ActiveWin.com: Microsoft Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012 includes a new version of its web server software, IIS 8.0 adds new features and enhancements to enable service providers to host large numbers of websites while guaranteeing customers predictable service levels. These improvements make Windows Server 2012 the ideal platform for building and managing hosting environments and public clouds. To enable the highest level of scalability, especially in shared hosting environments, Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 8.0 in Windows Server 2012 introduces multicore scaling on Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA), which enables serv ers that can scale effectively beyond 32 processors and across NUMA nodes. This capability enables your web applications to scale up quickly to meet sudden spikes in demand. And when demand falls again, IIS CPU throttling enables your applications to scale down to minimize costs. You also can use IIS CPU throttling to ensure that applications always get their fair share of processor time by specifying a maximum CPU usage for each application pool. And to manage the proliferation of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates for your hosting environment, or to be able to add web servers to a web farm quickly without the need to configure SSL manually on them, the new Centralized SSL Certificate Support feature of Windows Server 2012 takes the headache out of managing SSL- based hosting environments.

IIS 8.0 in Windows Server 2012 also provides businesses with great flexibility in the kinds of web applications that they can develop and deploy. ASP.NET 4.5 now supports the latest HTML 5 standards. PHP and MySQL also are supported through the built-in IIS extensions for these development platforms. And support for the industry-standard WebSocket protocol enables encrypted data transfer over real-time bidirectional channels to support AJAX client applications running in the browser. All these features and enhancements provide flexibility for building highly scalable web applications, hosted either on-premises or in the cloud.

The Modern Work Style

The consumerization of IT through the trend towards BYOD or “bring your own device” environments is something that businesses everywhere are facing and IT is only beginning to get a handle on. The days of IT having full control over all user devices in their infrastructure are probably over, with the exception of certain high-security environments in the government, military, and finance sectors. Accepting these changes requires not just new thinking but new technology, and Windows Server 2012 brings features that can help IT address this issue by enabling IT to deliver on-premises and cloud-based services to users while maintaining control over sensitive corporate data. Remote Access has been enhanced in Windows Server 2012 to make it much easier to deploy DirectAccess so that users can always have the experience of being seamlessly connected to the corporate network whenever they have Internet access. Setting up traditional VPN connections is also simpler in Windows Server 2012 for organizations that need to maintain compatibility with existing systems or policies. BranchCache has been enhanced in Windows Server 2012 to make it scale greater, perform better, and be managed more easily. Deploying BranchCache is now much simpler and enables users to run applications remotely and access data more efficiently and securely than before. And as previously mentioned in this chapter, Server Manager now lets you perform scenario-based deployments of the Remote Desktop Services role to implement session virtualization or VDI in your environment more easily.

To remain productive as they roam between locations and use different devices, users need to be able to access their data using the full Windows experience. New features and improvements in Windows Server 2012 now make this possible from any location on almost any device. RemoteFX for WAN enables a rich user experience even over slow WAN connections. Universal serial bus (USB) is now supported for session virtualization, allowing users to use their USB flash drives, smartcards, webcams, and other devices when connecting to session hosts. And VDI now includes user virtual hard disks (VHDs) for storing user personalization settings and cached application data so that the user experience can be maintained across logons.

Windows Server 2012 also gives you greater control over your sensitive corporate data to help you safeguard your business and meet the needs of compliance. Central access policies can be used to define who is allowed to access information within your organization. Central audit policies have been enhanced to facilitate compliance reporting and forensic analysis. The Windows authorization and audit engine has been re-architected to allow the use of conditional expressions and central policies. Kerberos authentication now supports both user and device claims. And Rights Management Services (RMS) has been made extensible so partners can provide solutions for encrypting non-Office files. All these improvements enable users to connect securely to on-premises or cloud-based infrastructure so that they can be more productive in ways that meet the challenges of today’s work style while maintaining strict control over your corporate data.

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