Online Seminar - Understanding and Leveraging the Capabilities of Windows 2003 'R2' Update

 

Windows 2003 “R2”, the add-on to Windows 2003, enhances many of the core technologies in Windows 2003 for better security, identity management, systems management, administration, and reliability. Unlike a service pack that simply updates patches and fixes, or like a full product release that requires an enterprise view of the network OS update, Windows 2003 R2 provides point improvements to specific technologies simply by installing the R2 update on existing Windows 2003 servers in your environment.

 

This seminar was led by Rand Morimoto, industry expert and author of the 1200-page “Windows Server 2003 Unleashed 2nd Edition” book.  Rand presents the new technologies in Windows 2003 R2, how organizations have been implementing and taking advantage of Windows R2 over the past 18-months in beta implementations, and what it will take to upgrade key Windows 2003 servers in your environment to be Windows R2 ready!

 

Rand specifically highlights:

·        Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS): this technology improves identity management and provides an organization the ability to integrate applications in multiple forests into a single logon environment

·        Active Directory in Application Mode (ADAM): R2 updates this technology that provides organizations the ability to have both internal and external lists of users connected to Active Directory for more secured access to internally and externally shared resources.

·        Branch Office / Distributed File System Replication (BO/DFSR) is an update to DFS that provides replication of files from an R2 server to another server for the purpose of fault tolerance and high availability, however DFSR now provides the replication at the bit level (instead of file level) making DFSR more efficient in the replication of data across limited bandwidth links.

·        Network File System (NFS): Microsoft will include NFS as a standard filesystem supported within Windows R2 for the interchange of files between Windows and Unix-based systems

·        Print Management Console (PMC): In Windows R2, print management can now be done from a central console to manage all printers in an enterprise. No longer is there a need to traverse the network directory to find print servers, and then manage the individual print queues within a print server.

·        File Server Resource Manager (FSRM): File server resource manager provides quota management and storage reporting making it easier to control filesystem usage in a Windows R2 environment

·        Subsystem for Unix Applications / Identity Management for Unix (SUA and IdMU): SUA is an application environment that allows Unix applications to run on a Windows server, along with IdMU that provides password synchronization between the Windows and Unix environments

·        Storage Manager for SANs (SSAN): SSAN provides the core technology that provides better capabilities for provisioning, configuration, and management of Fibre and iSCSI storage

·        Windows SharePoint Services SP2 (WSS2): WSS2 is an enhancement to SharePoint Services introduced with Windows 2003 and provides support for IP-bound virtual servers, advanced extranet configurations, Kerberos security, better Web hosting functionality, and enhanced document storage capabilities

 

You should download and print the slide deck that will be used throughout this session

 

Video #1 (1-hr 15-min): Covers Branch Office capabilities of R2, ADFS, and ADAM

Video #2 (47-minutes): Covers NFS, Print Mgmt Console, SNIS, and SharePoint SP2

 

Convergent Computing is a technology consulting firm headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area that helps organizations plan, implement, and support their networking environments. If your organization can use assistance implementing, supporting, or just getting better use of your Windows Active Directory, Exchange, SharePoint, or other network or application technologies, please contact our organization for assistance mailto:sales@cco.com