By Orin Thomas
Blain Barton’s Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Branch Office Technology webcast starts off talking about the branch office enhancements that have been made to Windows Server 2008, particularly when it is deployed with Windows Vista but finishes by providing substantial and interesting information about the features of Microsoft’s new server operating system, Windows Server 2008.
Blain starts by teaching us about the details of the new TCP/IP Stack and how it can be leveraged to more efficiently use bandwidth between branch office and headquarters sites. This part of the presentation provides enough detail for those of us that have a fair amount of experience with TCP/IP without getting arcane and geeky. That’s unusual as most TCP/IP presentations are either too simple or get so detailed that the audience gets cross eyed with boredom.
Blain then explains and demonstrates how policy based Quality of Service policies can be leveraged to allow you to make the most efficient use of precious WAN bandwidth resources. Blain provides a “hands on” demonstration of the creation and application of QOS Policies. I found this really interesting as QOS is an aspect of group policy that I haven’t spent a lot of time with. If you are unfamiliar with the technology, you might be surprised to learn what it can accomplish.
Although not specifically Branch Office related, Blain goes through how you can configure Wireless Network Policies for Windows Vista using Windows 2008. This demonstration includes interesting information such as how to have a non-broadcast wireless network higher on the preferred network list than broadcast wireless networks. In the past clients had a habit of connecting to broadcast wireless networks even if these were lower on the list of network priorities than non-broadcast networks.
Blain then covers one of the highlighted features of Windows Server 2008, the new Read Only Domain Controller role. If you don’t understand what the hoopla about RODCs is, you will get a lot out of this part of Blain’s presentation. He also discusses other new features such as on-demand replication before moving on to the Server Manager console, which is the core administrative interface of Windows Server 2008. Blain goes through the server manager console and effectively demonstrates how it will allow you will be able to perform common administrative duties more efficiently on Windows Server 2008. He also drills down into several familiar tools, demonstrating the benefits you’ll get in using the new tool when your organization migrates to Windows Server 2008.
Other things that Blain covers during the webcast include explaining the improvements in SMB 2.0, which is a little geeky but interesting for network types. Blain also provides an excellent introduction to the enhancements in Terminal Services. Although billed as being about Vista and Windows server 2008 branch office technologies, you should check out this presentation as it provides some excellent highlights about what you can get out of Windows Server 2008.
Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Branch Office Technology Webcast