Chapter 1

Getting Started with Windows Server

Tran Thanh Dien, PhD

August, 2024
 Content

▪ History of Windows Operating Systems

▪ Windows OS Architecture and Networking Models
▪ The purpose of a Windows Server?
▪ It's getting "cloudy" out there
▪ Introduction to Windows server 2022

2
History of Windows
Windows family tree

2016

2019

2018
2016
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

2.0 3.0
1981 1987 1990 1993 1996
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

1998 1999 2000 2003

2000
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

2008 2012 2015 2018

2016
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

2025

2021 2022 2024

 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

Command-
line interface
(CLI)

2.0 3.0
1981 1987 1990 1993 1996

• 16-bit multi-tasking
on top of MS-DOS
• Limited multi-tasking
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Allows application windows to overlap

• Integra`te the control panel

2.0 3.0
1981 1987 1990 1993 1996
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Enhanced mode to run Windows applications with

reduced memory
• Better memory management

2.0 3.0
1981 1987 1990 1993 1996
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• 1024 x 768 pixels resolution with a 24-bit color depth

• Control panel is enriched
• Windows Media Player

2.0 3.0
1981 1987 1990 1993 1996
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Portability to multiple processor architectures, higher

security and stability
• Designed from scratch

2.0 3.0
1981 1987 1990 1993 1996
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Introduced the taskbar, the 'Start' button,

and the way the user navigates
• Multitasked 32-bit architecture

2.0 3.0
1981 1987 1990 1993 1996
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Same interface as Windows 95

• IIS 2.0, Microsoft FrontPage 1.1, Remote Access Service

2.0 3.0
1981 1987 1990 1993 1996
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows
• Same interface as Windows 95
• Improved power management, network management, and
USB support
• Added Standby and Hibernate modes

1998 1999 2000 2000 2003

• IIS 2.0, Microsoft

FrontPage 1.1,
• Remote Access Service,..
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• IE 5.5, Windows Media Player 7

For embedded and Windows Movie Maker
systems • System Restore

1998 1999 2000 2000 2003

 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Based on Microsoft’s business-orientated

system Windows NT
• Active Directory Domain

1998 1999 2000 2000 2003

Professional, Server, Advanced

Server, Datacenter Server and
Small Business Server
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Improved taskbar and ‘Start’ menu, better

networking features
• Newly improved user interface

1998 1999 2000 2000 2003

 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Integrated support for the .NET Common

Language Runtime (CLR)
• Improve AD, Remote server administration,…

1998 1999 2000 2000 2003

 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Introducing Windows Search, Windows Aero,

Windows Sidebar, Shadow Copy
• Integrated Speech Recognition

1998 1999 2000 2000 2003

 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Virtualization
• Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC)
• Bitlocker, Windows PowerShell

2008 2012 2015 2016 2018

 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Support for virtual hard disks, better multi-core processors

performance, and kernel
• Improved touch and handwriting recognition

2008 2012 2015 2016 2018

 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• IP Address Management (IPAM)

• Storage pools and spaces

2008 2012 2015 2016 2018

 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

2008 2012 2015 2016 2018

• integration with online

services from Microsoft and
others (Skydrive, Xbox)
• User interface focused on
tablets users, including a
touch-optimized shell
• New 'Start' screen (No
‘Start button)
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

2008 2012 2015 2016 2018

• Return of ‘Start’ button, a

virtual desktop system,
integration with Windows
Phone
• Device dependent interface
 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Windows Defender installed and enabled by default

• IIS 10: Support for HTTP/2
• Windows Server Containers

2008 2012 2015 2016 2018

 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• offers even more roles for servers • easier server management

• better security • more reliable computing
• new desktop features

2008 2012 2015 2016 2018

 History of Windows
Timeline of windows

• Linux containers on Windows

• Improved Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
• Windows Admin Center

2008 2012 2015 2016 2018

 Windows Server Virtualization
Virtualization

• The process of running more than one OS at the same time on a single computer
• software allowing the hardware to host multiple operating systems: hypervisor

• Type 2 hypervisors:
o run on top of an existing workstation OS:
referred to as the host OS
o guest OS or VMs: access the hardware through
both the hypervisor and underlying host OS
o Common for software testing and development
o Example: VMWare Workstation, Oracle
VirtualBox
 Windows Server Virtualization
Virtualization

• Type 1 hypervisor: ensure that each virtual machine runs as efficiently as possible.
o interacts with the hardware directly
o contain a small OS to manage the hypervisor configuration and VMs
o Example: Microsoft Hyper-V, VMWare ESX/ESXi and Linux KVM
 Windows Containers

• virtualization makes more efficient use of server hardware

• But each virtual machine running on a hypervisor is a complete operating system
• Unlike virtual machines, containers do not have a complete operating system.

• A container: a subset of an OS
composed of one or more Web
apps and the supporting OSS files
needed by those Web apps only.
• Containers must be run on an
existing operating system
 Windows Containers

• The enclosed Web apps executed isolated from Web apps running within other
containers and the underlying operating system.
• called sandboxing.
• To allow each Web app to be uniquely identified on the network, each container
functions as a virtual operating system with a unique name and IP address.
• Containers are much smaller and use far fewer underlying system resources
• The most common container software used to implement containers on operating
• systems today is Docker
 Windows Containers

• The core component of an OS is the kernel.

• Containers do not contain a kernel, and thus must rely on the kernel in the
underlying operating system to execute Web apps that they host.
• This means that the Web apps must be written for the Windows OS and run within a
Windows container if they use an underlying Windows Os kernel for execution.
• Underlying OS kernel is a single point of failure; too many containers on a single
underlying OS may slow down the performance of the kernel or cause it to crash
 Windows Containers

• Hyper-V can provide a separate copy of the

underlying kernel to each container
o provide additional performance and security
features to Web apps that are run within
containers on Windows Server
Windows Architecture
Windows Architecture
 Windows Architecture
User-mode

▪ Using well-defined operating system application program interfaces (APIs)

to request system services.
▪ A User mode process:
o Have no direct access to hardware or kernel memory
o Is limited to an assigned address space
o Can be paged out of physical memory into virtual RAM on a hard disk
o Lower priority than kernel mode components
o Cannot access another user process address space
 Windows Architecture
User-mode

▪ Subsystems: Allows to run applications written for different OS

▪ Integral subsystem: perform essential operating system functions:
o Security: create security token and rights; permission to user account; accept
user login request and initiate authentication
o Workstation service: Allow computer to access network
 Windows Architecture
Kernel-mode

▪ The privileged mode of operation

▪ The code has direct access to all hardware and all memory, including the
address spaces of all user mode processes
▪ Kernel mode components:
o Can access hardware directly
o Can access all of the memory on the computer.
o Are not moved to the virtual memory page file on the hard disk.
o Process at a higher priority than user mode processes.
 Windows Architecture
Kernel-mode

▪ Comprise of Executive, kernel, and hardware abstraction layer (HAL).

▪ Executive provides core OS services

▪ Kernel consists of a set of functions in
Ntoskrnl.exe provides the most basic
operating system services
▪ A hardware abstraction layer (HAL):,
implemented in software, between the
physical hardware and the software
running on that computer
 Windows Architecture
Kernel-mode

▪ The executive provides core OS services that user can use

▪ Interact with Input/output devices, Object management, process management
and the system security

Components of executive services:

▪ I/O Manager
▪ Process Manager
▪ Power Manager
▪ Object Manager
▪ Virtual Memory Manager
▪ …
 Windows Architecture
Kernel-mode

▪ Kernel: Schedule the activities to be performed by CPU

▪ Synchronize the activity among processors to optimize performance

▪ Stop user mode services and applications

from access critical areas of OS
▪ Microkernel: collection of programs provide
tasks such as address space management,
thread management, Inter-process
communication (IPC)
 Windows Architecture
Kernel-mode

▪ Four main responsibilities of Kernel:

o Thread scheduling
o Interrupt Handling
o Low-level processor synchronization
o Recovery after Power failure
 Windows Architecture
Kernel-mode

▪ The HAL is a loadable kernel-mode

module (Hal.dll) enables the same
operating system to run on different
platforms with different processors.

▪ Hides Chipset/BIOS details

Windows Architecture
Kernel-mode
 Windows Networking Model
▪ Two basic networking models used with windows server and its clients: peer-to-
peer model and client-server model
 Windows Networking Model
Peer-to-peer networking

▪ Simplest way to configure a network and often used for home offices and small
businesses
▪ Workstations used to share resources such as files and printers and to connect to
resources on other computers

▪ No special computer needed to enable

workstations to communicate and share resources
 Windows Networking Model
peer-to-peer networking

▪ Files, Folders, printers, applications and devices on one computer shared and
make available for others to access
▪ Designed for networks about 10 workstations or less
▪ User account information managed on each workstation
▪ Microsoft Windows workgroups organize PCs as peer-to-peer local networks to
facilitate easier sharing of files, internet access, printers, and other local network
resources.
 Windows Networking Model
server-based networking

▪ A server: a single computer provides extensive multi-user access to network

resources, e.g., file server, email server, web server, database server, print server, …
 Windows Networking Model
server-based networking

▪ User need only to sign in once to gain access to network resources

▪ Stronger security: access to shared resources and network managed from one place
▪ Client-server networks are highly scalable. As the number of users increases,
additional servers can be added to cope with the additional workload.
 Windows Networking Model
Domain model

▪ Using a centralized approach to resource management

▪ A domain controller (DC): a server responds to security authentication requests
within a domain
Windows Networking Model
Domain model
Introduction to Windows server 2022
 The purpose of Windows Server?

▪ Everything revolves around data in business today

▪ Windows client: a requestor, consumer, and contributor of data
▪ Windows servers: housing, protecting, and serving up the data

▪ A client-server model

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 The purpose of Windows Server

Some example of Server roles

▪ The user log in to the workstation and DC
handles the logon

▪ When user accesses other servers, DC

will issue a service ticket

55
 The purpose of Windows Server

Some example of Server

roles (con’t)
▪ When you need to contact
a resource by name, your
computer asks a DNS
server how to get there

56
 The purpose of Windows Server

▪ In most organizations, many different servers needed to provide the required

capabilities
▪ Each service inside Windows Server provided as, or as part of, a Role
▪ A server without any roles installed is useless
▪ Windows also contains many Features that can be installed
▪ Features: add functionality to the base operating system such as Telnet Client, or to
a server to enhance an existing role

57
 Getting to the cloud

▪ A cloud fabric is referred to virtual resources: virtual machines, virtual disks, and
even virtual networks
▪ It enables the ability:
• to spin up new servers on a whim
• for particular services themselves to increase or decrease their needed
resources automatically, based on utilization.
▪ The total cost of such a website or service can be drastically decreased
 Getting to the cloud
Private cloud

▪ Install the same public cloud fabric inside our datacenter

▪ Provide our organization with cloud benefits:
• the ability to spin resources up and down,
• running everything virtualized
• implement all of the neat tips and tricks of cloud environments
▪ Installing our own private cloud get the best of both worlds
 Windows Server 2022 Editions
Essentials Edition

• For a business or organization with up to 25 users

• Hardware and connection limits: 2 processor socket; 64 GB of memory, and only 50
concurrent remote access connections are allowed.
• Cannot join an existing Active Directory domain, but can host a single, small Active
Directory domain with a single domain controller.
• Provides most but not all server roles.
• not provide the Hyper-V role for hosting and managing virtual machines.
• can be installed as a virtual machine on an existing hypervisor
 Windows Server 2022
Standard versus Datacenter

▪ Windows Server 2022 Standard

• the default option
• includes most of traditional Windows Server roles
• the cheaper option
▪ Windows Server 2022 Standard
• the luxury model
• some roles and feature only work with the Datacenter version, e.g., Storage
Spaces Direct (S2D)
• cost significantly more money than Standard
 Windows Server 2022 Editions
Standard Edition: Some other key features

o A modern desktop user interface

o An improved Windows Defender
o Easier configuration, management, and security options for applications, files, networking,
and Active Directory
o Desired State Configuration: quickly configure multiple servers using a template file
listing required software and configuration items
o Intelligent storage features for volumes that use multiple physical storage devices
o Ability to use Storage Replicas
o Ability to create upto two Hyper-V VMs under the default Windows Server license
o Ability to create an unlimited number of Windows Containers, and up to two Hyper-V
containers
 Windows Server 2022 Editions
Datacenter Edition

• Designed for environments with:

o Mission critical applications
o Very large databases
o Very large virtualization requirements
o Cloud computing
o Information access requiring high availability
• Allow to create an unlimited number of VMs and unlimited number of containers
• Also comes with additional Software Defined Networking (SDN) features, such as
Network Controller role: to monitor and manage virtual networks used by large
numbers of virtual machines.
 Windows Server 2022 Editions
Standard Edition

• Designed to meet the everyday needs of most businesses and organizations

• Providing:
• File and print services
• Secure Internet connectivity,
• Centralized management of users
• Centralized management of applications and network resources.
 Windows Server 2022 Editions
Datacenter: Azure Edition

• Host virtual machines in Azure: the option of selecting new VM to run

Azure Edition
• Some cool new features only on Azure Edition: Hot Patch and SMB via QUIC
Windows Server 2022
Standard versus Datacenter
 Windows Server 2022
Three different user interfaces

• Desktop Experience: The point-and-click interface with a traditional look and feel

• Server Core: a command-line interface (namely PowerShell)

• Nano Server – now only for containers

 Windows Server 2022
Licensing models

• Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC)

✓ previous called Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB)
✓ continue to be released every 2–3 years
✓ five years of mainstream support followed by five years of available extended
support.
• Semi-Annual Channel (SAC)
✓ now retiring
✓ two major releases every year
✓ SAC versions of Windows Server lasted for a short 18 months
 Windows Server 2022
License purchase and packs

• Core Packs
✓ license each physical server based on the amount of processor cores
✓ One Core Pack covers two CPU cores. E.g., If the servers has two CPUs, each
with four cores => require four core packs to be compliant.
✓ the rules of a minimum license purchase:
o Any physical server requires a minimum of 8 core packs
o if server has fewer than 16 cores: license for at least 16 cores
o Every physical CPU requires at least four core packs
 Windows Server 2022
License purchase and packs

• At what point do I turn to Datacenter?

• Windows Server 2022 Standard allows for the running of two VMs
• Not a technical limitation and more VMs were possible. The way that Windows
Server is licensed
• Purchase a Standard License => purchasing the rights to install Server 2022
Standard onto one physical piece of hardware to run two VWs
• Repurchase Standard licensing for every two additional VMs that you need to
run
• Datacenter costs a lot more than Standard. If need to run more than 12 VMs,
purchasing a single (16 core) Datacenter license will be your cheaper option
 Windows Server 2022
License purchase and packs

• Client Access Licenses (CALs)

• Windows Server licensing, just for the server side
• purchase and own CALs to cover any user who needs to connect to resources on
that server
• Oftentimes when purchase Windows Server licensing, you will find options that
combine server and CAL licensing, such as “Server 2022 16 core licenses + 25
CALs.”
 Windows Server 2022
Overview of new and updated features

• Hardware security
• improvements to TPM interoperability: the assurance that your server started
with legitimate code.
• UEFI secure boot and virtualization-based security: protecting servers from
rootkits and crypto mining attacks
 Windows Server 2022
Overview of new and updated features

• Network security:
• Protocol updates:
• security enhancements to both TCP and UDP
• SMB now works with AES-256
• TLS 1.3 enabled by default
• DNS-over-HTTPS
• official name for this is actually Secure DNS
• enable DNS lookups to be encrypted using HTTPS
• help to prevent eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks
 Windows Server 2022
Overview of new and updated features

• Azure integrations: ways to help interact with and migrate to the Azure platform
• An Azure-specific version of the OS:
• Azure Stack HCI: building your own private cloud using Azure Stack HCI
• Hotpatching: patch servers on the fly, without requiring OS restarts.
• SMB over QUIC:
• be able to map network drives natively, over the internet
• carry SMB traffic utilizes TLS 1.3, thereby making it safe and secure to
flow across the internet
• Windows Admin Center: enables to do a lot of normal, everyday tasks with your
servers, all from a single interface.
 Windows Server 2022
Overview of new and updated features

• Storage: numerous improvements to the storage subsystem

• Storage Spaces and Storage Spaces Direct
• snapshotting with the ReFS filesystem
• SMB protocol being used to transfer those files over the network can now self-
compress on the fly.
• Containerization
• the size of container images shrunk and image startup time decreased
• integrated with Kubernetes
• compatible with IPv6
 Windows Server 2022
Overview of new and updated features

• The Windows 10 experience continued: looks, feels, and drives like Windows 10
• Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI):
• a culmination of a number of different technologies work together and be
managed together for the purpose of creating the mentality of a Software-
Defined Datacenter
• the combination of Hyper-V and S2D on the same cluster of servers
• a software-defined datacenter is Software-Defined Networking (SDN): shifting
the design and administration of the networks to be virtual and managed by the
Windows Server platform
 Windows Server 2022
Overview of new and updated features

• Microsoft Edge: replacing Internet Explorer

• Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection: a cloud-based service that you tap
your machines into (some AI)
• Integration with Linux: the ability to run Linux VMs within our Microsoft Hyper-V
• Linux-based containers can also be run on top of your Windows Server
• System Insights
• predictive analytics engine that runs locally on the servers
• capturing information about the server itself and keeping historical data for up to
a year
• Can be translated and manipulated with Windows Admin Center, or PowerShell,
to find patterns and trends.
 Windows Server 2022
Overview of new and updated features

• Features deprecated: have no plans to make future improvements to these

technologies
• Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) releases
• Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)
• Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) servers
• iSNS used for the automatic discoveryof iSCSI devices on your network
• still retains the ability to make connections to iSCSI devices
• iSNS service removed and no longer utilized for that automatic discovery
 Windows Server 2022
Overview of new and updated features

• Features deprecated (con’t):

• Guarded fabric and Shielded VMs
• Windows Deployment Services (WDS) partial deprecation
• workflows that utilize boot.wim files will now be blocked
• newer deployment platforms: Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager
or the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)
 Windows Server 2022
Navigating the interface

• The updated Start menu

Pinning items here to

give easy-access
location for items
commonly launch on
All of the applications the server
buttons for quick
access to items installed on the server listed
here, in alphabetical order
 Windows Server 2022
Navigating the interface

• The Quick Admin Tasks menu

• open by right-clicking on the Start button
• Quick links to do things like open Event
Viewer, view the System properties, check
Device Manager, and even Shut down or
Restart the server
 Windows Server 2022
Navigating the interface

• Using the Search function

• a powerful tool for interfacing with literally anything on your Windows Server
• Pinning programs to the taskbar
• right-click on the program and choose Pin to taskbar to stick a permanent
shortcut to that application in the taskbar
• The power of right-clicking
• small context menus displayed upon a right-click
• more right-click functionality into application launchers themselves
 Windows Server 2022
Using the newer Settings screen

• an interface to configure various

settings within the operating system.
 Windows Server 2022
Task Manager

• Users: show a list of currently logged-in

users and the amount of hardware
resources the user sessions consuming
 Windows Server 2022
Task View

adds the capability of

managing multiple full
desktops’ worth of
windows and applications
 Windows Server 2022
Task View

WinKey + Tab
 Summary

▪ Quick introduction of history of Windows OS; the architecture of Microsoft

windows OS and networking models
▪ Windows Server 2022 Editions
▪ Windows Server 2022 Features
▪ Navigating the intefrface
▪ Task Manager and Task View
Q&A