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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.