Microsoft TechNet | Introducing Windows Server 2008

The Microsoft TechNet home page at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx is another launching point you can use to explore different resources that can help you learn more about Windows Server 2008. Let’s briefly touch on some of the ones currently available at the time of this writing.

Beta Central

Want to test drive Windows Server 2008? Go to TechNet’s Beta Central athttp://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/beta/betacentral.mspx, where you can download Beta 3, install it in your test environment, and start getting familiar with it today.

TechNet Events

On the TechNet IT Events And Webcasts page at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/events/default.mspx , you’ll find information about live and on-demand webcasts you can watch and also in-person events you can attend in or near your city. Using your Windows Live ID, you can log in to the site, register for events, and manage your event registrations. The Microsoft Events And Webcasts home page at http://www.microsoft.com/events/default.mspx is another launching place for finding this information, as well as more information, such as MSDN webcasts and events for developers.

Webcasts

TechNet offers both live and on-demand webcasts, and these are a terrific way to learn more about Windows Server 2008. Live webcasts use Microsoft Live Meeting, and you usually have an opportunity to ask the speaker questions at the end of the webcast (time permitting). On-demand webcasts are recorded sessions of live webcasts that you can play back using the Live Meeting Player.

Webcasts usually take about an hour. Topics range from basic overviews of platforms and their features to more technical sessions (level 200) and technical deep-dives (level 300). IT pros will be most interested in viewing or participating in the TechNet webcasts, but there are also MSDN webcasts for developers and more general webcasts for business decision makers. A seasoned IT pro can learn from them all.

At the time of this writing, these are some of the TechNet webcasts that cover different aspects of Windows Server 2008 (and they’re ordered roughly in the same order as features are presented in this book):

Introducing Windows Server Code-Named “Longhorn” (Level 200)
Ten Reasons to Prepare for Windows Server Code-Named “Longhorn” (Level 200)
Windows Server “Longhorn” and Windows Vista: Better Together (Level 200)
Understanding Windows Hypervisor and Virtualization in Windows Server Codenamed “Longhorn” (Level 200)
Transitioning to Windows Virtualization (Level 300)
Installing, Configuring, and Managing Server Roles in Windows Server “Longhorn” (Level 300)
Identity and Access Solutions in Windows Server “Longhorn” (Level 300)
Public Key Infrastructure Enhancements in Windows Vista and Windows Server Code-Named “Longhorn” (Level 300)
Introduction to Terminal Services in Windows Server Code-Named “Longhorn” (Level 200)
Introduction to Terminal Services in Windows Server Code-Named “Longhorn” (Level 300)
Achieving High Availability with Windows Server “Longhorn” Clustering (Level 200)
A Sneak Peak at the Future of Server Clustering (Level 300)
Network Access Protection for Windows Server Code-Named “Longhorn” and Windows Vista (Level 200)
Enabling Trusted Communications and Health Policy Enforcement with Network Access Protection (NAP) (Level 300)
Security Matters: Network Access Protection (Level 300)
Exploring the Future of Web Development and Management with Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 (Level 200)
Overview of Networking in Windows Vista and Windows Server “Longhorn” (Level 200)
Next-Generation Networking with Windows Server “Longhorn” (Level 200)
Next Generation Networking with Windows Vista and Windows Server Code Named “Longhorn” (Level 300)
Overview of Windows Deployment Services (Level 200)
Windows Deployment Services Overview (Level 200)

And here are a few other webcasts about Windows Server 2008 that an IT pro like you might find useful and interesting:

Microsoft Webcast: Longhorn Server Preview
Microsoft Webcast: How Microsoft Maximizes Its IT Investment Through Infrastructure Optimization
Microsoft Webcast: Overview and Road Map of the Microsoft Virtualization Strategy
MSDN Webcast: Digital Certificate Enhancements in Windows Vista and Windows Server Code-Named “Longhorn” (Level 200)
Live From Redmond: Putting the Lego set together: Inside IIS 7.0’s Componentization
TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Manages Active Directory Infrastructure (Level 300)

As you can see, these webcasts are a tremendous resource and a great learning opportunity, so be sure to check them out soon.

In-Person Events

Microsoft offers a variety of types of in-person events in various cities at different times. These events include TechNet events, MSDN events, Microsoft Dynamics events, and Microsoft Connections events-though as IT pros, you’re probably most interested in the TechNet events such as TechEd. To find out about upcoming events in your area, go to http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/default.aspx?culture=en-US. Log on using your Windows Live ID, and search for events happening near you. Yet another way to find TechNet events is to use http://www.technetevents.com.

TechNet Virtual Labs

TechNet Virtual Labs are a great way of getting hands-on experience with Windows Server 2008 if you don’t have the hardware, time, or inclination to install it yourself. Virtual labs are remote Terminal Services sessions in which you can try out products in a virtual online environment. In 90 minutes or less, you can evaluate and test some of Microsoft’s newest products through a series of guided, hands-on labs that include a manual you can download. At the time of this writing, the following virtual labs are available at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/traincert/virtuallab/default.mspx for learning about Windows Server 2008:

Microsoft Windows Server “Longhorn” Server Core Virtual Lab
Microsoft Windows Server “Longhorn” Server Manager Virtual Lab
Microsoft Windows Server “Longhorn” Terminal Services Gateway and Remote Programs Virtual Lab
Windows Vista: Managing Windows Longhorn Server and Windows Vista Using Group Policy Virtual Lab
Managing Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Network Bandwidth with Policy-Based Quality of Service Virtual Lab

You can probably expect more virtual labs to be available by the time you read this,.

TechNet Community Resources

Got a question about Windows Server 2008? Try out the various TechNet Community resources to get your question answered by your peers and also by experts at Microsoft. Let’s take a look at some of these community resources and how you can use them.

TechNet Chats

TechNet chats are a great source of informational tidbits about Windows Server 2008 and other Microsoft products. These chats take place regularly (more or less) and allow interaction between Microsoft’s customers and the product development team members, product support staff, and other technology experts at Microsoft. You can find a schedule for upcoming chats at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/default.mspx. What’s really valuable, however, is that all chat sessions are archived so that you can read them offline at your convenience to troll them for tips, tricks, and insights. The chat archive page can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/default.mspx. Here’s a quick list of some of the Windows Server 2008 chat transcripts located there that you might be interested in reading:

Deploying NAP End to End in your Enterprise (March 13, 2007)
Identity and Access Technology and Windows Server “Longhorn” (March 01, 2007)
Documentation: What’s New in Vista and What’s Coming in Longhorn (February 20, 2007)
Network Access Protection (NAP) System Health Agent/Validator (February 12, 2007)
EAPHost in Windows Vista and Longhorn (December 18, 2006)
DHCP enhancements in Windows Vista: NAP enforcement and DHCPv6 (December 14, 2006)
Windows PowerShell, Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 and Windows Server “Longhorn” (December 4, 2006)
Network Access Protection in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 (September 14, 2006)

I’m sure that by the time you’re reading this book, there will be many more chat transcripts available on this site, so be sure to check it out.

TechNet Forums

TechNet also hosts a number of Web-based forums that you can participate in (and which require a Windows Live ID for access) by posting comments, asking questions, or helping others. At the time of this writing, the following forums are available for discussing issues relating to Windows Server 2008:

General
Directory Services
File Services and Storage
Migration
Management
Network Access Protection
Platform Networking
Print/Fax
Setup and Deployment
Terminal Services
Security
Server Core
Server Virtualization
Failover Clustering

These forums can be accessed from the TechNet Forums main page found athttp://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/default.aspx?SiteId=17. By the way, you might have noticed that there is no forum for discussing IIS 7.0 in the preceding list. That’s because IIS 7.0 has its own set of forums hosted on IIS.NET at http://forums.iis.net.

TechNet Newsgroups

Another great way of asking questions and discussing issues concerning Microsoft products is to use the TechNet newsgroups. These newsgroups can be accessed either by using your Web browser from http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/newsgroups/default.mspx or using your favorite NNTP newsreader by downloading a list of newsgroups fromnews://msnews.microsoft.com. At the time of this writing, there are newsgroups for Windows Vista but none yet for Windows Server 2008.

By the way, what’s really great about these newsgroups is that they are haunted by the spirits of Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs), who spend their days idly trolling newsgroups to find newbies they can initiate into the mysteries of how Microsoft products do their magic. Just kidding-MVPs are anything but idle, as many of them hold down full-time jobs while still managing to spend a few hours or more a week patiently answering questions posted to these newsgroups. I’m an MVP myself, and I know the late-night effort this involves. But I’m also aware of the reward-that is, helping others. We also get a few nice perks from Microsoft when we’re awarded MVP recognition, but most of us are in it because we enjoy voluntarily sharing our knowledge of and experience with Microsoft products with the larger user community around the world.

TechNet User Groups

Microsoft has been aggressively sponsoring and supporting IT pro user groups in the last few years, and the result has been impressive. In my own hometown of Winnipeg, Canada, we have an IT pro user group that meets monthly to do presentations, share insights, ask questions, and more. How do you find an IT pro user group in your area? Start with Culminis (http://www.culminis.com), which at the time of this writing includes over 836 member organizations, representing 2,117,426 IT professionals worldwide! Culminis is an international non-stock corporation whose goal is to facilitate the growth of IT pro user groups interested in Microsoft IT products and solutions. Microsoft lists Culminis and several other similar organizations on their TechNet Community site, at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/usergroup/default.mspx , as a good place to start if you’re looking for a local user group or association to get involved in.

TechNet Columns

TechNet also has a series of different columns of interest to IT pros. For instance, there’s The Cable Guy at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/default.mspx. The Cable Guy is indeed a real person, Joseph Davies. He’s a technical writer and networking expert at Microsoft who has also written several books for Microsoft Press and numerous whitepapers that are available from the Microsoft Download Center. If you want to get brief but technically deep overviews of different networking features in Windows Vista and Windows Longhorn Server, this is a great place to start. Other columns such as “IIS Insider” and “Security Management” might be of interest to you as well.

TechNet Magazine

Free to individuals in the United States and also available online is TechNet Magazine, Microsoft’s own IT pro magazine, which is packed with terrific articles written by experts who really know their stuff. Find out more about this magazine and subscribe to it at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag, as there’s bound to be more and more Windows Server 2008 content in it over the coming months.

TechNet Flash Newsletter

Finally, a great way of hearing about all the latest and greatest resources for Windows Server 2008 on TechNet is to subscribe to the TechNet Flash newsletter, which is published every other week and offers free technology information and updates, expert insight, special offers, and other information for IT professionals. To subscribe to TechNet Flash, go tohttp://www.microsoft.com/technet/abouttn/subscriptions/flash_register.mspx right away.

The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) at http://msdn.microsoft.com will be another valuable resource concerning Windows Server 2008, but it’s targeted at a developer audience instead of IT pros like ourselves, who generally spend most of our time on TechNet instead. Developers can find programming guides on MSDN for the various new and enhanced Active Directory features and components in Windows Server 2008. For example, at the time of this writing the following programming guides seem to be available:

The Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) programming guide is located at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa362244.aspx.
The Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) programming guide is located at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa705886.aspx.
The Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) programming guide is located at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb267808.aspx.