Global Advertising: New Features of Windows Server 2012

Global Advertising, Inc. (GAI) is a brand-new company with two locations—one in New York and the other in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles location is slated to serve as the main location and house the majority of the workforce. GAI plans to hire 90 people as a starting point. Nine employees will be executives responsible for running the firm. The firm is set to consist of four departments namely Account and Sales Department which will have 15 employees, Creative, Media and Productions Department which will have 49 employees, Human Resources and Finance department which will have 12 employees and finally the IT Department which will have five employees. The New York Branch which is set to be the smaller location will have at least one employee in each department.

The five IT employees will be assigned administrative roles once the firm infrastructure is set and the Windows Server operating system deployed. This proposal for the deployment of the Windows Server takes into consideration various factors to establish what GAI needs are. They include the number of employees and departments, the network infrastructure put in place, security mechanisms and the location of the two sites.

The proposed server operating system that we intend to deploy is the Windows Server 2012. It has two critical features that have led to it being selected. The first is that it comes with PowerShell which is an essential management tool. PowerShell cmdlets have been increased leading to the command line being more efficient when it comes to management. (Otey, 2011). The second feature is Microsoft’s Server Management tool which can manage multiple servers concurrently. This eliminates the need for the Remote Desktop Protocol which was previously used to manage tasks.

New Features of Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012 has a lot of new features. It was one of Microsoft’s most successful releases. Some of these new features will be discussed below in an attempt to show how GAI can implement them to achieve a manageable and robust network infrastructure. Below, some of these features have been discussed in detail.

Multiserver support

Previously, in Windows Server 2008, the server manager was designed to manage a single server. However, in Windows Server 2012, multiple servers can be managed. This is one of the key features mentioned above as to why the Server OS was selected. The primary reason why it can manage multiple servers is that it utilizes the cloud concept. It can manage both local and remote servers. This is a good thing, especially in our case where we have two locations.

Server Core set as the default

In this OS the Server Core is the default environment for server management. Previous editions set the GUI as the default environment for management. This is a remarkable change which has resulted in it being transformed from a super feature to just another standard feature. (Otey, 2011). This means that once the initial configurations are done one can do away with the GUI and move into production.

Ubiquitous PowerShell Management

This is another critical feature that was mentioned in the introduction as a major reason for choosing Windows Server 2012. Getting rid of the GUI goes hand-in-hand with adopting PowerShell as a critical management utility. Previously Windows Server 2008 had 200 cmdlets, but the 2012 version has over 2300 cmdlets that are used to manage the Windows Server application.

Built-in NIC teaming

The built-in NIC teaming Is heterogeneous. That is it can work across different vendors providing load balancing and providing a failover over NICs that are provide by different vendors. Previously if you wanted NIC teaming on your Windows OS, one could get specialized NICs from service providers such as Broadcom and Intel.

SMB 2.2

Server Message Block is a protocol responsible for file sharing. Unlike in previous versions, the SMB protocol has been enhanced in Windows Server 2012. This gives it the ability to increase file resiliency without the need for unique configuration. Furthermore, server applications including Microsoft SQL server can use SMB 2.2 shares to store their databases without having to reconfigure the SQL database.

Expanded cluster scalability

In Windows Server 2012, Windows Failover Clustering is more scalable than before. Previous Windows server versions could only support 16 nodes. In this version, it can handle 63 nodes and can be used by 4000 virtual machines in each cluster.

Deployment and Server Editions

Servers installed at GAI will be responsible for providing printing services, hosting web servers, hosting file servers, providing Domain Name Servers (DNS), Domain Controllers, and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocols. When deploying servers, it is essential to consider the original number of employees is 90. In 2-3 years the company will have grown, and that number will have increased. This means that the number of servers selected should be scalable. The next important factor to consider has a failover solution. This ensures that though one server may fail, the company is still able to function and recover.

In our case we have two sites, one in New York and another in Los Angeles and both of them need to be interconnected. In the two sites the network infrastructure will need to be set up in a mirrored fashion. A total of 24 servers will be installed.12 will be the primary servers while the other 12 will be backup servers to each of the 12 primary servers. The table below shows the 24 servers, their role, edition of Windows they will use and location.

Server

Role

Windows Edition

Location

LA_DC*

Domain Controller, DNS, DHCP

Datacenter

Los Angeles

LA_FS_HRF*

Human resource file server

Datacenter

Los Angeles

LA_FS_CMP*

Creative Media and Production file server

Standard

Los Angeles

LA_FS_A&S*

Accounting and Supply file servers

Datacenter

Los Angeles

LA_WWW*

Mail and web servers

Foundation

Los Angeles

LA_FS_PRINT*

Printing servers

Essentials

Los Angeles

NY_DC*

Domain Controller, DNS, DHCP

datacenter

New York

NY_FS_HRF*

Human resource file server

Datacenter

New York

NY_FS_CMP*

Creative Media and Production file server

Standard

New York

NY_FS_A&S*

Accounting and Supply file servers

Datacenter

New York

NY_WWW*

Mail and web servers

Standard

New York

NY_FS_PRINT*

Printing servers

Essentials

New York

The primary server LA_DC* and NY_DC* combine three roles that are domain control, DNS hosting and providing DHCP. Other servers that combine function are LA_WWW and NY_WWW which are responsible for both mailing and our services. All the servers mentioned above will run the Server Core as it is more secure and more stable. This is because it involves fewer processes. These servers will be deployed manually.

Active Directory

Each site will have its domain. The two domains will exist within one forest for the entire organization. The site in Los Angeles will have a domain called LosAngeles.globaladvertising.com and the one in New York will have a domain called NewYork.globaladvertising.com. To help manage the domains, Domain Controllers will be used in each of the sites. Some Domain Controllers will be read-only. Read-Only Domain Controllers (RODCs) host complete copies of partitions of the Active Directory that are read-only. They also host complete copies of contents found in the SYSVOL folder. (Microsoft, 2012) Since GAI is comprised of two branches, RODCs will help resolve challenges such as manageability issues that are encountered in branch offices by caching credentials.

In each department, the Active Directory will be used to come up with their Organizational Units which will be configured and nested under the domain they belong to. Each user will have an Active Directory Object. The Active Directory Objects will be assigned based on the role of each user and then placed in their respective Organizational Units. Group policy will be used to deploy software applications based on the needs of the users and the role they have been assigned.

DNS and DHCP

DHCP will play a significant role in deploying the server. This is because it is responsible for configuring IP settings which are critical in any network. The process is typically automated to reduce the burden of manually configuring IP addresses. In GAI, DHCP will be used to configure each user with correct IP settings. To do this, the DHCP scope design needs to be considered. Some of the factors under scope design include lease times, number of scope and address range. Lease time is the maximum duration a network client can use an IP address without it being renewed. In our case we will leave the lease time by default which is eight days before, the IP addresses need to be renewed. We will have two DHCP scope. The first will be comprised of a pool of IP addresses ranging from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254 and the second will be comprised of a pool of IP addresses ranging from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.254. These will then be leased to users on the network. The first range will be for the branch in Los Angeles and the second for the one in New York.

The DHCP solution deployed should be fault tolerant. GAI has an extensive network; this means the best option to deal with fault tolerance is splitting scopes. (Microsoft, 2008). As the company grows the users of the network will grow. To ensure it is fault tolerant the deployed Windows Server 2012 will be able to split the two existing scopes further to create secondary DHCP backup servers. The servers will also use DHCP reservations for devices such as printers. This ensures all printers have an IP address assigned to them at all times. The reason for this is that a DHCP reservation is an IP address found in a given scope that is reserved for a particular client on the network. (Lanz, 2013)

The DNS is responsible for the resolution of names in a network. These names are then used to access network resources. For ease of administration, as stated previously, the organization will have two subdomains for its sites. The central domain will be www.globaladvertising.com while the two subdomains will be www.LosAngles.globaladvertising.com and www.NewYork.globaladvertising.com

Application Services

The group policy managed by the Windows Server will be responsible for deploying software. This will look at whether a massive number of employees need to use software or whether IT officers need to go to every department to install software. Using the group policy found on the Windows server, IT administrators will be able to configure .msi file that will be installed once a computer on the network reboots. Examples of application that will be deployed this way include Microsoft Office, antiviruses, Adobe Reader, QuickBooks and many more. Also at the discretion of IT administrators, they could use these policies to control how the different applications are executed.

File and Printer Sharing

LA_FS_PRINT and NY_FS_PRINT servers will be responsible for file sharing and printing services. These servers will be able to support different print shares such enhanced point and point, package aware point and point and legacy point and point. Enhanced point and point will involve Windows server 2012 being able to share a printer with other clients that support Windows. As for package aware point and point sharing, driver packages will be shared among clients from the print servers. Finally, in legacy point and point, client machines will be able to copy v3 printer driver files and the settings to use from the server’s spooler (Microsoft, 2012).

Two DFS technologies will be implemented by the organization. The first is DFs namespace which will assist in common grouping folders found in different servers into logically structured namespaces. Each namespace will appear to users as a single shared folder. This structure will be vital as it will increase the availability of shared folders and allow users to connect to them automatically. The second technology is DFS replication. This will be used to ensure that files remain synchronized between servers even across networks with limited bandwidth connection.

Storage on the file and printing servers will be split among the different departments using the File Server Resource Manager. This is a quote method, and it will be used to control and monitor storage resources from a central point and come up with reports analyzing the disk usage trends. Employees will be assigned home folders grouped under their respective departments. Access will then only be granted to members in who belong to a particular department through the use of NTFS permissions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the network infrastructure and the server operating selected to manage GAI will need to be scalable and reliable to support the current operation and take into account future for growth. Deployment of Windows Server 2012 will do that and add even more functionality to the organization. Each server will also have a backup similar to the original to ensure operations continue despite the failure of one server.

References

Lanz, W (2013). Windows Server 2012 DHCP (Part 1). Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://techgenix.com/windows-server-2012-hccp-part1/

Microsoft. (2004, May 25). Using Software Restriction Policies to Protect Against Unauthorized Software. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457006.aspx#EEAA

Microsoft. (April 26, 2012). Advantages that an RODC can Provide Existing Deployment. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://technet.mocrosoft.com/en-us/library/cc770320(v=ws.10).aspx

Microsoft. (August 23, 2012). Printing Sharing Technical Details. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj590748(v=ws.11).aspx

Microsoft. (November 10, 2008). Design Options for DHCP Availability and Fault Tolerance. Retrieved November 19, 2017 from https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd296672(v=ws.10).aspx

Otey, M. (2011, October 17). Top 10: New Features in Windows Server 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from http://windowsitpro.com/windows-server-2012/top-10-new-features-windows-server-2012