Did you know that Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3 was released on August 19, 2015? Microsoft is gearing up for the much anticipated release of Windows Server 2016 because the OS could prove to be a game changer in terms of hardware and application virtualization. The big emphasis for Windows Server 2016 is process isolation, ease of management, and cloud capabilities.
Nano on Windows Server 2016
With the release of Windows 10, Microsoft has taken the opportunity to revamp their Windows Server OS and equip the platform with modern capabilities. One of the top features found in Server 2016 is Nano Server.
Nano does not replace a Windows Server distro; Nano is a scaled down instance of Windows Server 2016 that is optimized for IoT, cloud and specialized devices. Nano Server will be smaller, faster, and since there are less moving parts, the microserver will be less likely to experience blue screens.
Management of Nano can be accomplished using WMI and PowerShell. Other virtualization enhancements are rolling upgrades for Hyper-V. With the new Hyper-V, you’ll be able to hot add or remove virtualized hardware such as hard disk space, network interfaces and RAM.
Using Containers w/ Windows Server 2016
Containers are another way to manage storage and your organization’s applications within a fast and secure environment. Windows Server 2016 will offer Windows Server containers and Hyper-V containers.
Using containers, applications can be isolated from the underlying operating system. This keeps the OS secure and separate from the applications running on top of it. Some analysts have suggested that the popular Docker platform will be able to run on the Windows Server 2016 architecture.
Advanced Virtualization with Hyper-V
Windows Server 2016 has introduced a rather unique concept called nested virtualization support (NVS). With NVS, you’ll be able to run Hyper-V servers within an existing Hyper-V environment. This is helpful for building testing labs or dev labs for your programming team. This advanced feature allows you to build an environment that is separate from your production infrastructure without having to buy additional hardware.
Windows Server 2016 Security
Enhanced security services include the Host Guardian Service and Shielded VMs. Shielded virtual machines can only run from hosts that are designated as owners of that virtual machine. Shielded virtual machines can be run as an encrypted node.
Think of the Host Guardian Service as a lock that prevents unauthorized hosts from accessing the Shielded VM. VMs can also be encrypted using Windows Server BitLocker through a Virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM).
Windows Server 2016: Microsoft’s Best Server OS Yet?
Besides storage, security, and speed, one of the biggest draws for Server 2016 is its system management improvements. The biggest upgrade for system administrators is the introduction of PowerShell 5.0. Improvements in Powershell give administrators the ability to manage the entire network using scripted commands. PowerShell was designed to replace the command prompt and the scripting language provides Windows with a nascent management infrastructure since the code is based on the .NET Framework.
Windows Server 2016 offers PowerShell Direct which provides administrators the ability to run commands inside of a VM. Systems administrators can directly connect using authentication credentials which helps them avoid going through firewalls and network security protocols. These new enhancements should make Server 2016 faster, more secure, and easier to manage than its predecessor Windows Server 2012 R2.
