Category Archives: Server Core
Server Core Roles and Features in 2008 R2
Server Core installations are versatile, secure and highly-optimized installations of Windows Server. Dubbed ‘Windows without Windows’ by some, these installation in Windows Server 2008 R2 are capable of providing more (infrastructural) services than ever! Just like Full installations of Windows Server 2008 R2, depending on the edition of your choice, or budget, the Server Roles […]
How to get going with PowerShell in Server Core R2
Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008 R2 and installations of Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 offer Windows PowerShell. A lot has been written on the geekiness of PowerShell, how it wasn’t included in Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008 R2 and how you could enable it anyway. The question however is, how do you […]
Windows on Windows (WoW) in Server Core R2
As you’re probably aware Windows Server 2008 R2 is not available in a 32bit (x86) version. Only 64bit versions (both x64 and IA64) are available, but Microsoft happily provides 32bit Windows on Windows (WoW) support, so admins can install their favorite 32bit programs on top of their 64bit installations. I’ve dedicated quite some blogposts to […]
The Server Core Updates Estimation, Revisited
Microsoft touts the smaller attack surface as one of the biggest benefits of using Server Core, compared to a Full installation of Windows Server 2008. Because a Server Core installation is optimized, it doesn’t include most of the vulnerabilities found in Full installations. A consequence of these optimizations is a Server Core installation might need […]
Server Core Remote Management Whitepaper
When the Server Core installation option of Windows Server was introduced in 2008, not a lot of people saw the greatness. A few tried it once, some tried it twice and others got hooked! Fellow administrators often complain that it’s so hard to administer the roles and features of it.
Some Server Core Domain Controllers heading for a dead end street
You know, in terms of deploying servers in a smart way, so you can actually utilize them for as long as their economical lifecycle in a supported fashion without a need to reinstall them, I’ve made a stupid decision in advising IT Pros to deploy Server Core Domain Controllers in the last two years.
How to tell whether it’s a Server Core Domain Controller
Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008 can be utilized in a variety of ways. I’ve written about using them as Web 2.0 Servers with IIS 7, PHP and MySQL, as Streaming media (reverse) proxies, as branch office servers, loaded with DFS, DNS, DHCP and secured with BitLocker Drive Encryption and of course using them […]
Planning on upgrading to Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2?
You might be one of those persons, fervently running Windows 7 on their day-to-day laptop (like me) and you might be one of those persons building Windows Server 2008 R2 rigs for test and demo purposes. (like me) You might also be one of the lucky persons to lay your hands on a pre-order for […]
Choosing the right Server Core Remote Management method
Looking for a complete resource on remotely managing your Server Core box? Look no further! I've done research on the topic the last year
iSCSI configuration in Hyper-V Server 2008 R2
Last time I took a look at Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Beta, I shared the surprise of having Failover Clustering and the possibility to have highly available virtualized workloads on it. This time I look at an implication of having the Windows Enterprise-like Quick Migration and Live Migration features: increased complexity and configuration burden.
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