Windows Server Lab 2022 (with Basic Theoretical Concepts)

Explore how Windows Server 2016 storage planning guides disk and volume management, including choosing between MBR and GPT partition tables, basic vs dynamic disks, file systems, ReFS, and VHDs.

Compare basic and dynamic disks in Windows Server 2016, explain primary and extended partitions and volumes, and describe conversion rules and data-loss risks.

Compare FAT, NTFS, and ReFS on Windows Server 2016, examining limits, security features such as ACLs and encryption, and practical use including exFAT for external media.

Compare NTFS and ReFS, explore sector size and allocation unit considerations, and view a demo configuring ReFS for enhanced data integrity and fault tolerance.

Learn to create, attach, and manage virtual hard disks (VHD and VHDX) in Windows Server, using disk management and PowerShell to mount, format, and boot from VHDs.

Compare and choose disk types such as ide, sata, scsi, sas, and ssd based on iops, speed, reliability, and cost for server and client storage.

Learn how Windows Server 2016 manages volumes on dynamic disks. Describe and configure simple, spanned, striped, mirrored, and RAID 5 volumes, including fault tolerance and parity.

Learn to create and manage disk volumes using server manager, disk management, diskpart, and Windows PowerShell in Windows Server 2016, including initializing disks, formatting NTFS, and assigning drive letters.

Explore how raid combines disks into fault-tolerant arrays using mirroring and parity to boost redundancy and performance, and compare hardware versus software raid on windows server.

Plan and compare storage options for data center infrastructure, including DAS, NAS, SAN, Fibre Channel, iSCSI, and FCoE, in virtualized environments. Describe when to use block-level versus file-level storage.

Discuss which storage solutions your organization uses, including DAS, NAS, and storage area networks, and compare benefits such as easy management and features like snapshots and replication.

Direct attached storage (DAS) connects disks directly to a server, with types like sata, sas, and ssds, offering easy deployment and low cost but backup challenges.

Explore network attached storage (nas) that provides file level access over a network via cifs/smb and nfs, with centralized storage, data as files and folders, and plug-and-play deployment.

Discover how storage area networks enable high-speed, block-level access to centralized storage pools. Explore Fibre Channel over Ethernet and iSCSI, LUNs, redundancy, and management complexities.

Compare DHS, NAS, and S.A. storage topologies, weighing cost, expansion, and administration while highlighting scenarios for Hyper-V clusters, virtualization, and tiered storage with storage spaces and replication.

Block-level storage and file-level storage offer data arrangements used together in enterprises, with block storage delivered via iSCSI or Fibre Channel and file storage using CFS or NFS on top.

Compare fibre channel, iSCSI, and fibre channel over ethernet to determine san protocol needs. Learn iSCSI best practices, including dedicated TCP/IP networks and diskless booting from iSCSI targets.

Evaluate advantages and disadvantages of Fibre Channel infrastructure, including storage networks up to 128 gigabits per second per port and Fibre Channel over Ethernet as an option using existing Ethernet.

Explore the considerations for implementing Fibre Channel in a storage environment, including infrastructure requirements, dedicated fabric switches, cabling, bandwidth, reliability, security, and total cost.

iSCSI enables remote storage access by transmitting SCSI commands over TCP/IP networks, using initiators and targets over Ethernet; optimize with a dedicated network for performance.

Explore the two key iSCSI components—target server and initiator—and how Windows Server 2016 provides block storage, virtual disks, authentication, and management via server manager or PowerShell.

Assess your infrastructure and staff requirements before implementing iSCSI, and plan for network speed, high availability, security, and vendor guidance for Exchange and SQL Server deployments.

Explore the physical foundation of storage systems by examining adapters and controllers, including network adapters, converged network adapters, Infiniband host channel adapters, and disk controllers, and their best-use scenarios.

Explore iSNS, DCB, and MPO to support iSCSI targets on high speed converged networks, delivering redundancy and performance by configuring MPO.

discover how iSNS uses a central ESN server, the SNS protocol, and a database to automate storage discovery and configuration across iSCSI and fibre channel devices.

Explore how data center bridging converges multiple physical networks into a single infrastructure, using congestion notification, priority-based flow control, and enhanced transmission selection, with Windows Server configuration via PowerShell.

MPIO provides multiple physical paths from a computer to storage, boosting redundancy and throughput. It supports high availability through failover clustering and load balancing.

Explore how SMB, the client-server file sharing protocol since 1984, negotiates versions, enables auditing, and evolves with SMB 3.x enhancements for storage, encryption, and scale-out file shares.

Explore how to create and configure SMB file shares in Windows Server using Server Manager and PowerShell, including share and NTFS permissions, profiles, and bandwidth controls.

Trace the evolution of NFS from its 1984 version to 4.1, including exports, clustering, and Kerberos authentication, and see how Windows enables cross-platform access via NFS client and server.

Configure NFS shares with quick and advanced profiles, enable Kerberos V5 authentication, or no server authentication, and map UID/GID for access.

Assess cost-effective, scalable storage solutions that balance capacity, performance, and resiliency using industry-standard networks, a mix of solid-state drives and hard disk drives, and disaggregated compute and storage for scaling.

Learn how storage spaces provide storage virtualization in Windows Server by combining physical discs into storage pools and creating virtual disks from pool space with resiliency and fixed provisioning.

Explore Storage Spaces layouts—simple, mirrors, and parity—and learn how storage pools use data striping, columns, and interleave to boost performance and fault tolerance.

Explore changes to file and storage services in Windows Server, including storage spaces direct, storage replica, QoS, data deduplication, and larger volumes up to 64 TB.

See how storage spaces enable aggregating drives into pools for scalable, reliable, and cost-effective storage, with hot spares, auto repair, and diverse resiliency options for Hyper-V and SMB deployments.

Learn to manage storage spaces with failover clustering and cluster shared volumes for high availability and Sophos deployments, using server manager and PowerShell to configure storage pools and virtual disks.

Design a fault-tolerant storage spaces solution that tolerates disk and enclosure failures using two-way mirror or parity spaces, a clustered storage pool, and redundant connections to keep services running.

Expand the storage pool by adding physical disks, but first assess block distribution across disks using the storage layout options and determine column usage with Get-VirtualDisk.

Monitor storage behavior to ensure reliability, availability, and optimal performance using the event log, performance counters, and PowerShell for storage spaces and storage pools.

Discover how data deduplication reduces storage capacity by storing data in less space through variable-size chunking and compression, boosting efficiency for file servers and virtualization.

Explore the data deduplication components in Windows Server, from the filter driver and optimization to garbage collection and scrubbing, including chunk store, pass points, and corruption repair.

Plan and deploy data deduplication on Windows Server 2022 by selecting target deployments, identifying suitable volumes, and configuring optimization, scrubbing, and garbage collection schedules.

Evaluate deduplication savings across content types and shares with the evaluation tool, and apply deduplication to user documents and virtualization libraries to achieve up to 70–95% storage savings.

Monitor and maintain data deduplication in Windows Server by verifying optimization efficiency, tuning storage volumes for data churn, planning volume sizes up to 64 terabytes, and troubleshooting issues.

Explore how data deduplication speeds backup and restore on Windows Server 2016, reducing volume size, enabling optimized backups and various file- and volume-level restore scenarios.

Identify hardware prerequisites for installing hyper-v, including a 64-bit processor with slt and vm monitor mode extensions, and a minimum of four gigabytes of memory, with high availability planning.

Enable nested virtualization in Hyper-V by exposing virtualization extensions on a host VM and setting its config version to 8.0; ensure at least 4 gb RAM and mac address spoofing.

Explore hyper-v storage options by comparing virtual hard disk formats such as VHD and VHDX, and types like fixed, dynamic, differencing, and pass-through, including conversion implications.

Use VHD formatted virtual hard disks for most workloads, with dynamically expanding VHDs offering comparable production performance; monitor max size, as space can run out and disk linking impacts performance.

Explore where to store virtual hard disks for Hyper-V, balancing local or remote storage, performance, redundancy, and growth considerations when using virtual fibre channel and SAN storage.

Learn how Hyper-V stores VM configuration, checkpoints, and virtual hard disk files on SMB 3.0 shares, with Windows Server 2012 or later, and use scale-out file servers and storage QoS.

Identify and configure external, internal, and private Hyper-V networks via the virtual switch manager, map external switches to adapters, apply VLANs, and explore Windows Server 2016 features like embedded teaming.

Learn best practices for configuring Hyper-V virtual networks to ensure adequate bandwidth and prevent bottlenecks. Use network teaming, per-virtual-adapter bandwidth, and network virtualization for isolation.

Explore new Hyper-V networking features in Windows Server, including software defined networking, QoS integration, VMQ and multi queues, and RDMA for virtual switches.

Learn to manage Hyper-V virtual machine configuration versions, distinguish generation one and two VMs, and use hot adding and shielded VMs to upgrade Windows Server 2016 and later.

Explore generation two virtual machines in Hyper-V, including secure boot, UEFI firmware, and PXE boot, while noting you select the generation at creation and cannot migrate.

Hot add memory and network adapters can be modified on generation two Hyper-V virtual machines without downtime, while dynamic memory allocates memory on demand with configurable min and max.

Understand shielded virtual machines that use bitlocker encryption and a host guardian service to protect data on generation two VMs with a software-based virtual TPM, enabling guarded fabric and attestation.

Configure Hyper-V virtual machines with integration services, smart paging, and resource metering; enable discrete device assignment and secure boot, and apply best practices for dynamic memory and dedicated storage.

Learn to manage Hyper-V virtual machines: monitor states, use standard and production checkpoints, export and import VMs, and use PowerShell Direct for offline OS management.

Master Hyper-V import and export to move virtual machines and support live migration, with options to register in place, restore, or copy, and to export with or without checkpoints.

Learn to use Windows PowerShell Remoting and PowerShell Direct to run cmdlets on remote hosts and virtual machines, with or without network connectivity, via Hyper-V host and administrator authentication.

Learn what nano server is and how to install Linux server, then complete post-installation tasks on nano server and perform remote management.

Learn to deploy and manage Windows Server containers and Hyper-V containers on Windows Server 2016 using Docker, with concepts like container host, image, sandbox, and isolation.

Explore Hyper-V containers as lightweight, isolated environments with a stripped down Windows Server base image inside a Hyper-V VM, offering kernel isolation and rapid deployment.

Compare Windows Server containers and Hyper-V containers for enterprise use, highlighting stateless apps, no GUI, rapid test deployments, layered images, and strong isolation for multi-tenant scenarios.

Prepare nano server and Windows server host for containers by creating nano server image, enabling Hyper-V and container features, and configuring nat-based virtual switch with 172.16.0.0/12 and Mac address spoofing.

Install Nano server by preparing Windows Server 2016 with Hyper-V, mounting media, and using PowerShell to create a Nano server image and VHD for a Hyper-V VM.

Configure post-installation tasks on nano server, join to the adatum domain, enable PowerShell remoting and file sharing, map a network drive, copy the file, and restart the server.

Use PowerShell to configure nano server, inspect features and roles, install file server with what-if, and connect via a remote PS session; then verify IP, startup, and shares.

Enable remote management with server manager, add nano server one, and create an smb share named data. Test the file and web servers with an html page served by iis.

Explore nano server fundamentals, a lightweight Windows Server 2016 option with smaller footprint and no local tie-in, deployable via PowerShell to a VHD for Hyper-V and IIS.

Explore nano server installation from Windows Server 2016 media, featuring three deployment methods and PowerShell-driven image creation.