This document discusses technology investments that Dario IT Solutions is making, including virtualization, security, and web solutions using Windows Server 2008. It focuses on virtualization using Hyper-V for server consolidation, presentation virtualization using Terminal Services RemoteApp, and improved remote access and management. The investments aim to provide greater administrative control, a more reliable enterprise-class foundation, richer web-based experiences, increased server consolidation, more automation, enhanced remote administration capabilities, anywhere access, and enhanced security.
This is my 75 minutes "highlights" presentation on what's new in WS2012 R2. It's not all encompassing - intended just to get across the key points of the core OS. It followed a "Cloud OS" keynote and preceded a "System Center hybrid cloud" presentation.
This is my 75 minutes "highlights" presentation on what's new in WS2012 R2. It's not all encompassing - intended just to get across the key points of the core OS. It followed a "Cloud OS" keynote and preceded a "System Center hybrid cloud" presentation.
Overview: Woolpack private cloud services
Enables Virtual Data Centers (VDCs)
User friendly Web based Graphical user interface for management
Robust functionality and High level of security
Simulation of various hardware configurations
Provision for huge number of Linux/Windows M/c
Management of multiple storage backend
Best in class integrated solution because of strategic Partnerships
Utilization of existing investments virtualization solutions
Low CAPEX, Low OPEX and Very High ROI
Charges only for the service and not the software
SharePoint Server and Windows 2008 And SQL 2008 with Joel Oleson and Todd KlindtJoel Oleson
Learn what's new in Windows 2008 and SQL 2008 that SharePoint Admins should care about. These are the killer new features that will help you justify the upgrade or help you know what to investigate and validate by Joel Oleson and Todd Klindt.
Delivering Virtualization 2.0 with scalable, easy-to-install, easy-to-manage solution. Save money and improve performance by combining server and storage virtualization.
System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager (SCCM) with Windows IntuneAmit Gatenyo
Microsoft has a history of providing rich IT-infrastructure solutions to help manage every aspect of enterprise operations. Microsoft’s people-centric solution consists of products and technologies that can help IT departments handle the influx of consumer-oriented technology and the work style expectations of users, thereby helping increase productivity and satisfaction for the people within their organizations.
Microsoft’s people-centric IT vision helps organizations enable and embrace the consumerization of IT by:
1. Enabling your end users by allowing users to work on the device(s) of their choice and providing consistent access to corporate resources from those devices.
2. Helping protect your data by protecting corporate information and managing risk.
3. Unifying your environment by delivering comprehensive application and device management from both your existing on-premises infrastructure, including System Center Configuration Manager, Windows Server, and Active Directory, as well as cloud-based services, including Windows Intune and Windows Azure.
Let’s discuss each of these areas in more detail.
ענן פרטי וענן ציבורי: לא שני עולמות מתחרים אלא שני מימדים לאותו העולםAmit Gatenyo
ענן פרטי או ענן ציבורי – איזה מהם מהווה את האופציה החכמה, הכדאית והזולה ביותר? הוויכוח החם שמתקיים כיום בתעשייה סביב שאלה זאת מפספס את המהות האמיתית. אלו לא שני עולמות מתחרים, אלא שני מימדים לאותו העולם.
למעשה, ארגונים לא צריכים להחליט בין ענן ציבורי לפרטי, אלא לעמוד על השאלה כיצד השילוב בין השניים ישרת את העסק שלהם בצורה הטובה ביותר. המטרה הינה לשלב On-Premises עם Off-Premises לכדי סביבה אחת אשר מנוהלת כסביבה אחת - זהו החזון אשר בסופו של דבר יאומץ על ידי רוב הארגונים.
בהרצאה זאת עמית גטניו יפרט מדוע עננים ציבוריים חייבים לווייני On-Premises כדי לנצח ויסביר מדוע סביבות ה-On-Premises לא מסוגלות להיות באמת חזקות ללא חיבור לענן ציבורי.
Dr. Sean Tan, Head of Data Science, Changi Airport Group
Discover how Changi Airport Group (CAG) leverages graph technologies and generative AI to revolutionize their search capabilities. This session delves into the unique search needs of CAG’s diverse passengers and customers, showcasing how graph data structures enhance the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated search results, mitigating the risk of “hallucinations” and improving the overall customer journey.
Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey 2024 by 91mobiles.pdf91mobiles
91mobiles recently conducted a Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey in which we asked over 3,000 respondents about the TV they own, aspects they look at on a new TV, and their TV buying preferences.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
Alt. GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using ...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Encryption in Microsoft 365 - ExpertsLive Netherlands 2024Albert Hoitingh
In this session I delve into the encryption technology used in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview. Including the concepts of Customer Key and Double Key Encryption.
GridMate - End to end testing is a critical piece to ensure quality and avoid...ThomasParaiso2
End to end testing is a critical piece to ensure quality and avoid regressions. In this session, we share our journey building an E2E testing pipeline for GridMate components (LWC and Aura) using Cypress, JSForce, FakerJS…
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Threats to mobile devices are more prevalent and increasing in scope and complexity. Users of mobile devices desire to take full advantage of the features
available on those devices, but many of the features provide convenience and capability but sacrifice security. This best practices guide outlines steps the users can take to better protect personal devices and information.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 4DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 4. In this session, we will cover Test Manager overview along with SAP heatmap.
The UiPath Test Manager overview with SAP heatmap webinar offers a concise yet comprehensive exploration of the role of a Test Manager within SAP environments, coupled with the utilization of heatmaps for effective testing strategies.
Participants will gain insights into the responsibilities, challenges, and best practices associated with test management in SAP projects. Additionally, the webinar delves into the significance of heatmaps as a visual aid for identifying testing priorities, areas of risk, and resource allocation within SAP landscapes. Through this session, attendees can expect to enhance their understanding of test management principles while learning practical approaches to optimize testing processes in SAP environments using heatmap visualization techniques
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into SAP testing best practices
2. Heatmap utilization for testing
3. Optimization of testing processes
4. Demo
Topics covered:
Execution from the test manager
Orchestrator execution result
Defect reporting
SAP heatmap example with demo
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
Climate Impact of Software Testing at Nordic Testing DaysKari Kakkonen
My slides at Nordic Testing Days 6.6.2024
Climate impact / sustainability of software testing discussed on the talk. ICT and testing must carry their part of global responsibility to help with the climat warming. We can minimize the carbon footprint but we can also have a carbon handprint, a positive impact on the climate. Quality characteristics can be added with sustainability, and then measured continuously. Test environments can be used less, and in smaller scale and on demand. Test techniques can be used in optimizing or minimizing number of tests. Test automation can be used to speed up testing.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI support
Windows 2008 Overview
1. Overview Amit Gatenyo Infrastructure & Security Manager Dario IT Solutions ltd 054-2492499 amit.g@dario.co.il
2. Technology Investments Virtualization Security Web Windows Server Virtualization – WS2008 contains everything needed to support machine virtualization. Hyper-V™ enables IT organizations to reduce costs, improve server utilization, and create a more dynamic IT infrastructure. Presentation Virtualization - Terminal Services accelerates and extends application deployments to any device, improving remote worker efficiency, while helping keep critical intellectual property secure and radically simplifying regulatory compliance Network Access Protection - helps prevent unhealthy devices from accessing corporate resources, NAPenables policy validation, network restriction, remediation and ongoing compliance to ensure network health is not compromised. Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) - helps reduce corruption and compromise of the system.RODC improves security of branch office servers and reduces risk of stolen information from branch DCs. Active Directory Rights Management Services - helps prevent unauthorized access and use of documents, data, and e-mail. RMS enables document owners to identify authorized users and manage restrictions on usage of documents. Internet Information Services 7.0 – Powerful Web Application and Services Platform Manage with Ease - More efficient administration tools including delegated administration and shared configuration Powerful Hosting of Applications and Services - Expanded application hosting for .NET, ASP, PHP Web applications and XML services. Web server extensibility throughout Lower Infrastructure Costs - Improved scalability and enhanced security and reliability with automatic application sandboxing Solid Foundation for Your Business Workloads Reliability Management Server Core Installation Option - Minimal installation option for increased reliability, security, and management Next Generation Networking - New TCP/IP stack improves scalability, performance and security. Failover Clustering – Improved setup, validation, management, and geo-clustering deployment simplifies implementation of highly-available failover clusters and helps ensure business continuity. Dynamic Partitioning - Datacenter and Itanium. Delivers mainframe-class reliability. Increases workload resources, and allows one to hot- add and replace processors and memory without rebooting, Server Manager – “One-stop shop” to guide you through installation, configuration, management, and reporting of server roles and features. Windows PowerShell™ - Achieve greater control and productivity using a powerful new command shell and scripting language for accelerated system administration and task automation Power Management – Reduce energy consumption and maintain server performance through processor power management features. High Performance Computing – Increase scalability and performance of HPC workloads and improve management of clustered file systems.
3. Most Flexible and Robust Windows Server Operating System to Date SolidFoundation Reliability Management Windows Server Manager PowerShell Power Management Server Core Next Generation Networking Failover Clustering
4. Windows PowerShell Solid Foundation New Command-line shell and Scripting Language Improves productivity and control Accelerates automation of system admin Easy-to-use Works with existing scripts SolidFoundation Partners Admin GUIs layered over PowerShell One-to-many remote management using WS-MGMT
6. Group Policy Preferences Solid Foundation Improving IT productivity Reducing need for logon scripts Limiting configuration errors Enhancing end-user satisfaction Minimizing image maintenance Reducing overall image count
7. Windows Server Core Solid Foundation Server Core Security, TCP/IP, File Systems, RPC,plus other Core Server Sub-Systems Hyper-V AD DS DHCP AD LDS DNS IIS 7.0 GUI, CLR, Shell, IE, OE, etc. File Media Print Only a subset of the executable files and DLLs installed No GUI interface installed Nine available Server Roles Can be managed with remote tools
8. Key New Networking Features Solid Foundation Windows Filtering Platform Receive Window Autotuning Provides filtering capability at all layers of the TCP/IP protocol stack Integrates and provides support for next-generation firewall features Automatically senses network environment and adjusts important performance settings Allows increase of the size of the TCP/IP send / receive window Policy-based Quality of Service Receive-Side Scaling Previous Windows operating systems limits receive protocol processing to single CPU RSS resolves this issue by allowing network load from a network adapter to be balanced across multiple CPUs Prioritize or manage the sending rate for outgoing network traffic Both DSCP marking and throttling can be used together to manage traffic effectively
9. The Receive Window Limitation Solid Foundation North America Satellite IntercontinentalFiber 64 KB 128 KB 256 KB 512 KB Maximum Throughput (Mpbs) RTT ms
10. Windows Firewall w/ Advanced Security Solid Foundation Firewall rules become more intelligent Policy-based networking Combined firewall and IPsec management
11. Remote Infrastructure Benefits Solid Foundation Optimization SysVolreplication DFS replication Protocols Security BitLocker™ Server Core Read-Only Domain Controller Role separation Administration Print Management Console PowerShell, WinRS, WinRM Server Virtualization with Hyper-V Restartable Active Directory Hub Site Remote Site
12. Scalability and Reliability Run the largest workloads and fully utilize multicore servers with a single WSS08R2 server instance Get standard workloads to function with fewer locks and greater parallelism Support more than 64 processor cores for a single OS instance OS Componentization Support more roles and broaden current role support (e.g., the addition of ASP.net within IIS) PowerShell scripting in Server Core .NET framework on Server core, which in turn should drive app support Improvements to Failover Clustering Better Server Workload and Scaling Improvements to Enterprise Storage
14. Scalable, Reliable Increasing Performance Scaling Out Adding additional servers to a workload Scaling Up Increasing system resources
15. Scalable, Reliable Increasing PerformanceScaling Out IP Stickiness PowerShell support Application health awareness IIS NLB Cluster Shopping Cart website SQL DB IIS NLB Cluster
16. Scalable, Reliable Increasing PerformanceScaling Up Up to 256 logical processors Enhanced processing Improved performance for storage devices
17. Scalable, Reliable Improving Network StorageEnhanced Performance Reduced processor requirement for wirespeed Optimized NTIO Load balancing for up to 32 paths Improved iSCSI connection Storage subsystem optimization Faster Chkdsk
18. Scalable, Reliable Improving Network StorageIncreased Availability Load-balancing policies Multiple paths to storage Enabling failover Configuration snapshots Version capture Enabling storage system quick restore
19. Deliver Rich Web-based Experiences Efficiently and Effectively Web Web Application Services Internet Information Services 7.0 Windows Media Services
20. IIS 7.0 Key Investments Deploy Web Enhanced Web Administration atEvery Stage in the Application Lifecycle Host Troubleshoot Simpler application deployment to Web farms and UNC shares More secure, reliable application hosting Web Manage Reduced downtime from faster troubleshooting Greater productivity using delegated management and better tools
25. Hyper-V Virtualization Reliable and scalable platform 4-way multi-core support 32GB or more guest memory support New hardware sharing architecture 32-bit and 64-bit guest support VM snapshots Run on Server Core Live backup Clustering support Live Migration Minimal trusted computing Base Integrated Management Complete scriptable user model System Center Virtual Machine Manager Centralized view of VMs Rapid VM creation End users can request and place VMs Configurable rules and boundaries Comprehensive Support Support for Windows, Linux, and Xen-enabled Linux Familiar set of tools VHD format is available as Open Specification Promise (OSP) Virtualization
33. Helps improve the end user experience and reduce training requirementsRemote Desktop client required Terminal Services Gateway Server
34. Improved Remote Access/Management Virtualization Central Office Comprehensive Remote Access and Remote Management Solution Terminal Services Windows Remote Management Secure SocketTunneling Protocol Home Office Remote/ Mobile User Remote Site
35. Summary Greater administrative control Enterprise-class foundation Rich Web-based experiences Increased server consolidation Increased automation Remote administration Anywhere access Enhanced security
36. Thanks for listening Amit Gatenyo Infrastructure & Security Manager Dario IT Solutions ltd amit.g@dario.co.il 054-2492499
Editor's Notes
Windows Server 2008 comes with Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7), a Web server and security-enhanced, easy-to-manage platform for developing and reliably hosting Web applications and services. A major enhancement to the Windows Web platform, IIS7 includes a componentized architecture for greater flexibility and control. IIS7 also provides simplified management, powerful diagnostic and troubleshooting capabilities that save time, and comprehensive extensibility. Windows Server 2008 Marketing PillarsVirtualization + CPU throttling | 64-bit multi-core
Title: The Receive Window LimitationTalking Points: The Receive Window autotuning feature in Windows Server 2008 will enable organizations to better utilize the bandwidth capabilities on networks. Receive Window Limitation: In previous versions of the operating system, the amount of TCP/IP data that could be sent or received was adjustable. The TCP/IP send/receive size was set in the registry in a window and was limited to 64K—this was called the Receive Window Limitation. The graph above (left axis) shows the maximum throughput on a network in megabytes(MB) that is achievable through setting different TCP/IP receive sizes. The bottom shows the round-trip time (RTT), or latency introduced on a network, in milliseconds. The graph shows that even if an organization has the fastest network card available and is on a high speed connection, because of the 64K receive window limitation, the company would never be able to receive more than 5MB of data throughput from the high speed connection. [BUILD1] Receive Window Autotuning: Both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 have the ability to dynamically adjust the Receive window size in TCP/IP on a per connection basis all the way up to 16MB. The graph above shows that just by autotuning the TCP/IP receive window up to 512KB results in almost 10 times the amount of bandwidth throughput on the same network. The autotuning feature will enable organizations to take advantage of new technologies such as 1GB and 10GB Ethernet, intercontinental fiber, or satellite to increase network bandwidth. Additional Information:www.microsoft.com/technet/Add-303.ppt
Title: Remote Infrastructure BenefitsTalking Points: The term Remote Infrastructure describes remote locations of any-sized organization that connect to a headquarters or hub location over a wide-area network (WAN). Managing remote sites locally or remotely presents its own set of challenges in terms of IT resources and security. Windows Server 2008 has new features to help manage and secure remote infrastructure deployments.Hub Site: Many organizations now have centralized offices, or hub site, as well as remote sites. Remote Infrastructure: When managing the IT resources on site at remote sites, the lack of skilled IT Professionals in the remote site can be a major challenge. If there aren’t IT resources on site, maintenance and repairs may have to be outsourced to fix an immediate need and data protection is another challenge for the remote site. Remote sites have different needs than the organization’s hub. With the release of Windows Server 2008, many improvements have been made to assist in implementing remote infrastructure solutions in these areas:Optimization: Features in Windows Server 2008, such as DFS Replication, SysVol Replication, and Protocols control remote compression; and optimize protocols, such as HTTP. The Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) service is a multi-master replication engine that is used to keep folders synchronized on multiple servers. Replicating data to multiple servers increases data availability and gives users in remote sites fast, reliable access to files. In Windows Server 2008, DFSR will replicate SYSVOL, resulting in a dramatic reduction in bandwidth consumption.[BUILD1] Security: Security features available in Windows Server 2008 such as BitLocker, Server Core, and the RODC make it easier for administrators to guarantee that both the data and servers at remote sites remain secure. BitLocker Driver Encryption: BitLocker helps protect data theft when the system is offline or when the system is lost or stolen. Bitlocker provides full volume encryption on multiple drives, irrespective of user or operating system. Windows Server Core: Beginning with Windows Server 2008, administrators can choose to install Windows Server with only core server functionality and without any extra overhead. The new Server Core installation option runs before Windows Server and lets administrators put select roles in their most highly reliable state. Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC): A read-only domain controller (RODC) is a new type of domain controller in the Windows Server 2008 operating system that helps reduce corruption and compromise of the system. RODC improves security of branch office server and reduces risk of stolen information branch DCs. An RODC hosts a read-only replica of the Active Directory Domain Services database for a given domain. There are no Domain Admin credentials on a RODC and no forest keys. This allows for faster logons, with less administrative overhead, and increases security. Role Separation: You can delegate the local administrator role of an RODC to any domain user without granting that user any user rights for the domain or other domain controllers. This permits a local remote site user to log on to an RODC and perform maintenance work on the server, such as upgrading a driver. However, the remote site user cannot log on to any other domain controller or perform any other administrative task in the domain. In this way, the remote site user can be delegated the ability to effectively manage the RODC in the remote site without compromising the security of the rest of the domain.[BUILD2] Administration: Windows Server 2008 features such as the Print Manager Console, PowerShell, WinRS, Virtualization, and Restartable Active Directory make it easier to perform administration functions for remote sites as well as better utilizing remote site network resources.Print Management Console: Print management options let administrators control how print jobs are queued, who can print them, and the like. Windows PowerShell: Windows PowerShell is a new command-line shell and task-based scripting technology that provides comprehensive control and automation of system administration tasks, with the goal of increasing IT productivity. WinRS: Windows Server 2008 includes a Winrs.exe tool. This command line tool allows administrators to remotely execute most Cmd.exe commands using the WS-Management protocol. Windows Remote Management: In Windows Server 2008, IT staff can use Windows Remote Management to manage systems in locations such as remote sites. The Windows Remote Manager (WinRM) is the Microsoft implementation of WS-Management Protocol, a standard SOAP-based, firewall-friendly protocol that allows hardware and operating systems from different vendors to interoperate.Virtualization: Hyper-V provides an entirely new deployment and licensing paradigm to enable multiple operating systems to run in a virtual infrastructure separated from the hardware by a slim “hypervisor” of virtualization technology.Restartable Active Directory: Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) reduces the time that is required to perform certain operations. AD DS can be stopped so that updates can be applied to a domain controller. Administrators can stop AD DS to perform tasks such as offline defragmentation of the Active Directory database or upgrade Active Directory, without restarting the domain controller. Additional Information:Changes in Functionality to Windows Server Longhorn (January 2007).doc (also called the Book of Longhorn) www.microsoft.com/technet/Add-304.ppthttp://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384291.aspx
Virtualization improves server consolidation, but in many cases this might mean purchasing new hardware. Getting the most out of your existing or newly purchased hardware is critical to IT TCO. To help with this, Windows Server 2008 R2 takes advantage of advanced CPU and memory architectures so you can run greater workloads on individual physical hardware with significantly few locks and better support for parallelism. Server 2008 R2 also supports up to 256 logical processor cores for a single OS instance, enabling huge potential workloads per physical platform. Platform features including Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 and new enterprise storage capabilities also include the ability to take advantage of hardware advancements. Hyper-V, for example, can take advantage of up to 32 logical cores per VM and utilize advanced memory management as well. Enterprise storage administrators will find better support for iSCSI and Ethernet SANs, with wirespeed-level throughput and new power management features, too.Compentization was introduced back in Windows Server 2003 and was expanded in Server 2008. This technology has been expanded even more in Server 2008 R2 with more available core roles as well as broader technology support for particularly popular roles like ASP.NET support in IIS and the PowerShell capability in Server Core. Advancements like these, especially the expansion of .NET across more roles, should server to drive third-party application support for Windows 2008 R2 as well.At a more core OS level, we’ve also added a slew of updates to critical HA and performance characteristics via updates to our Failover Clustering technology, updates to server workload and scaling capacity, significant improvements to our enterprise storage technologies covering iSCSI, throughput and management.
Availability is a key factor for every solution in the enterprise. Today most mission critical applications are running on Windows Server and those applications require high availability. Failover clustering in Windows Server 2008 R2 has many improvements that can help overall application and operating system availability, including the following:Enhanced cluster validation tool. Windows Server 2008 R2 includes a best practice analyzer test which examines the best practices configuration settings for a cluster and cluster nodes. The test runs only on computers that are currently cluster nodes.Enhanced command line and automated management. PowerShellcmdlets provide the ability to fully manage failover clusters and the applications running on the cluster. The PowerShellcmdlets replace cluster.exe, which provided a command-line and scriptable interface for managing failover clusters in previous versions of Windows Server. Improved performance for intermittent or slow secured network connections. There are improvements in Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) reconnection time that is achieved by eliminating some of the initial handshaking when reconnecting due to intermittent or slow connections. Improved network resiliency between cluster nodes. The connectivity between cluster nodes has been revised to give clusters the ability to recover from intermittent or slow connections between cluster nodes without affecting cluster node status.Improving the monitoring of clusters, cluster nodes, and applications. Failover clustering in Windows Server 2008 R2 includes the following improvements that help in failover cluster monitoring: New performance counters that help reduce the support and troubleshooting effort for cluster-based applications. New logging channel that helps clearly identify failover clustering-related events. New support issue solutions that can be accessed directly while viewing the events for the top support issues.Secured access to cluster monitoring and configuration information. The failover clustering PowerShell provider leverages the delegated permissions available in PowerShell 2.0 to provide read-only access to cluster monitoring and configuration information. This allows you to allow less privileged IT professionals read-only access, while allowing high privileged IT professionals read and write access. Read-only Access - Windows Server 2008 R2 provides read-only access to cluster configuration information through PowerShellcmdlets (not available through graphical management consoles). Useful for first tier support, administrators, and troubleshooting, this improves security and availability by preventing unauthorized changes to cluster configuration and behavior.Improved migration of supported cluster workloads. You can migrate cluster workloads currently running on Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2008 R2. The migration process supports: Every workload currently supported on Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, including Distributed File System Namespace (DFS-N), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), DTC, File Server, Generic Application, Generic Script, Generic Service, Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS), MSMS, Network File System (NFS), Other Server, TSSB, and Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS). Most common network configuration. Does not support rolling upgrades of clusters (cluster workloads must be migrated to a new clusters running Windows Server 2008 R2).Includes new high availability roles for failover clustering. Failover clustering in Windows Server 2008 R2 includes new high availability roles, including DFS-Replication, Hyper-V, and Terminal Services Session Broker.Improvements in cluster node connectivity fault tolerance. If a cluster node loses connectivity to a shared disk, the cluster node can write to the shared disk through other cluster nodes (also known as dynamic I/O redirection). If a cluster node loses connectivity through the primary network adapter, the cluster node can access the network through the primary network adapter of other cluster nodes.Improvements for virtual machine management. The Live Migration feature in Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 allows virtual machines to be moved between failover cluster nodes without interruption of services provided by the virtual machines. The Live Migration feature uses the new Cluster Shared Volumes feature in failover clustering. The Cluster Shared Volumes feature supports a file system that is shared between cluster nodes. This feature is implemented as a filter driver in Windows Server 2008 R2. It is manually enabled by configuring a cluster wide property in PowerShell. It is not supported with cluster nodes in multiple sites . This feature leverages other failover cluster features, such as dynamic I/O redirection to maintain connectivity to disks. The Cluster Shared Volumes feature has no:Special hardware requirements.Special application requirements.File type restrictions.Directory structure or depth limitations.Special agents or additional installations.Proprietary file system (uses NTFS).
Another key design goal was to provide higher performance for Windows Server 2008 R2 running on the same system resources as previous versions of Windows Server. In addition, Windows Server 2008 R2 supports increased scaling capabilities that allow you to support greater workloads than ever before. The Windows Server 2008 R2 features that improve performance and scalability for applications and services include:Scaling OutSupport for larger workloads by adding additional servers to a workload (scaling out)Scaling UpSupport for larger workloads by utilizing or increasing system resources (scaling up)
The Network Load Balancing feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 allows you to combine two or more computers in to a cluster. You can use Network Load Balancing to distribute workloads across the cluster nodes to support larger number of simultaneous users. The Network Load Balancing feature improvements in Windows Server 2008 R2 include:IP Stickiness. The IP Stickiness feature in Network Load Balancing allows you to configure longer affinity between client and cluster nodes by using a configurable timeout setting for connection state (hours or even weeks in length). Common usage scenarios include Universal Access Gateway (UAG) with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Virtual Private Network (VPN) and IIS or ASP.NET applications (shopping cart).PowerShell support. PowerShell cmdlets provide the ability to fully manage Network Load Balancing clusters and the applications running on the cluster. The PowerShell cmdlets replace nlb.exe, which provided a command-line and scriptable interface for managing Network Load Balancing clusters in previous versions of Windows Server. These PowerShell cmdlets allow you to:Create and destroy clusters.Add, remove, and control cluster nodes.Add , edit, and remove cluster virtual IP addresses and dedicated IP address.Provide support for local and remote management.Application health awareness. Awareness for applications running on IIS by using the NLB management pack in R2. Support up to 128 logical processors.Run more workloads on Server Core installation option.Has improved disk access to storage devices connected through iSCSI and other remote storage solutions.
Scaling up allows you to reduce the number of servers in your datacenter and be more power efficient. The features in Windows Server 2008 R2 that support scaling up include:Increased number of logical processors supported. Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition supports up to 256 logical processors.Reduced operating system overhead for graphical user interface. In addition to reducing the attack surface of the operating system, the Server Core installation option eliminates the graphical user interface, which reduces the amount of processor utilization. The reduction in processor utilization allows more of the processing power to be used for running workloads.Improved performance for storage devices. Windows Server 2008 R2 includes a number of performance improvements for managing network-connected storage, including new support for iSCSI SANs, 10gig Ethernet wirespeed throughput and policy-based power management.
Windows Server 2008 R2 includes a number of performance improvements in storage solutions, including:Reduction in processor utilization to achieve “wire speed” storage performance. Wire speed (or wirespeed) refers to the hypothetical maximum data transmission rate of a cable or other transmission medium. Wire speed is dependent on the physical and electrical properties of the cable, combined with the lowest level of the connection protocols. Windows Server 2008 RTM is able to access storage at wire speed, but at a higher processor utilization than Windows Server 2008 R2 .Improved storage input and output process performance. One of the primary contributors to the storage performance improvements for Windows Server 2008 R2 is the improvement in the storage input and output process, known as NTIO . The NTIO process has been optimized to reduce the overhead in performing storage operations.Improved performance when multiple paths exist between servers and storage. When multiple paths exist to storage, you can load-balance storage operations by load-balancing the storage requests. Windows Server 2008 R2 supports up to 32 paths to storage devices, while Windows Server 2008 only supported two paths. You can configure load-balancing policies to optimize the performance for your storage solution.Improved connection performance for iSCSI attached storage. The iSCSI client in Windows Server 2008 R2 has been optimized to improve the performance for iSCSI attached storage.Improved support for optimization of storage subsystem. The storage system has been designed to allow hardware vendors to optimize their storage mini-driver. For example, a vendor could optimize the disk cache for their storage mini-driver .Reduced length of time for operating system start. Chkdsk is run during the operating system start when an administrator has scheduled a scan of a disk volume or when volumes are not shutdown properly. Chkdsk performance has been optimized to reduce the length of time required to start the operating system. This allows you to recover faster in the event of an abnormal shutdown of the operating system (such as a power loss).
Availability of storage is essential to all mission critical applications in your organization. Windows Server 2008 R2 includes the following improvements to storage solution availability:Improved fault tolerance between servers and storage. When multiple paths exist between servers and storage, Windows Server 2008 R2 can failover to an alternate path if the primary path fails. You can select the failover priority by configuring the load-balancing policies for your storage solution.Improved recovery from configuration errors. An error in the configuration of the storage subsystem can negatively affect storage availability. Windows Server 2008 R2 allows you to take configuration snapshots of the storage subsystem (for example, the iSCSI configuration). In the event of a subsequent configuration failure, you can quickly restore the configuration to a previous version.
Title: IIS 7.0 Web AdministrationTalking Points: Windows Server 2008 includes enhanced IIS 7.0 features.IIS 7.0 OverviewWindows Server 2008 delivers a unified platform for Web publishing that integrates IIS 7.0, ASP.NET, and Windows Communication Foundation. IIS 7.0 is a major enhancement to the existing IIS Web server, and plays a central role in integrating Web platform technologies. Any business or organization that hosts or develops Web sites or WCF services can benefit from the improvements made in IIS 7.0. Important pillars of the IIS 7.0 release are described below.Simpler DeploymentIIS 7.0 has a modular architecture that allows administrators to deploy the exact set of Web server functionality they require, and nothing more. Furthermore, applications are simpler to deploy to IIS 7.0 because of the new distributed file-based configuration. Applications can be easily deployed to an IIS 7.0 Web server using XCopy, because IIS configurations can now be stored in Web.config files alongside code and content. Deploying large Web farms is easier with IIS 7.0, because both IIS configuration and hosted applications can be stored on a UNC file share and then shared across the entire Web farm.[BIULD1] Secure, Reliable HostingIIS 7.0 is made up of more than 40 separate feature modules. Each feature module can be independently installed on the server to reduce the attack surface of the server, and reduce administrative overhead where it is not needed. This lets IT staff control what features are installed or running on their systems.IIS 7.0 also offers greater application isolation by giving worker processes a completely unique identity and a sandboxed configuration by default. There is also more intelligent management of high server loads, protecting application performance through the largest traffic surges. Another security enhancement is that error messages are now more detailed and there is automatic tracing of failed requests that allow for easier, more rapid troubleshooting or problems and minimized downtime.[BUILD2] Greater Management ProductivityNew capabilities make administrators as productive as possible when managing Web applications hosted on IIS 7.0 in Windows Server 2008. Administrators now have a secure way to delegate management privileges to individual site owners. Developers and site owners can configure delegated IIS settings in their application’s Web.config files, or through delegated access to the IIS 7.0 Remote Management tool. IIS 7.0 has a broad arsenal of new management tools and interfaces, such as:GUI: New Featured-focused IIS Manager: The IIS Management Console is redesigned in a feature-focused manner, and is a central location for IIS configuration. The new administrative tool, IIS Manager, offers a new, more efficient tool for managing the Web server. It provides support for both IIS and ASP.NET configuration settings, membership and user data, and runtime diagnostic information. The new administration tools also support remote administration over HTTP or HTTPS, allowing for integrated local, remote, even cross-Internet administration without requiring DCOM or other administrative ports be opened on the firewall.Command Line: Robust, Powerful AppCmd: The IIS 6 command-line scripts are replaced with a new powerful command-line tool, appcmd.exe. This new command-line tool can be used for managing and administering Web servers, Web sites, and Web applications.Scripting: New WMI Provider (rootWebAdministration): IIS 7.0 also includes a new WMI provider that provides access to configuration and server state information to Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) and JScript writers.Managed Code: Microsoft.Web.Administration: IIS 7.0 includes the Microsoft.Web.Administration API for programmatically administering the Web server. This managed-code API makes it easy to programmatically provision, access important state and diagnostic information, or configure the server.Application and health management for WFC services: Aside from the new management tools and interfaces there is also the Application and health management for WFC services. To enhance the development and hosting of WCF services over many protocols, Windows Server 2008 includes WAS, which supports pluggable activation of arbitrary protocol listeners. WAS provides all types of message-activated applications with intelligent resource management, on-demand process activation, health-monitoring, and automatic failure detection and recycling. WAS is based on the IIS 6 request processing model.[BUILD3] Faster TroubleshootingInevitably, administrators will have to address faulty applications; but when hosted on IIS 7.0, these applications are easy to troubleshoot quickly. Detailed local errors are not only descriptive, but also prescriptive, to help get to the root of the problem faster. There is a new Runtime Status and Control API that exposes all relevant IIS 7.0 diagnostic information through all of the IIS 7.0 management interfaces. Tracing is also enhanced with a new Failed Request Tracing feature, which allows administrators to preconfigure IIS 7.0 to run traces on a per- URL level the next time a set of failure conditions is met. We will cover troubleshooting tools in more detail later.Additional Information:Changes in Functionality to Windows Server Longhorn (January 2007).doc (also called the Book of Longhorn)http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=7http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=7&subtabid=73IIS 7.0 Module Overview: http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=2&subtabid=25&i=930 Developing a Module using .NET: http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=2&subtabid=25&i=942 IIS 7.0 Administration: http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=2&subtabid=25&i=952
Title: Managing Your Web with IIS 7.0Talking Points: Let’s discuss what managing Web applications will be like on IIS 7.0 in Windows Server 2008.First, if you are an administrator who likes managing from a GUI or automating tasks with scripts, you will find that the IIS 7.0 administration tools makes you incredibly productive.[BUILD1] But you are only one person, so with IIS 7.0, you will want to securely delegate some management tasks to site owners.[BUILD2] Your site owners can configure some delegated settings for their applications in Web.config files. Then they can deploy their applications using XCopy to IIS 7.0 preconfigured, eliminating some of this work on your end.[BUILD3] In most cases, site owners, as well as some administrators, will not be given permissions to directly manage these computers. Sometimes the site owners sit outside the firewall or they have non-Windows accounts.[BUILD4] Now you can overcome these challenges simply by using the IIS 7.0 Remote Management tool. The tool is identical to the IIS 7.0 GUI, and it can connect to IIS 7.0 on Windows Server 2008 from Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, or Windows XP. Because it connects with HTTPS, it is secured by Secure Socket Layer (SSL), but it also easily passes through firewalls without having to open additional ports.[BUILD5] Finally, in most cases, you will be managing not just one IIS 7.0 server, but a whole Web farm of them. To avoid configuration replication and synchronization issues, you can move the IIS 7.0 central configuration file, ApplicationHost.config, as well as all your hosted applications, to a UNC file share.[BUILD6] Then point the many machines in your Web farm at the UNC, and enjoy simpler Web farm management through shared configuration and application hosting.Additional Information:Changes in Functionality to Windows Server Longhorn (January 2007).doc (also called the Book of Longhorn)http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=7http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=7&subtabid=73
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 gives IT Professionals more control over their server and network infrastructure, and provides an enterprise-class foundation for business workloads. Microsoft enables organizations to deliver rich Web-based experiences efficiently and effectively, by reducing the amount of effort required to administer and support your Web-based applications. The powerful Virtualization technologies in Windows Server 2008 R2 enable you to increase your server consolidation ratios, while reducing the amount of administrative effort required for managing the infrastructure. Through increased automation and improved remote administration, Windows Server 2008 R2 helps organizations save money and time, by reducing travel expenses, decreasing energy consumption, and automating repetitive IT tasks. When combined with Windows 7 client operating system, the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure in Windows Server 2008 enables you to provide your employees with anywhere access to corporate data and resources, while helping to maintain the security of your enterprise systems.