Most reviewers claim to see not only improvements in speed and functionality, but better usability as well.

Some reviewers are going so far as to proclaim that Windows 7 is as user friendly as the latest Mac OS Snow Leopard.

Even more important for business users and Information Technology Professionals is the list of impressive new features that come with Windows 7. Many of these new Windows 7 technologies allow for IT Departments to better manage, support, and configure Windows 7 machines throughout the enterprise.

It is not surprising then that these Windows 7 features are at the top of the list of reasons IT groups are ready to initiate the massive undertaking of upgrading desktop computers throughout the company.

Server 2008 R2 Required for Windows 7 Functions

But, did you know that some of the best new Windows 7 features only work with Windows Server 2008? In fact, some features actually require the latest Windows Server release, Server 2008 R2.

And, a handful of functions not only require Windows Server 2008 R2, but they require that all domain controllers be Windows Server 2008!

This isn’t a trivial point when evaluating upgrading to Windows 7 in a large environment. Let’s take a look at some of the features of Windows 7 that require Server 2008 R2.

  •   DirectAccess

DirectAccess is one of the much-anticipated features in Windows 7. For the home user, DriectAccess provides little benefit, but in the business environment, it will be invaluable.

Whether they were employees traveling on business trying to connect from hotel rooms or other locations, or whether they were employees working from home, or IT administrators trying to remotely diagnose or fix a systems issue at 3:00 A.M. — the value of remote connectivity could not be denied.

Unfortunately, until the release of Windows 7, businesses had only a few unappetizing choices for providing remote access to workers.

They could open up a giant security hole by allowing full connectivity over unencrypted connections (like the hotel wireless network) and just hope that no one intercepted sensitive data, or worse piggybacked on the connection into the servers themselves. Obviously, this option was not popular.

They could create a DMZ area of sorts allowing connectivity only to specific resources that were sealed off from the “real” corporate network. However, this inevitably meant that whatever access the employee needed was behind the firewall and not available, and it did nothing to solve the problem of unencrypted data transfers.

Finally, companies could install a Virtual Private Network or VPN which would encrypt communications between the remote user and the company network as well as provide a means to authenticate remote users before they connected to the network.

Unfortunately, this required a whole other layer of client software, server setup, firewall configuration, and cost to make it work. Too often, the overall expense and effort of installation, support, and use of the VPN was such a burden that companies strictly limited who was permitted to use the service. Even for those with VPN installed, it was a clunky solution.

With Windows 7, Microsoft implemented DirectAccess. While DirectAccess offers many of the features found in VPN, it is not the same thing.

DirectAccess offers secure connections, like VPN, using IPSec in order to encrypt data passing between the client and network as it travels through the Internet. However, unlike VPN, DirectAccess provides an extra layer of “bi-directional” communications in which the remote computer can be connected and managed, without the user logging in. This is accomplished by authenticating the machine before the user ever attempts to connect.

This provides two huge benefits. First, because the machine must authenticate to the network first, a stolen username and password are worthless without an authorized computer. Thus, not only must a password be compromised, but a machine must be taken as well, which offers a much more obvious flag of a possible security breach.

Secondly, with the machine connected and authenticated over an Internet connection, the system can be remotely administered including installing patches, running scripts, or setting policies or profiles. With DirectAccess, users no longer have to worry that when the connect in a mad rush to download a critical presentation that their connection will be slowed to a crawl while a login script runs and updates are installed. Instead, these things can happen while the employee is asleep or watching T.V. in their hotel room.

DirectAccess is a native part of Windows 7 and integrates seamlessly with Windows Server 2008 R2 eliminating the need for managing an extra layer of security or tying Active Directory entries to VPN users.

Instead, all of the same profiles, policies, and object security features run with full affect ensuring that no one gets access to something they aren’t supposed to, while everyone gets access to everything they do need, all without any frantic 6:30 P.M. phone calls on Friday afternoon.

  •   BranchCache

While network connectivity has become widespread and WAN connections have dropped in price and increased in speed in larger cities, there are still tons of places where connectivity is expensive and slow. For companies with nationwide operations there are unpleasant choices to be made. Spend huge amounts of money on faster connections, or force employees in branch offices to suffer through slow authentication and slower data access.

With BranchCache you can have files stored on-site, either on a server, Windows 2008 Server, of course, or if there is no onsite server, files can be cached on the hard drives of other workstations. This way, if one person pulls down a file at 8:30 am and another person needs the same file at 9:15 am, the second user doesn’t need to download it across the WAN.

  •   BitLocker-to-Go

Windows 7 extends the drive encryption to USB keys and other removable drives. While BitLocker works without Server 2008, if you want to FORCE it to be used on USB key drives, you’ll need the Group Policy updates in Server 2008 R2. (Technically, you can’t force the drive to be encrypted, but you can disallow access to a non-encrypted drive.) Most importantly, the recovery password can be stored in Active Directory.

  •   RemoteApp

If you want to use Presentation Virtualization (making the application appear as if it installed locally) you’ll need Server 2008 (R1 or R2) and Windows 7. While you can technically get away with using Vista, advanced visuals like Aero won’t behave and will eliminate that “local install” feel.

  •   Sever 2008 Without Windows 7 and Vice Versa

In the real world, no upgrade to either the desktop OS nor the server OS will happen overnight. The question then becomes whether or not to upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2 first or upgrade to Windows 7 first, or go the hybrid route and upgrade some of the server OS while also upgrading some of the desktop OS.

While at first glance, this sounds like the less desirable option, the reality is that this paradigm may actually serve many companies very well. The hybrid upgrade approach allows IT to upgrade by site or location, generally starting with the office with the highest concentration of the right IT personnel. By the time the IT guys are all running Windows 7 and at least a handful of the servers in the datacenter are running Windows Server 2008 R2, much of the infrastructure will not only be in place, but been tested as IT goes about its daily duties.

Working the bugs from a major upgrade out is a lot easier and less politically volatile when the ones dealing with the issues are both the people most capable of figuring out what the problem is, and the ones least likely to complain about the way things are being handled.

In the end, much of the handwringing going on about whether to put the chicken or the egg first may be moot. The only question is, which is the chicken, Windows Server 2008 or Windows 7?

Related posts:

• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 New Features: Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX
• Active Directory Rights Management Services: Features & Operational Considerations
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Green Features

However, Microsoft did just release SP2 for Windows Server 2008. Can IT get just as excited about the new server OS?

Here are five great things about Windows Server 2008 and information that will help you decide if upgrading is worth it.

1. Virtualization

Server 2008 comes with Hyper-V a virtualization technology that runs natively on Server 2008. New licensing terms that better align with business in the real world are a huge plus, but the improvements don’t stop there.

While load-balancing is probably still usually best done via a hardware solution, the virtualization in Server 2008 provides numerous opportunities to give flexibility to those with large or complicated infrastructures. Being able to create a new virtual server running a software upgrade or new install on it while leaving the old one completely functional is an enormous boon to the savvy IT department.

If there is any trouble with the new virtual server, the old virtual machine is rolled back in its place, allowing for more testing or troubleshooting while having to worry about neither too much downtime, nor taking too long to roll out new systems caused by “over-testing.”

2. Core Server Installs

Sometimes all you need is a server to sit there and handle just one little thing, and nothing else. In times past, that meant “wasting” a full server installation to handle little, but critical tasks. Securing those servers and then keeping all the patches and upgrades current often seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

Thanks to Core Installations of Server 2008, you can create a Windows Sever that not only does just one thing, but is only capable of doing that one thing rendering it a much less vulnerable system whether to bugs or attacks.

Even better, Server 2008 is smart enough to only bother applying patches that apply to what is actually installed and running on the core server which eliminates numerous updates from ever having to run (and possibly harm) these core servers.

3. Read Only Domain Controllers

Somewhere along the line, domain controllers ended up scattered across many enterprises primarily for speed and fault-tolerance purposes. Generally, while perhaps a slight overkill in many situations, this practice was relatively harmless.

Then, somewhere along the way, the physical security of domain controllers became an uncontrollable factor as remodels or personnel changes left domain controllers sitting under the receptionist’s desk or in the corner of a conference room. While not a widely used tactic, compromising a domain controller and then using its replication features to infest an entire Active Directory with numerous administrator level accounts became a real fear.

Fortunately, the Read-Only Domain Controller solves this problem by allowing for placement out in the field beyond the control of corporate IT but without the ability to send any junk data back into the main network.

4. PowerShell

Real administrators never stopped using the command line to manage servers. Between scripting repetitive or error prone tasks, to just flat out getting something done fast without having to load up any point and click GUI — firing off commands with a few keyboard strokes has always been useful.

But, with PowerShell even admins who gave up the command line are coming back. Doing something to multiple servers is easier than ever with PowerShell. And even better, those 2:30 AM pages from the monitoring system can be addressed remotely from the command line without even putting on your robe, especially if you pre-write some scripts before anything happens.

5. TS RemoteApp

When I first read about TS RemoteApp I was underwhelmed. Frankly, I liked the idea of having a remote desktop and then picking and choosing what to run there. Apparently, that is a system admin mentality.

For users, nothing could be more confusing that having a remote desktop in addition to the local one. After the 800^th user asked me which desktop was their “real” desktop, I realized the value of TS RemoteApp.

With RemoteApp, an application is run remotely, just like the old days, but the big difference is that it launches straight into the application, no desktop, no “second” double-click, no confusion about where the files “really” are located.

Windows Server 2008 Upgrade Is Worth It

Add in all of the performance and stability improvements that Server 2008 brings to the table and you have yourself a solid server OS upgrade.

Many companies will follow the tried and true method of upgrading as new hardware comes online. However, there are many instances in which certain applications, certain server functions, and certain servers outside of the corporate IT server rooms would benefit from an upgrade to Server 2008.

In those cases, it is worth it to schedule upgrades ahead of the hardware lifecycle. Also, with server power increasing faster than many enterprises take advantage of it, waiting for a hardware based need might mean waiting too long.

A smart solution is to evaluate your current server environment and evaluate which servers could benefit most from an upgrade to Server 2008 because of additional needs or limitations that the current servers have. Once those servers have been taken care of, move on to your newest and most powerful servers.

Chances are that they are not being fully utilized. Those servers are prime candidates for Hyper-V and taking on more functionality and responsibility. The same servers will of course be the ones the furthest away from hardware needs based upgrades as well.

Working ahead on sever OS upgrades in this manner can shorten the overall migration time while still providing minimal disruption to the currently functioning server environment, and that is a Win-Win for everyone involved.

Related posts:

• Overview of Server 2008 R2 — The Half Version Upgrade
• Windows Server “LongHorn” Certification Upgrade
• Install Read-Only Domain Controller on Windows Server 2008

We’ll be taking a look at some of the great new tools, features and advantages of Terminal Services. I’m also going to show you how to setup Remote Applications.

I’m going to walk you through installing the Terminal Services role, adding an application, and actually creating a remote desktop shortcut to it.

Here are the details of what we will be working on today:

• New Features of Terminal Services — there are some great new features in Server 2008 Terminal Services and I’ll give you a good introduction to the new tools
• Remote Application — next we’ll talk about what you need on your machine before installing Terminal Services and the steps that are needed for the installation
• Installing a Terminal Server — going back to our original scenario, we’ll go through the installation steps and get the Terminal Server properly setup
• Configuring RemoteApp – we’ll end today’s video by configuring the RemoteApp in our Server Manager

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Related posts:

• Lesson 6: Windows Server 2008 RODC – Read Only Domain Controllers
• Lesson 4: Windows Server Core and DHCP Servers in Server 2008
• Lesson 9: Windows Deployment Services