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Microsoft Network Operating System II IT-222 Unit 6 Writing Assignment Geriann Vassar A comparison of Windows Server 2008 full installation and server core installation showing some of the benefits and cons of server core. Full installation option of Windows Server 2008 provides the following benefits: Only Full Installation supports the heavy-duty Power Shell. “a command-line shell and scripting language designed especially for system administration” (Microsoft TechNet, 2009).
New in Power Shell: “cmdlets, Remote management, Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE), Background jobs, Advanced functions, Script internationalization, Modules, Debugger, Events, and Online Help” (Microsoft TechNet, 2009). Full Installation can manage any role and any feature available in Windows Server 2008. The Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 provides the following benefits: * Reduced maintenance – Because the Server Core installation option installs only what is needed to have a manageable server “for the AD DS, AD LDS, DHCP Server, DNS Server, and File Services” (Microsoft TechNet, 2009). Reduced attack surface – Because Server Core installations are the smallest possible, there are not as many applications running on the server, which reduces the attack surface. * Reduced management – Because a smaller number of applications and services are installed on a server running the Server Core installation, there is less to supervise. * Less disk space required – A Server Core installation needs only about “1 gigabyte (GB) of disk space to install and approximately 2 GB for operations after the installation” (Microsoft TechNet, 2009). Lower risk of bugs – Decreasing the amount of code can help decrease the amount of bugs. * All updates have to be installed on Full Installation where Server Core only needs the updates for the “binaries and services that it is actually running” (Microsoft TechNet, 2009). Cons of using Server Core installation: * “Initial Configuration Tasks screen is not offered on Server Core,” (Minasi, Gibson, Finn, Henry, Hynes 2010) so adding on roles, features, or even joining a domain is going to take a well-informed administrator working from the command-line. There is no way to “upgrade from a previous version of the Windows Server operating system” (Minasi, Gibson, Finn, Henry, Hynes 2010) to a Server Core installation. * There is no way to “upgrade from a full installation of Windows Server 2008” (Minasi, Gibson, Finn, Henry, Hynes 2010) to a Server Core installation. * There is no way to “upgrade from a Server Core installation to a full installation” (Minasi, Gibson, Finn, Henry, Hynes 2010) of Windows Server 2008. “If you close all of the command prompts,” (Minasi, Gibson, Finn, Henry, Hynes 2010) there is no way to manage the Server Core installation. * Because there is no Web browser, “you cannot activate a Server Core installation” (Minasi, Gibson, Finn, Henry, Hynes 2010). Both Server Core and Full Installation use the Active Directory system, and both servers will run Bitlocker for more security. For most enterprises, that means a combination of both Full Installation and Server Core provide the best benefits.
References: Microsoft TechNet (2009) TechNet microsoft . com, what’s new in windows powershell. http://technet. microsoft. com/en-us/library/dd378784%28WS. 10%29. aspx M. Minasi, D. Gibson, A. Finn, W. Henry, B. Hynes (2010) ITT virtual library, mastering microsoft windows server 2008 R2, Wiley Publishing, Inc. , Indianapolis, Indiana. https://myportal. itt-tech. edu/library/books/Pages/default. aspx http://library. books24x7. com. proxy. itt-tech. edu/assetviewer. aspx? bookid=41087;chunkid=1;rowid=2