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Windows Server 2012

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Windows Server 2012
File:Windows Server 2012 logo.png
File:Windows 8 server start screen.png
Windows Server 2012 Start screen
DeveloperMicrosoft
OS familyMicrosoft Windows
Source modelClosed source / Shared source
Released to
manufacturing		September 4, 2012; 11 years ago (2012-09-04)
Latest release6.2 (Build 9200) / August 1, 2012; 11 years ago (2012-08-01)[1]
Update methodWindows Update and Windows Server Update Services
Kernel typeHybrid
LicenseCommercial proprietary software
Preceded byWindows Server 2008 R2
Official websitewww.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/default.aspx
Support status
  • Start date: October 30, 2012[2]
  • Mainstream support: Until January 9, 2018
  • Extended support: Until January 10, 2023

Windows Server 2012,[3] formerly codenamed Windows Server 8, is the current release of Windows Server. It is the server version of Windows 8 and the successor to Windows Server 2008 R2. The software was generally available to customers starting on September 4, 2012[4] and worldwide through multiple channels in September 2012.[5]

Unlike its predecessor, Windows Server 2012 has no support for Itanium-based computers,[6] and has four editions. Various features were added or improved over Windows Server 2008 R2, such as an updated version of Hyper-V, an IP address management role, a new version of Windows Task Manager, and the new ReFS file system.

History

Originally, Microsoft referred to their new server operating system as "Windows Server 8". It was not until 17 April 2012 that the company announced the final product name would be "Windows Server 2012".[3]

Builds

Windows Server 2012 developer preview was released on 9 September 2011. However, unlike its consumer variant, the developer preview of Windows Server 2012 was only made available to MSDN subscribers. The Metro user interface was present, as well as the new Server Manager (the graphical application used for server management) and the other new features. On 16 February 2012, Microsoft announced that the developer preview build, after installing a particular update, will be set to expire on 15 January 2013, instead of the original 8 April 2012.[7]Build 8180 was leaked on 13 January 2012, and contained some revisions to the Server Manager interface and Storage Spaces.[8]

The beta was released along with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview on 29 February 2012.[9] Unlike the developer preview, it was released to the general public. The Release Candidate of Windows Server 2012 was released on 31 May 2012, along with the Windows 8 Release Preview.[10] The final RTM build was released to manufacturing on 1 August 2012 and became generally available on 4 September 2012.[4] Qualifying students have also been able to download Windows Server 2012 via DreamSpark.

Features

See also: Features new to Windows 8

User interface

Server Manager has been redesigned with an emphasis on easing management of multiple servers.[11] The operating system, like Windows 8, uses the Metro UI unless installed in Server Core mode.[12] Windows PowerShell in this version has over 2300 commandlets, compared with around 200 in Windows Server 2008 R2.[13] There is also command auto-completion.[13]

Task Manager

Main article: Windows Task Manager in Windows 8

Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 include a new version of Windows Task Manager together with the old version. In the new version the tabs are hidden by default showing applications only. In the new Processes tab, the processes are displayed in varying shades of yellow, with darker shades representing heavier resource use. It lists application names and status, as well as CPU, memory, hard disk and network utilization. The process information found in the older versions are now moved to the new Details tab. The Performance tab shows "CPU", "Memory", "Disk", "Wi-Fi" and "Ethernet" graphs. The CPU tab no longer displays individual graphs for every logical processor on the system by default; instead, it can display data for each NUMA node. When displaying data for each logical processor for machines with more than 64 logical processors, the CPU tab now displays simple utilization percentages on heat-mapping tiles.[14] The color used for these heat maps is blue, with darker shades again indicating heavier utilization. Hovering the cursor over any logical processor's data now shows the NUMA node of that processor and its ID, if applicable. Additionally, a new Startup tab has been added that lists startup applications,[15] however this tab does not exist in Windows Server 2012.[16] The new task manager recognizes when a Windows Store app has the "Suspended" status.

Installation options

Unlike its predecessor, Windows Server 2012 can switch between "Server Core", an option with only a command-line interface, and the "Server with a GUI" installation options without a full reinstallation. Server Core is now the recommended configuration. There is also a new third installation option that allows some GUI programs such as MMC and Server Manager to run, but without Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer or the new desktop and shell.[17]

IP address management (IPAM)

Windows Server 2012 has an IP address management role for discovering, monitoring, auditing, and managing the IP address space used on a corporate network. IPAM provides for administration and monitoring of servers running Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name System (DNS). IPAM includes components for:

  • Custom IP address space display, reporting, and management: The display of IP addresses is highly customizable and detailed tracking and utilization data is available. IPv4 and IPv6 address space is organized into IP address blocks, IP address ranges, and individual IP addresses. IP addresses are assigned built-in or user-defined fields that can be used to further organize IP address space into hierarchical, logical groups.
  • Audit of server configuration changes and tracking of IP address usage: Operational events are displayed for the IPAM server and managed DHCP servers. IPAM also enables IP address tracking using DHCP lease events and user logon events collected from Network Policy Server (NPS), domain controllers, and DHCP servers. Tracking is available by IP address, client ID, host name, or user name.
  • Monitoring and management of DHCP and DNS services: IPAM enables automated service availability monitoring for Microsoft DHCP and DNS servers across the forest. DNS zone health is displayed, and detailed DHCP server and scope management is available using the IPAM console.

Both IPv4 and IPv6 are fully supported.[18][19]

Active Directory

Windows Server 2012 has a number of changes to Active Directory from the version shipped with Windows Server 2008 R2. The Active Directory Domain Services installation wizard has been replaced by a new section in Server Manager, and the Active Directory Administrative Center has been enhanced. A GUI has been added to the Active Directory Recycle Bin. Password policies can differ more easily within the same domain. Active Directory in Windows Server 2012 is now aware of any changes resulting from virtualization, and virtualized domain controllers can be safely cloned. Upgrades of the domain functional level to Windows Server 2012 are simplified; it can be performed entirely in Server Manager. Active Directory Federation Services is no longer required to be downloaded when installed as a role, and claims which can be used by the Active Directory Federation Services have been introduced into the Kerberos token. Windows Powershell commands used by Active Directory Administrative Center can be viewed in a "Powershell History Viewer".[20][21]

Hyper-V

Windows Server 2012, along with Windows 8, includes a new version of Hyper-V,[22] as presented at the Microsoft Build Event.[23] Many new features have been added to Hyper-V, including network virtualization, multi-tenancy, storage resource pools, cross-premise connectivity, and cloud backup. Additionally, many of the former restrictions on resource consumption have been greatly lifted. Each virtual machine in this version of Hyper-V can access up to 64 virtual processors, up to 1 terabyte of memory, and up to 64 terabytes of virtual disk space per virtual hard disk (using a new .vhdx format).[24] Up to 1024 virtual machines can be active per host, and up to 8000 can be active per failover cluster.[24][25][26] The version of Hyper-V shipped with the client version of Windows 8 requires a processor that supports SLAT and for SLAT to be turned on, while the version in Windows Server 2012 only requires it if the RemoteFX role is installed.[27]

ReFS

ReFS (Resilient File System, originally codenamed "Protogon") is a new file system in Windows Server 2012 initially intended for file servers that improves on NTFS. Major new features of ReFS include:[28]

Improved reliability for on-disk structures
ReFS uses B+ trees for all on-disk structures including metadata and file data. The file size, total volume size, number of files in a directory and number of directories in a volume are limited by 64-bit numbers, which translates to maximum file size of 16 Exabytes, maximum volume size of 1 Yottabyte (with 64 KB clusters), which allows large scalability with no practical limits on file and directory size (hardware restrictions still apply). Metadata and file data are organized into tables similar to relational database. Free space is counted by a hierarchal allocator which includes three separate tables for large, medium, and small chunks. File names and file paths are each limited to a 32 KB Unicode text string.
Built-in resilience
ReFS employs an allocation-on-write update strategy for metadata, which allocates new chunks for every update transaction and uses large IO batches. All ReFS metadata has built-in 64-bit checksums which are stored independently. The file data can have an optional checksum in a separate "integrity stream", in which case the file update strategy also implements allocation-on-write; this is controlled by a new "integrity" attribute applicable to both files and directories. If nevertheless file data or metadata becomes corrupt, the file can be deleted without taking down the whole volume offline for maintenance, then restored from the backup. As a result of built-in resiliency, administrators do not need to periodically run error-checking tools such as CHKDSK when using ReFS.
Compatibility with existing APIs and technologies
ReFS does not require new system APIs and most file system filters continue to work with ReFS volumes. ReFS supports many existing Windows and NTFS features such as BitLocker encryption, Access Control Lists, USN Journal, change notifications,[29] symbolic links, junction points, mount points, reparse points, volume snapshots, file IDs, and oplock. ReFS seamlessly[30] integrates with Storage Spaces, a storage virtualization layer that allows data mirroring and striping, as well as sharing storage pools between machines.[31] ReFS resiliency features enhance the mirroring feature provided by Storage Spaces and can detect whether any mirrored copies of files become corrupt using background data scrubbing process, which periodically reads all mirror copies and verifies their checksums then replaces bad copies with good ones.

Some NTFS features are not supported in ReFS, including named streams, object IDs, short names, file compression, file level encryption (EFS), user data transactions, sparse files, hard links, extended attributes, and disk quotas.[28][32] ReFS does not itself offer data deduplication.[33] Dynamic disks with mirrored or striped volumes are replaced with mirrored or striped storage pools provided by Storage Spaces. However, in Windows Server 2012, automated error-correction is only supported on mirrored spaces, and booting from ReFS is not supported either.

ReFS was first shown in screenshots from leaked build 6.2.7955, where it went by code name "Protogon".[34][35][36][37] Support for ReFS is absent in the developer preview (build 8102). ReFS is not readable by Windows 7 or earlier.[34]

IIS 8.0

Windows Server 2012 includes version 8.0 of Internet Information Services (IIS). The new version contains new features such as CPU usage caps for particular websites.[38]

Scalability

Windows Server supports the following maximum hardware specifications.[39][26]

Spec Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2008 R2
Physical processors[a] 64 64
Logical processors
when Hyper-V is disabled 		640 256
Logical processors
when Hyper-V is enabled 		230 64
Memory 4 TB 2 TB
Failover cluster nodes 64 16

System requirements

Minimum system requirements for Windows Server 2012[40]
Processor 1.4 GHz, x64
Memory 512 MB
Free disk space 32 GB (more if there is 16 GB of RAM or more)

According to Microsoft, Windows Server 2012 runs only on x64 processors.[41]

Upgrades from Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are supported, though upgrades from prior releases are not supported.[40]

Editions

Windows Server 2012 has four editions: Foundation, Essentials, Standard and Datacenter.[42][43][44][45][39]

Specifications Foundation Essentials Standard Datacenter
Distribution Template:Ctr Template:Ctr Template:Ctr Template:Ctr
Licensing model Template:Ctr Template:Ctr Template:Ctr Template:Ctr
Processor chip limit[39] Template:Ctr Template:Ctr Template:Ctr Template:Ctr
User limit 15 25 Unlimited Unlimited
File Services limits 1 standalone DFS root 1 standalone DFS root Unlimited Unlimited
Network Policy and Access Services limits 50 RRAS connections and 10 IAS connections 250 RRAS connections, 50 IAS connections, and 2 IAS Server Groups Unlimited Unlimited
Remote Desktop Services limits 20 Remote Desktop Services connections 250 Remote Desktop Services connections Unlimited Unlimited
Virtualization rights — Either in 1 VM or 1 physical server, but not both at once 2 VMs[b] Unlimited
DHCP role Yes Yes Yes Yes
DNS server role Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fax server role Yes Yes Yes Yes
UDDI Services Yes Yes Yes Yes
Print and Document Services Yes Yes Yes Yes
Web Services (Internet Information Services) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Windows Deployment Services Yes Yes Yes Yes
Windows Server Update Services Yes Yes Yes Yes
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services Yes Yes Yes Yes
Active Directory Rights Management Services Yes Yes Yes Yes
Application server role Yes Yes Yes Yes
Server Manager Yes Yes Yes Yes
Windows Powershell Yes Yes Yes Yes
Active Directory Domain Services Must be root of forest and domain Yes Yes Yes
Active Directory Certificate Services Certificate Authorities only Certificate Authorities only Yes Yes
Active Directory Federation Services Yes[46] No Yes Yes
Server Core mode No No Yes Yes
Hyper-V No No Yes Yes

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Applies to Windows Server Datacenter edition only. Other editions support less.
  2. ^ Each license of Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter allows up to two processor chips. Each license of Windows Server 2012 Standard allows up to two virtual instances of Windows Server 2012 Standard on that physical server. If more virtual instances of Windows Server 2012 Standard are needed, each additional license of Windows Server 2012 allows up to two more virtual instances of Windows Server 2012 Standard, even though the physical server itself may have sufficient licenses for its processor chip count. Because Windows Server 2012 Datacenter has no limit on the number of virtual instances per licensed server, only enough licenses for the physical server are needed for any number of virtual instances of Windows Server 2012 Datacenter. If the number of processor chips or virtual instances is an odd number, the number of licenses required is the same as the next even number. For example, a single-processor-chip server would still require 1 license, the same as if the server were two-processor-chip and a five-processor-chip server would require 3 licenses, the same as if the server were six-processor-chip, and if 15 virtual instances of Windows Server 2012 Standard are needed on one server, 8 licenses of Windows Server 2012, which can cover up to 16 virtual instances, are needed (assuming, in this example, that the processor chip count does not exceed 16).

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References

  1. ^ http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2012/08/01/windows-server-2012-released-to-manufacturing.aspx
  2. ^ "Microsoft Product Lifecycle". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Windows Server "8" officially dubbed Windows Server 2012". ZDNet. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  4. ^ a b Microsoft Corp. (8 August 2012). "Windows Server 2012 "Save the Date" Announcement".
  5. ^ Snover, Jeffrey (9 July 2012). "Windows Server 2012 final release timing".
  6. ^ Foley, Mary Jo. "Microsoft pulls the plug on future Itanium support". ZDNet. p. 2. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  7. ^ "An update that postpones the expiration date of Windows 8 Developer Preview and Windows 8 Server Developer Preview is available". Microsoft. February 16, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
  8. ^ Schiesser, Tim (January 13, 2012). "Windows Server 8 hits build 8180, new screenshots emerge". Neowin. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  9. ^ Thurott, Paul (February 29, 2012). "Q: Where can I download and get more information on Windows Server "8" Beta and Windows 8 Consumer Preview?". Penton. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  10. ^ Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate Timing - Windows Server Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs
  11. ^ WIndows Server 8 Screenshot Leak Shows New UI
  12. ^ Wilhelm, Alex (September 9, 2011). "Windows Server 8 Screenshot leaks". Leaked Windows Server 8 screenshot shows off Metro-infused UI. The Next Web. p. 1. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  13. ^ a b Thurott, Paul (November 2, 2011). "Windows Server "8" Preview (Unedited, Complete Version)". Paul Thurott's Supersite for Windows. p. 1. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  14. ^ "Using Task Manager with 64+ logical processors". Retrieved October 29, 2011.
  15. ^ "How to Get the Most out of New Windows 8 Task Manager?". Retrieved October 29, 2011.
  16. ^ "How to disable start-up items in windows server 2012". Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  17. ^ Bisson, Simon (September 14, 2011). "Windows 8 Server Developer Preview". ZDNet. p. 2. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  18. ^ IP Address Management (IPAM) Overview
  19. ^ IP Address Management Technical Preview
  20. ^ Bruzzese, J. Peter (October 26, 2011). "Windows Server 8: The 4 best new Active Directory features". Infoworld. p. 2. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  21. ^ Deuby, Sean (September 14, 2011). "What's New in Windows Server 8 Active Directory". Windows IT Pro. p. 2. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  22. ^ "Windows Server 8 (Video and Slides)".
  23. ^ "Microsoft Build Windows Server 8 and Hyper-V 3.0 sessions (Video and Slides)".
  24. ^ a b "Server Virtualization Features". Microsoft. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  25. ^ "A deep dive into Hyper-V Networking (Video and Slides)".
  26. ^ a b "Q: What are Windows Server 8's Scalability Numbers?". Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  27. ^ Thurott, Paul. "Q: Will Windows Server 8 require the processor to support SLAT?". Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  28. ^ a b Verma, Surendra (January 16, 2012). "Building the next generation file system for Windows: ReFS". Building Windows 8 Blog.
  29. ^ ReadDirectoryChangesW function
  30. ^ "Building the next generation file system for Windows: ReFS".
  31. ^ "Virtualizing storage for scale, resiliency, and efficiency". Building Windows 8 blog. 2012-01-05.
  32. ^ Microsoft goes public with plans for its new Windows 8 file system | ZDNet
  33. ^ Sinofsky, Steven (January 16, 2012). "Building the next generation file system for Windows: ReFS". Microsoft. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  34. ^ a b admin (June 1, 2011). "Protogon: New Windows Filesystem?". OverhackIT.com. OverhackIT. Retrieved October 2, 2011.[dead link]
  35. ^ "Windows 8: New "Protogon" filesystem could be the next big thing". Neowin.net. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
  36. ^ Warren, Tom (December 1, 2011). "New Protogon file system in Windows 8 renamed to ReFS". WinRumors. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  37. ^ "Microsoft's new Windows 8 Resilient File System (ReFS) will be server only".
  38. ^ Mackie, Kurt. "Microsoft Touts IIS 8 Improvements". RedmondMag. p. 2. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  39. ^ a b c Seldam, Matthijs ten (October 13, 2012). "Windows Server - Sockets, Logical Processors, Symmetric Multi Threading". Microsoft Technet. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  40. ^ a b "Installing Windows Server 2012". Microsoft. Retrieved 10 June2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  41. ^ Foley, Mary Jo (April 5, 2010). "Microsoft pulls the plug on future Itanium support". ZDNet. p. 1. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  42. ^ Jo Foley, Mary (July 5, 2012). "Microsoft goes public with Windows Server 2012 versions, licensing". ZDNet. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  43. ^ "Windows Server 2012 Editions". Microsoft. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  44. ^ "Windows Server 2012 Licensing and Pricing FAQ" (PDF). Microsoft. p. 14. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  45. ^ "Windows Server 2012 Licensing Data Sheet" (PDF). Microsoft. p. 5. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  46. ^ "Introduction to Windows Server 2012 Foundation". Microsoft. Retrieved 04 November 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Windows_Server_2012&oldid=525360080"