Windows Server 2008 as the Advantage of Higher Performance and Scalable Growth - Assignment Example

Computer Sciences and Information Technology Windows Server 2008R by Computer sciences and Information technology windows server 2008R Window server 2008 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft. It was created by the manufacturing operating system in 2009, 22nd July and launched in October 22nd same year. Window server 2008 R is built on Windows NT 6.1, same kernel used with the client oriented Windows 7. Windows server 2008 supports up to 64 physical processors or up to 256 logical processors per system. (Mathews, 2008) Window Server 2008 has a number of requirements and specifications that must be met before its installation. Some of the specifications include specifications for server and database systems which should include software, hardware and manufactures specifications. The hardware recommendations and specifications for windows server 2008 include, the processor must be a minimum of 1 GHz for processors with the rating of x86 and 1.4GHz for processors with the rating of x64. The recommended clock speed for the processor is 2 GHz which is the most ideal processor for optimum performance of the Windows Server 2008. For Itanium based systems, for Windows Server 2008 to be installed properly, an intel Itanium 2 processor is required. Another hardware requirement for the installation of Windows Server 2008 is a minimum memory of 512 Megabytes Random Access Memory (RAM). However the recommended memory value for installation is 2 Gigabytes RAM or greater. The maximum memory for a 32 bit system for a standard system is 4Gigabytes while for a Datacenter or an enterprise 64 Gigabytes would work perfectly. For a 64 bit system, the maximum memory for a standard system is 32 Gigabytes while for a Datacenter or an Enterprise, 1 terabyte and 2 terabyte for an Itanium based system. (Mathews, 2008) Available disk space is another hardware specification requirement for the installation of a Windows Server 2008 operating system. The minimum available disk space for installation should be 10 gigabytes while the recommended available disk space is 40 gigabytes. However, for computers with more than 16 gigabytes of Random Access Memory (RAM), they will require more disk space for the installation of a Windows Server 2008 operating system. This is for the purposes of paging, hibernation and dump files. The final hardware requirement for the installation of Windows Server 2008 operating system is the display and the peripherals. These include a super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution monitor, a keyboard and a Microsoft mouse (or any other) or compatible pointing devices. Windows Server 2008 operating system also requires a drive, i.e. DVD-ROM drive (or any other compatible drive). However, the above hardware requirements may vary based on your system configuration and the applications and features you choose to install. Processor performance for instance, is not only dependent upon the clock frequency of the processor only but also the number of cores and the size of the processor cache. Disk space requirements for the system partition are approximate. Itanium-based and x64 based operating systems will vary from these disks size estimates. Additional hard disk space may be required if you are installing over the network. (Mathews, 2008) Some of the software requirements for the installation of Windows Server 2008 are for instance, Windows Server 2008 is supported in virtual machine environments running on the Hyper-V role in windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter editions. The virtual machine must run an operating system supported for the specific server edition. Consequently, in addition to resources required by the parent partition, each virtual machine must be provided with sufficient processor resources, memory resources and disk resources for its server 2008 instance. Within a Hyper-V role on Windows Server 2008 a maximum of four virtual processors can be allocated to virtual machines running windows server 2008 32-bit or 64-bit editions. A maximum of 2 virtual processors can be allocated to virtual computers that are running windows server 2003 32-bit edition. For virtual computers hat host other operating systems, a maximum of one virtual processor can be allocated to virtual computers. Microsoft Windows Installer 4.5 or a later version is also another software requirement for the installation of Windows Server 2008. After installing the required components, the server setup will verify that the computer where the server will be installed meets the other requirements for it to successfully install the windows server 2008. Windows server 2008 requires the installation of internet software say Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or a later version. This is because the internet software is required for Microsoft Management Console (MMC), SQL Server Management Studio, Business Intelligence Development Studio the report designer component of reporting service and HTML help. It also requires the installation of network software. The network software usually supports the following network protocols which are the shared memory protocol, named pipes protocol and TCP/IP. Windows Server 2008 will require the server to install a framework which will install the .NET framework 3.5, SQL Server native client and the SQL server setup support files. It is also recommended that installation of reporting service on windows 2008. Windows server 2008 reflects the latest technological advances, including enhanced coverage in the areas of security and high availability. Before installation of the Windows Server 2008 software, it is highly recommended that you backup your data. The installation process for Windows Server 2008 To start the installation process, insert the Windows Server 2008 installation media into your drive. You can install the windows server 2008 from any of your computer’s drives like the DVD-ROM, or the removable drive. After inserting the installation media, restart your computer. (Kelbley, Sterling and Stewart, 2009) After restarting your computer, you will be prompted for installation language and regional options of time and currency formats and also the keyboard layouts. Select your appropriate formats then click next. (Kelbley, Sterling and Stewart, 2009) An installation window for Windows Server 2008 will then appear, click the install now button to begin the installation process. (Kelbley, Sterling and Stewart, 2009) In the next window the admin will be prompted to enter their activation product id. This is a key that is used to detect and ensure that the windows product you are installing is genuine and not pirated. It is also used to ensure that you purchased the windows product you are installing. You can chose to enter the activation product id now or you can automatically activate windows the moment the installation finishes then click next. In case you do not have the product id, you can leave the box blank and click next but you will be prompted to enter the product id the moment the installation process is complete. (Kelbley, Sterling and Stewart, 2009) In case you did not enter the product id or you entered the wrong product id, the installation process will not determine the kind of windows server 2008 license you are currently having, and therefore you will be prompted to select your correct version in this screen (Kelbley, Sterling and Stewart, 2009). In this screen select the full version of the right windows version you are prompted then click next. This windows displays the license terms and conditions that apply to the users who are running on Windows Server 2008. If you do not accept the terms and conditions, the installation process will end at this point. Read and accept the license term and conditions by selecting the checkbox then click next. This window lets users which type of installation they wish to perform. If you were running on another version of Windows operating system, you can either choose Upgrade or Custom. If you are installing windows server 2008 for the first time, the only option available is custom (advanced) installation. Click on the custom (advanced) installation mode. The next window will then prompt you where you want to install your windows server 2008. If you are installing the server on a regular IDE hard disk, select the first disk, Disk 0, then click next. If you are installing on a hard disk connected to a SCSI controller, click on load driver then insert the media provided by the controller’s manufacture. This is the window also where you create partitions, for those users who wish to partition their disk drives. To partition your disk drive, you will click on drive options and select the appropriate partitions for your system. For our case we are just installing the windows server 2008 on a regular IDE hard disk so select Disk 0 then click next. This is now the step where the installation process begins. The installation process will entail a number of smaller processes like copying of the installation files, extracting files, installing features, installing updates and finally completing installation. The time taken for this step varies depending on the hardware specifications of your system. Faster disks will perform fast installations compared to slower disks. After the installation process, your computer will reboot automatically. During the booting process, you will have to eject the installation drive you were using (the installation DVD) as the server will hang without the ability to boot. After the server reboots, you will be prompted with the new windows server 2008 login screen. Press CTRL + ALT + DELETE to log in. On this window click on other user button that appears on the screen. You will have to type the administrator and change the default password on the first log in on this window. You will have to enter your password two times in order to ensure consistency then click on the button with an arrow or press enter. You will then be prompted that your password has been changed. Click OK. The desktop will appear and you can now start working on your windows server 2008. This shows that the installation process is over and that the windows server 2008 is ready for use. Group policies allow the implementation of specific configurations for users and computers (Technet.microsoft.com, 2014). The network will be based on Active Directory Domain Service in order to allow group policies to be implemented. The computers in the different sites in Midlands Training Centers for instance Walsall Site, Stoke-on-Trent Site and the other sites must be joined to the domain. Using group policy objects, users in site code TNT_001 and TNT_002 will have the privilege of BYOD functionality while the other users from TNT_003, TNT_004 and TNT_005 shall not have the BYOD functionality. Group policies will allow the sites in Midlands Training Center to be able to communicate with one another because they shall be under the same domain. Group policies also will help the administrator of the systems using active directory domain service to centralize management of the systems especially those in the Midland center because he can configure many computers from one place. Using windows server 2008 group policies can be managed using the group management console where you can view and configure all the domains group policies (Technet.microsoft.com, 2014). At the top level of the active directory domain service are the sites which shall be Walsall, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, Evesham and Leicester. Within the domain we will create organization units which will contain the computers and users. The domain for Midlands Training Centre shall contain the users and the computers from the five sites in the center. Automation of the client operating system in windows server 2008 will help deploy the operating system images to target computers or to a virtual hard disk. It is generally used by organizations with 200-500 clients and at least each location with more than 25 users. They usually have managed networks in distributed locations that are running a windows server operating system. Automation of the client operating system in the Midland Center for Training Needs Today will help the center to be able to manage the five sites networks virtually from their main office. The main office shall be set to be Site TNT_001 which has 175 users in four training rooms because it is the largest and it shall have the largest network. Automating the client operating system will provide the users with user state migration tool which is ideal for transferring windows user settings from one installation to another as part of an operating system upgrade or wipe and reload recovery. (Technet.microsoft.com, 2014) Solid state disk also known as solid state drive is a data storage device that incorporates the use of integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data obstinately. It uses electronic interfaces compatible with traditional block I/O hard drives hence permitting simple replacement in common applications. New technologies like SATA incorporate the use of SSD. Solid state drives have several advantages over the magnetic drives including the drive does not have any moving parts because all the storages are handled by flash memory chips. This provides advantages such as less power usage, faster data access and higher reliability. Redundant array of independent disk (RAID) is a technology of grouping several physical drives in a computer into an array that you can define as one or more logical drives. Each logical drive appears to the operating system as a single drive. This grouping technique enhances logical drive capacity and performance beyond the physical limitations of a single physical drive. Grouping physical drives into a logical drive, the SeveRAID controller can transfer data in parallel from the multiple drives in the array. This parallel transfer increases the data transfer rates several times higher than the non-arrayed drives. This increases speed makes the system better able to meet the throughput or the productivity needs of the multiple user network environment.. Redundancy is usually used to improve the reliability and availability of a system. Dual redundancy uses two functional equivalent units. The most challenging aspect of this aspect is determining when to switch over to the secondary unit. You can either create a tiebreaker vote or simply designate the secondary unit as the default winner. Adding redundancy increases complexity of a system design and error detection incase a computer should give the same results gives different results. In hot pluggable, the secondary unit is powered up and can optically monitor the device under control (DUC) if you use the secondary unit as the voter to decide when to switch over, you can eliminate the need for a third party to this job. Each site will require several storages for it to allow users to store software and operating systems. The ideal required storage space shall be a minimum of 1 terabyte for sites that are expected to store large software and other operating systems. In each site, the users shall have an allowance of up to several gigabytes for those who exceed (Kelbley, Sterling and Stewart, 2009). Backup solutions in windows server 2008 are important especially to the user. There are five major ways of creating reliable backup to user data in windows server 2008. One can use shadow project 4 which is a feature rich tool that can perform everything including recovery of dissimilar hardware. It also includes an easy to use tool that allows the user to consolidate backup image files and convert the backups to either .VHD or .VMDK virtual machines. It also has granular recovery feature that allows for quick recovery of individual files from within a backup. Another way to perform backup is Symantec backup exec which performs backup solutions and also with it it is easier for the user to know whether backup has succeeded and when it has worked.it also offers solutions for exchange and SQL. Acronis backup and restore is another backup tool that ensures that there is room on your external drive for your latest backup. Using Acronis, you can overwrite the old backup and or go by the cleanup rules. With this tool, you can take a full image of a backup and restore it to any hardware. Acronis has adds-on for Exchange and SQL Servers. (Jack Wallen, 2012) Another backup feature is the Windows NT Backup which is a free backup that comes with any windows server. It will offer additional features such as clearing the exchange log for the user hence saving the user from unnecessary data backups, which causes their backup size to get out. Carbonite is another backup feature which allows the users to perform online data backups. It provides for backup tools and can perform any backup of data for the user. In order to perform online data using carbonite for windows server the user must use the business premier plan which will allow the user to include as many servers running windows server 2008. (Jack Wallen, 2012) In order for the user to ensure that he has enough space for generation backup he should ensure that he switches to simple recovery modes which usually safes more space and ensures that there is space available for generation backup. (Brent Ozar, 2009). By implementing this, it ensures minimal logs which helps save space. In order to provide higher performance systems in the bigger centers, you will need to implement at least two physical servers. By implementing two servers, this shall have the effect of the availability in terms of the number of clients who can access the server at a particular time, resource management and manageability adjustments. Operating on two servers will increase the number of clients as the users will be able to open a conection to the single SQL server and the SQL server will be able to access information from many other servers. Integrating two servers will also increase the clients reliability as each client will be able to access directly the servers regardless of the number of clients present in the sites. Using two physical servers will also increase the performance of the servers in each site. This is possible because more than two physical servers will provide space for new servers and also reducing the operational expenditure. The big centers may implement more than two servers in order to increase the space in their data centers. . This also means that, operating in more than one server will enable the Midland Center to be able to increase the number of web servers they are running on. Implementing two servers also gives the advantage of higher performance and scalable growth. Through application of two servers, the centers will run to capacity reducing inefficiencies and allowing for more sites. This will be possible because there would be spread of the load of the number of servers and sites present in one server to the other server installed in the center. Implementing two servers will also have the effect pf reducing network usage and also improving the servers performance because there will be distribution of the user population to the other servers. Implementing two servers will also increase the performance of the servers. This is especially during fault of a server the other server will be able to manage the clients transactions and also the traffic from servers in the site. References Iis.net, (2014). Install Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 : The Official Microsoft IIS Site. [online] Available at: http://www.iis.net/learn/install/installing-iis-7/install-windows-server-2008-and-windows-server-2008-r2 [Accessed 6 May. 2014]. Kelbley, J., Sterling, M. and Stewart, A. (2009). Windows server 2008 Hyper-V. 1st ed. Indianapolis, Ind.: Wiley Publishing. Learningtree.com, (2014). Windows Server Group Policy Management - Course 963. [online] Available at: http://www.learningtree.com/courses/963/windows-server-group-policy-management/ [Accessed 6 May. 2014]. Matthews, M. (2008). Microsoft Windows Server 2008. 1st ed. New York, NY [u.a.]: McGraw- Hill. Technet.microsoft.com, (2014). Windows 8 – Deploy, Automate, Configure, Lite-Touch | TechNet. [online] Available at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dn282138 [Accessed 6 May. 2014]. Read More