Management to apply user and computer settings via an OU, exploring administrative templates and control panel policies.

Demonstrates creating and linking a GPO in a domain via Group Policy Management and Active Directory Users and Computers, enforcing desktop item removal and control panel restrictions with reboot testing.

Add the dhcp role to Windows Server 2016 and authorize dns with active directory. Create a scope and ip pool, configure gateway and dns settings, then verify assignments with ipconfig.

Explore additional server roles, including hyper-v and web server, with beginner-friendly labs. Learn to configure remote access, network protection, and wsus to centrally manage updates.

Identify server ports, including USB (USB 3 blue) and LAN ports, and management ports like iLO. Small servers require USB and display ports to connect keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

Unbox the HP microserver Gen10, see quiet, compact hardware, learn easy drive installation for up to four drives, enable mirroring, and prepare a Windows server setup.

Explore how raid configurations balance redundancy and speed, including raid 0 with two drives, raid 1 mirrors, and raid 5 requiring at least three drives.

Explore proactive monitoring and integration for Windows Server 2016, using a monitoring application, creating scripts, and learning about simple network monitoring protocol, vpn integration, radius authentication, backups, and business continuity.

Install and configure PRTG, apply a free 14–30 day license for up to 100 sensors, and discover and monitor DNS, Active Directory, and Hyper-V.

Learn the basics of PowerShell for Windows Server, including running a first script and viewing domain group members. See the downloadable script to understand what's inside.

Learn PowerShell basics for Windows Server 2016, using Get-ADUser and New-ADGroup within Active Directory, and leverage command completion for efficient administration.

Configure a RADIUS server and NPS to authenticate VPN users by linking an Active Directory, creating a network policy, and defining VPN conditions with a friendly name and group.

Configure radius and NPS on Windows Server 2016 by creating a policy, mapping friendly names to groups, and testing with a switch to authenticate with active directory.

Learn how port forwarding maps a public port to a private IP, enabling remote desktop protocol (RDP) connections to a device behind a router.

Configure port forwarding for rdp on a test router to map the laptop’s local ip to a public port, then assess security risks and consider vpn or remote tools.

Explore Windows editions differences, join devices to a domain, and manage users with Active Directory and its tools, including creating users, disabling accounts, resetting passwords, and setting logon hours.