Whats new in Server 2016

The Windows Server 2016 is ready to kick into the Market by September 27-30. The Server 2016 comes withe two editions like the Server 2012 namely the Standard Edition and Datacenter Edition. The differences would be

Windows Server 2016 Standard

• Up to 2 VM’s or Hyper-V containers
• Unlimited Windows containers
• New Nano Server deployment option for “just enough OS”

Windows Server 2016 Datacenter

• Unlimited VM’s and Hyper-V containers
• Unlimited Windows containers
• New Nano Server deployment option for “just enough OS”
• Shielded VM’s and Host Guardian Service
• Storage features, including Storage Spaces Direct and Storage Replica
• New networking stack

Source: Microsoft

Here are some of the features that are packed up with the new Server Operating System.

Nano Server

The nano server is an optimized version of Server 2016 which is typically smaller and well suited for the Cloud Infrastructure and Data Centers. The nano server is ideal for certain scenarios like File Server, DNS Server, IIS Server or an computing Host for Hyper-V Server. The Nano Server needs 93% less storage capacity and 80% fewer updates and can boot faster compared to the 2012 Server. The most important thing is, the nano server doesn’t have an local logon feature, instead it can be managed by Remote Management Tools like WinRM.

To Know more please follow the post on How to install Nano Server 2016

Remote Desktop Services

High Availability in Remote Desktop Services is ensured by having the option of using Azure SQL DB for the Connection Brokers in the HA Mode.

Active Directory Certificate Services

Windows increases support for TPM key attestation is being provided in Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS). Smart Card KSP can be used for key attestation, and devices that are not joined to the domain can get certificates that can be attested for keys.

Active Directory Federation Services

The Active Directory Federation Services now enable Multi-factor Authentication and it is now possible to authenticate the users stored in the LDAP. (Light Directory Access Protocol).

Active Directory Domain Services

The Active Directory Domain Services had received huge improvements to provide better Management features for Personal and Corporate users. Some of the new features include:

• Privileged access management
• Extending cloud capabilities to Windows 10 devices through Azure Active Directory Join
• Connecting domain-joined devices to Azure AD for Windows 10 experiences
• Enable Microsoft Passport for Work in your organization
• Deprecation of File Replication Service (FRS) and Windows Server 2003 functional levels

To know more on these, Refer:

https://technet.microsoft.com/windows-server-docs/identity/whats-new-active-directory-domain-services

Hyper-V

We had already discussed on the new features and updates in my previous Post. Please do refer on the Hyper-V 2016: Whats new? to know more.

Powershell 5.0

The Windows PowerShell 5.0 includes new features, including new security features and allow you to control and manage Windows-based environments more easily. Which makes the Power-Shell still more better to use.

Improvements in Networking & Storage

As the days goes on, there would be some major changes in the updates and patch fixes. So as usual there are some improvements in the Networking(Mainly in Firewall) and also in storage. The Multi-NIC Cluster Networks is believed to take File Server to the next level.