Slashdot Mirror
Windows 10 RSAT, Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3 Coming This Month
We've heard a lot lately about the release and reception of Windows 10; however, the Windows family includes more than just the most-seen desktop OS. Mark Wilson writes: Microsoft's Gabe Aul has revealed that the company plans to release a new technical preview of Windows Server 2016 later this month. Responding to questions on Twitter, the company's Corporate Vice President and face of the Windows Insider program also said that Windows 10 RSAT [Remote Server Administration Tools] will be launched in August. Unlike the preview builds of Windows 10, previews of the latest edition of Windows Server have been slower to creep out of Redmond. Sysadmins will be keen to get their hands on the latest builds to see just what direction Microsoft is taking with its server software after the decision to delay the launch. We don't know anything about what the third technical preview of Windows Server 2016 might include, but it is likely to be little more than a collection of bug fixes and tweaks. It's a little late in the game to expect any major changes to be made.
You speak of the home edition where users are damned if they update and damned if they don't. The truth is home users can't be trusted to install updates.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
I also hope Windows Server 2016 shares all local WiFi hotspots. That seems a really keen feature with absolutely no downside.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Yeah because their hardware breaks and it's the only way to restore functionality. Home users don't have corporate IT budgets.
I installed a preview a little while ago when I heard it was available but I haven't had much time to look deeper into it. Most obvious was that it still looked the same as 2012 with the horrible management interface.
When you deal with Windows servers it's better to check out the previews so you know what to deal with when it reaches RTM.
I'm actually more interested in the next Hyper-V server as we have deployed this at some single server customers.
Did a quick comparison installing server 2008 guests and installation on Hyper-V 2012 R2 was a *lot* slower than on Proxmox 3.4.
home
https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/12...
You are welcome on my lawn.
Actually yes, there are plenty of admins out there who are interested in this sort of technical preview - but of course, if you want to stay in the narrow bounds of Slashdot group think where everyone hates MS and its products, then have fun.
The rest of us get on with life in your mental absence.
It is good to have to know what is coming your way sooner or later:
1: Storage Spaces Direct -- interesting feature where you hook up machines with JBOD drives, and let Windows handle not just drive arrays locally, but on multiple nodes, so all the machines present one volume, with redundancy so if a node or drive fails, the volume keeps running. Sort of like Isilon OneFS, but without InfiniBand [1].
2: Guarded machines, shielded VMs. Basically a way to have BitLocker/TPM protection on virtual machines and provide physical protection. Interesting concept, and is good enough to allow a Hyper-V cluster on a remote site where there are no admins.
3: Multipoint users. This is basically similar concept of different terminals in X-windows (where multiple users can have keyboards and monitors on one machine.) However, MS is working on improving VDI support, so this can be useful.
4: Windows Server Antimalware. Does it provide security? Not to 0-days. Does it check off that damned box that every auditor demands? Yes. So, you don't have to worry if a server has the latest company antivirus utility anymore.
The Hyper-V advances are interesting and worth taking a look at, especially coupled with AVMA [2].
As for using it as a desktop OS... W2016 is what Windows 10 should have been. No, it does not install a GUI completely by default... but it is easily added as a feature. Once installed, it is how Windows should be, without the nonsense. If you want a user account, you create it yourself and assign it what privs it should have.
[1]: InfiniBand really kills the deal, because what makes the EMC offering so good is the fact that disk I/O will come from a fast source in the node cluster regardless of which physical drive it lives on. Without that and "just" an Ethernet switch, Storage Spaces Direct will be a lot less dlower.
[2]: Put a generic license code in, and VMs will auto-activate for 7 days under Hyper-V.
Windows Server 2016 doesn't have the capability to use wireless NICs out of the box. It is installed as a feature.
From what I've seen, it does the same behavior as previous iterations of Windows Server.
If MS forced updated on WS customers, there would be pain, because almost all companies have a test, then release to production process for fixes.
Of course, you can have everything auto install by installing WSUS, auto-approve all updates.
"there are plenty of admins out there who are interested in this sort of technical preview"
There are? It was my understanding that the market share for Windows servers was pretty small. Is there a reason why Slashdot seems to attract such a disproportionate number of windows server admins? Or is this why Slashdot is in such a state today?
No, but they can be trusted to OK them. Updates should never happen silently, otherwise when something breaks, the user has no idea what could have caused it. At least if they are approving updates as they come in, they can tell their local tech "I had just said OK to a system update when it started having problems".
Totally automatic updates are incredibly stupid for everyone, but that's only partially what is wrong with the steaming pile that is Windows 10.
...says the anti-M$ zealot who started the whole thread by spouting "Windows is teh sux0r".
I hate printers.
And hyper-v instances in containers.
Yep
Who cares about keeping your skillset current, learning docker, SSH over Powershell & RDP, non-admin read only VM's, and other things. It is not like Windows 7 will go EOL in just 4 short years! Companies typically upgrade their domains and even server infrastructure too when upgrading the client OS. Ours just went to 2008 R2 back in 2013 during the Windows 7 migration and retired Server2003 AD/forests and kept just a few 2k3 boxes around.
http://saveie6.com/
SSH too will be on Powershell and RDP.
I will even go as far as saying it is a REQUIREMENT for any bank or hospital who values security.
http://saveie6.com/
Just because you don't deal with Microsoft or Windows Server in your daily life doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of places that use it.
Like it or not, there are many companies who have run Windows Server as legacy and then migrate to the newer versions when the time arises.
They do this because the applications they want to run are all on the Windows platform! Surprise!
Now, we can start OS wars about the technical merits of Linux vs Windows.... but the fact of the matter is, if the app the business runs is on Windows Server, then the server going to run Windows Server, and that is the end of the conversation.
As a consultant, you often walk into Windows shops and have to deal with real companies, and their very real business needs.
If you work in-house for a company and have the latitude to enforce Linux company-wide, or you're an ISP or something, then good for you.... but you're in a minority.
If you are mostly a Linux enterprise environment, you're probably dealing with the horror that is Oracle.
That's enough to make companies jump into Microsoft's arms.
Besides, I'm looking to Windows Server 2016 to support SSH so I don't have to install Cygwin to get it.
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
no they can't be trusted to ok them. This is the current situation that exists today and it simply DOESN'T work. people are taught don't click on something if you don't understand it, 99% of them don't understand it. the amount of machines that are simply not updated is mind boggling and it makes life easier for the bad guys on.
Totally automatic updates are incredibly stupid for everyone, but that's only partially what is wrong with the steaming pile that is Windows 10.
Yes but it is not applied to everyone. It is applied to home users. For them it is most definitely the lesser evil. home users are a collection of people that 75% have no clue and know it, 20% think they have a clue but are wrong and then a tiny percentage of people that actually know what they are doing. That small percentage can live with the auto updates, move to a different version of the OS or even go to a different OS entirely. Why sacrifice the many to placate the few.
MS seems to have decreed that W10 won't work without it. Will Server 2016 be the same?
They can't let the more savvy of us learn fro, Server 2016 how to 'remove' the nag in a box now can they?
Having trouble with the wife ?
Youve been trolling very hard lately !
I also hope Windows Server 2016 shares all local WiFi hotspots. That seems a really keen feature with absolutely no downside.
Troll. Windows 10 does not share all local WiFi hotspots. You have to explicitly share a WiFi network when connecting to it. It does not automatically share network access. But you knew that, hence trolling.
Storage Spaces Direct also sounds like Ceph or Sheepdog, basically it's a distributed storage system. Which is awesome for keeping costs down. Theoretically anything that you can put Ethernet though will be able to carry that storage traffic, so I'm guessing later down the line you'll be able to encapsulate that traffic over other methods of transport.
Again, AV for servers. Good. Good. Good. When you want to save every penny you can after buying your licences and hardware, it really kills morale when all the free AV's that don't suck block installation on Windows Server.
market share for Windows servers was pretty small
That must be why it is the most installed server OS on the planet, running 65% of all Enterprise servers, 79% of servers in companies with 100-999 employees, and 85% of companies with
Stupid troll is stupid.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin