Microsoft is the clear leader of server racks in enterprise data centers across the globe. Walk into any backroom or data center of any company and you are almost guaranteed to find the infrastructure of that organization being supported by the Windows Server operating system. We have been relying on Windows Server for more than 20 years, and rightfully so-–nowhere else can you find such an enormous mix of capabilities all provided inside one installer disc. Windows Server 2016 continues to provide the core functionality that we have come to rely upon from all previous versions of Windows Server, but in better and more efficient ways. On top of that, we have some brand new capabilities in Server 2016 that are particularly mind-bending, new ways to accomplish more efficient and secure handling of our network traffic and data.

There is a relevant question mixed into all this server talk, "We hear so much about the cloud. Isn't everyone moving to the cloud? If so, why would we even need Windows Server 2016 in our company?" There are two different ways to answer this question, and both result in having huge benefits to knowing and understanding this newest version of Windows Server. First, there really aren't that many companies moving all of their equipment into the cloud. In fact, I have yet to meet any business with more than 10 employees who has gone all-in for the cloud. In almost all cases, it still makes sense that you would use at least one on premise server to manage local user account authentication, or DHCP, or print services, or for a local file server—the list goes on and on. Another reason companies aren't moving to the cloud like you might think they are is security. Sure, we might throw some data and some user accounts to the cloud to enable things like federation and ease of accessing that data, but what about sensitive or classified company data? You don't own your data if it resides in the cloud—you don't even have the capability to manage the backend servers that are actually storing that data alongside data from other companies. How can you be guaranteed of your data's security and survival? The ultimate answer is that you cannot, though there are steps being made in this direction. This alone keeps many folks that I have talked to away from moving some of their information to a cloud service provider.

The second reason it is still important to build knowledge on the Windows Server platform is that even if you have made the decision to move everything to the cloud, what server platform will you be running in the cloud that you now have to log into and administer? If you are using Azure for cloud services, there is a very good chance that you will be logging into Windows Server 2016 instances in order to administer your environment, even if those Server 2016 boxes are sitting in the cloud. So whether you have on premise servers, or you are managing servers sitting in the cloud somewhere, learning all you can about the new Windows Server 2016 operating system will be beneficial to your day job in IT.

When I first learned of the opportunity to put together this book, it was a difficult task to assemble an outline of possible recipes. Where to begin? There are so many different roles that can be run in Windows Server 2016, and so many tasks within each role that could be displayed. It was a natural reaction to start looking for all of the things that are brand new in Server 2016, and to want to talk only about recipes that display the latest and greatest features. But then I realized that those recipes on their own won't accomplish anything helpful for someone who is trying to learn about Windows Server administration for the first time. It is critical that we provide a base understanding of the important infrastructural roles that are commonly provided by Windows Server, because without that baseline the newest features won't amount to a hill of beans.

The recipes within this shortened volume are all accomplished using Windows Server 2016, but most companies still have a mix of 2016/2012R2/2012, and even 2008R2. Many of the recipes contained within can be beneficial to all of those server operating systems, helping you to strengthen security for all of your equipment and data. I hope that this book can also be a quick-reference guide that you keep near your desk into the future until you are fully versed and comfortable navigating around the new interface. Some recipes are clearly for the beginner, while others get deeper into the details so that someone already experienced with working inside Windows Server will gain some new knowledge out of reading this book. We will discuss some networking functions, and detail some security tasks that you can utilize to lock down your servers. Next covered is the very important topic of PKI and certificate distribution. Certificates are an extremely powerful tool for securing traffic and data on a network, it is vital that any server administrator understand how to utilize the Certification Authority role inside Windows Server. We will also walk through recipes regarding Microsoft's offerings in the Remote Access space, namely DirectAccess and VPN as you can use both of these roles to strengthen the security footprint of your enterprise.

A primary goal of this cookbook is to be a reference guide that you can come back to time and again when you need to accomplish common tasks in your environment, but want to ensure that you are performing them the right way. I hope that through these chapters you are able to become comfortable enough with Windows Server 2016 that you will go out and install it today!

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