Good Critical Thinking On Features Of Windows Server 2012 Useful To Wai

The release of the Windows server 2012 (aka Windows Server 8) was an improvement on the features of the Windows server 2008 with emphasis placed on the ability for cloud computing. At installation, one of two main options can be selected - Server core or Server with a GUI. Only the Server with GUI installation option presents with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and there is another option which allows only some GUI components but without normal programs and desktop.WAI can select the Server Core option in order to ensure another layer of security and intrusion prevention since it is more difficult for a lot of people to interact with a CLI than to interact with a GUI. Furthermore, the CLI option is lighter and more efficient than the GUI installation option.
Network virtualization is another new feature of Windows Server 2012 that enables the keeping of own IP addresses when moving servers into the cloud. It allows the cloud provider to run a number of virtual networks on a physical network and isolates each virtual network from the other (even when they have the same addressing scheme) creating the impression that they are on different physical networks. Network virtualization which is intended for datacenters is important in providing a multi-tenant cloud service for a shared private cloud where different departments or business units of WAI can make use of it.
Windows Server 2012 brings with it virtualization technology that improves cost efficiency of the organization in IT infrastructure and permits greater flexibility and scalability of infrastructure. It provides facilities for building private clouds that can serve the two business units and multiple departments of WAI across the multiple geographical locations of the organization. With a new Server Manager feature in Windows Server 2012, multiple servers can be grouped and managed as a single server thus improving the efficiency of the server administrator.

Deployment and Server Editions

For WAI's two offices that are geographically located apart, a total of 6 servers will be needed to provide Active Directory services, File and Storage services (2), Domain Name System services (3) and the Hyper-V service. One File and Storage services server each will be at the main office and the other at the branch office, and one each for the Domain Name System servers too.
There are four editions of the Windows Server 8. These editions are Foundation, Essentials, Standard and Datacenter. Of these four editions, the Datacenter edition will be deployed for WAI owing to its vast capabilities in meeting the requirements of WAI. This server is chosen because of the 4TB memory limit with unlimited file services limitation, unlimited virtualization rights, support for active directory, server core mode and Hyper-V.

DNS Service design

DNS servers provide the service that enables the translation of names that are easily remembered by users and the IP addresses that are used by machines and vice versa. DNS is used to resolve host names to IP addresses and the reverse of resolving IP addresses to names, locate domain controllers and global catalog servers and locate mail servers. Windows server 2012 has the capability to resolve fully qualified domain names to IPv4 and Ipv6 addresses. And the IP Adddress Management (IPAM) makes it easy for system administrators to have a unified view of the DNS zones and IP address configurations and easily manage the DNS and DHCP services.
Split DNS infrastructure will be implemented where two zones are created for the same domain. One zone is to be used by the internal network while the other zone is used by the external network. The Split DNS infrastructure works by directing internal hosts to an internal domain name server for name resolution and directing external hosts to an external domain name server for name resolution. It provides a security advantage since the internal domain name used cannot be resolved to a valid top level domain and accessed by external network users.
Figure 1: Namespace illustration
The considerations for designing the DNS namespace for WAI will first entail identifying the DNS namespace requirements of WAI choosing a unique second-level DNS domain name that represents the organization. The second level domain name is chosen to reflect the name of WAI and another consideration is the top-level domain to be tied to the second-level domain name which usually reflects what the organization does. For instance a .com for commercial purposes as in the case of WAI. Sub-domains or child domains can then be added to the parent domain e.g. admin.wai.com where the child domain is admin. In order to ease maintenance, child domains should be assigned based on what function the sub-domain will be performing. The admin.wai.com for instance shows that the sub-domain belongs to the admin department of WAI. In order to secure the namespace from external access, the internal Active Directory namespace is selected such that it is totally different from the external namespace.

DNS Server deployment

For implementation of split DNS infrastructure, a minimum of two DNS servers are required. For the same domain name, each DNS server is authoritative but contains different Resource Records according to their respective roles as internal or external DNS servers. They are both configured as primary DNS servers containing an updatable copy of the zone records.  The internal DNS server is hosted on the internal network while the external DNS server could be hosted by an ISP or a third party.
Figure 2: Split DNS infrastructure topology
The primary and secondary (or Active Directory Integrated) DNS Servers on the internal network will not be accessible to clients from external networks.  
In order to add a new role to the Windows Server 2012, the Server Manager feature is used. After starting Server Manager, click on the manage menu and select 'Add Roles and Features'.
In order to add a new role to the Windows Server 2012, the Server Manager feature is used. After starting Server Manager, click on the manage menu and select 'Add Roles and Features'.
A click on the next button will bring up the Add Roles and Features Wizard window where the installation type is selected. Since it is a DNS server, the Role-based or feature-based installation radio button will be selected. The server on which the DNS server role is to be installed is selected from the server pool. The next windows offers to install additional tools that are required to manage the DNS server. Although the tools do not have to be installed on the same server as the DNS server, they may not even be installed in the case where the servers are administered remotely. But for the purposes of WAI, the DNS server tools will be installed locally on the same server as the DNS server to aid management of the server. The rest of the prompts can be run through to the final confirmation page before the installation is completed.
After installation of the DNS server comes its configuration which can either be done from the CLI using the dnscmd command or within Server Manager on the GUI.
On Server Manager, a click on the Tools menu and a select of DNS brings up the DNS Manager window from where Action menu is clicked to Configure a DNS Server. On the Configure a DNS Server wizard, there are three options to select from - the first is to create a forward lookup zone, the second is to create forward and reverse lookup zones while the third configures root hints only. A forward zone helps resolve a name to IP address, while a reverse lookup zone resolves IP address to names. Root hints only provide the IP addresses of the other DNS servers where records can be found.

Active Directory

A domain controller is a server that is running Active Directory Domain Services. It provides a distributed database that stores and manages information about network resources and application-specific data from directory-enabled applications. AD DS can be used by Administrators to organize the elements of a network - users, computers, and other devices into a hierarchical structure which includes the Active Directory forest, the domains in the forest and the organizational units in each domain.
Organizing the network elements into an hierarchical structure has security advantages since the forest acts as a security boundary for an organization and defines the scope of authority for administrators. The forest contains a single domain - the forest root domain. Management of the AD involved IT administrators allowing devices to be associated with the company’s Active Directory and using this association for authentication. Users are also enabled to use single sign on from devices that are associated with the company’s Active Directory.
Notification thresholds will be configured in order to be aware of when quota limit is approached. The notifications to be used are e-mail notifications which will be instantly received by the administrator, storage reports, event logs or run a script.
Right-click the template and click Create Quota from Template and the Create Quota dialog box is opened with the summary properties of the quota template displayed. Type the path or browse to the volume or folder that the quota will apply to under quota path.

Click the Create quota on path option and then click Create.

The File Server Resource Manager is part of the File and Storage Services role of the Windows Server 2012 which is installed by default. in order to use it however, the File Server Resource Manager has to be installed. Depending on the configuration of the server more features may be required to be added in order to enable management of the File Server Resource Manager. The defaults for the remaining wizard options can then be accepted in order to install the component. The File Server Resource Manager use the tool for quota management.

DFS Namespaces

DFS namespaces will be used in the design implementation because it enables the grouping of shared folders located on different servers into logically structured namespaces such that each namespace appears as a single shared folder with subfolders to a user. Since there are two different sites from which WAI employees are operating, the files on the servers at the two locations are easily shared to users independent of the physical location of the user accessing a file.