The Windows Server 2008 installation
process is a very different beast than
what you’ve experienced in the past
when you’ve rolled out a new version of Windows
Server. On the surface, the installation
process might appear to be similar to what
you’ve done before—but with fewer questions
to answer—when in fact, something
very different is happening under the covers.
The speed of the installation will tip you off:
It’s quick!
Like Windows Vista, Server 2008 is an
image-based installation from a Windows
Imaging Format (WIM) file on the Server
2008 DVD. And just as the Vista DVD contains
all the versions of that OS (i.e., Home Basic,
Home Premium, Ultimate, and Business),
the Server 2008 DVD contains the main versions
of Server 2008: Windows Server 2008
Standard, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise,
and Windows Server 2008 Datacenter editions.
All the versions fit on one DVD because
WIM is a single-instance storage format. That
is, because the various versions contain the
same basic set of files, all the versions can be
stored in one image that takes up only slightly
more space than the image of a single version.
Each Server 2008 DVD supports only one
architecture, so you’ll have a different DVD
for x86 (32-bit) than for x64 (64-bit). Let’s walk
through a typical installation scenario.
What to Expect
When you install Server 2008, you first need
to decide whether to perform a clean installation
or an upgrade. Usually, a clean installation
is the best option, and that’s what this
example will show. (If you choose to upgrade, see the sidebar “What You Need to Know
About In-Place Upgrades.”)
You can deploy Server 2008 using Windows
Deployment Services (WDS), which
sends the installation environment over the
network and lets you easily automate configuration
with an unattended answer file.
But to really see the ins and outs of the installation
process, let’s install Windows Server
2008 the old-fashioned way—manually.
Insert the Server 2008 DVD into your
system’s optical drive, and choose to boot
from media (i.e., the DVD), which will load
the Windows Preinstallation Environment
(WinPE) from the boot.wim file on the DVD.
Because Server 2008 is an image-based
installation, the system needs an environment
on which to lay the image, in addition
to other functionality (e.g., the capability to
partition the hard disk). WinPE provides
that environment.
Once WinPE loads onto the system, the
installation process immediately makes
sure that the system has at least 512MB of
memory; if the system has less memory, the
installation won’t proceed. If the system has
enough memory, the installation process
prompts you to select the language, time and
currency formats, and keyboard or input
method you want to use in the installation.
The default is U.S. English, but you can
modify the settings to fit your environment.
Next, you see a window that gives you the
option to “Install now” or “Repair your computer.”
Selecting “Install now” will launch the
installation routine, setup.exe. At any time
while setup.exe is running, you can press
Shift+F10 to open a command window in case you need to perform any other functions,
such as running a script to add a utility
partition or troubleshoot a problem installation;
as long as the command window is
open, the installation routine won’t reboot
the server. The repair option provides access
to the Windows Recovery Environment and
some automated repair options. These repair
capabilities are very useful, so it’s a good idea
to keep the Server 2008 DVD handy for future
use. (Note that you can also create a repair
disk at any time from within Server 2008
after you install the Windows Backup Server
feature; creating a repair disk is an option of
the backup feature.)
So click “Install now,” and the installation
process displays a window that asks
you to enter your 25-character product key,
which is linked to a specific version of Server
2008. You can enter the product key, or you
can leave the field blank and just click Next,
which will trigger the confirmation dialog
box that you see in Figure 1.
Why might you choose not to enter your
product key at this time? Maybe you want
to test the OS for 30 days, or maybe you just
prefer to copy and paste the product key
from a file after you install the OS. When
you activate Server 2008, which you must do
within 30 days after installing the OS, just be
sure that the version installed on your system
matches the version you’re licensed for. If
not, you’ll face two options: You can purchase
a product key for the version installed
on your machine (which could be costly if,
for example, your installed version is the
Enterprise edition and your product key is
for the Standard edition), or you can reinstall
the version that matches your product key
(which might cause you to lose any data,
information, and programs placed on your
system since you last installed the OS).
For this example, click No in the confirmation
dialog box. A new window opens
and asks which edition of Server 2008 you
want to install. Because you didn’t enter a
product key previously, the window displays
all the versions of Server 2008 that are in the
image file, along with a confirmation check
box that states, “I have selected the edition of
Windows that I purchased,” as Figure 2 shows.
If you had previously entered a product
key, you’d see just two versions of the OS
to choose from: the Full Installation and
the Server Core Installation versions for the
edition of the OS the product key identified.
Server Core is a “lite,” minimal-footprint
server installation option that provides a lowmaintenance,
limited-functionality server
environment. Server Core offers only basic
components of Server 2008—not even the Windows Explorer shell, but just a commandprompt
user interface—and is capable of
supporting core server roles such as file server,
DHCP server, print server, and DNS server.
Server Core is not a platform for application
development or application serving, for
example, because it doesn’t include the .NET
Framework. So, why would you choose the
Server Core option? With only minimal Windows functionality, many product updates
will not need to be applied to Server Core
systems; consequently, Server Core systems
require less maintenance. Server Core systems
also use fewer resources (e.g., disk
space), and with no GUI, they’re less open to
security risks.
Once you select the Server 2008 version
you want to install and click Next, the licensing
agreement is displayed. As always, read it
thoroughly to ensure that you agree to all the
conditions, select the “I accept the license
terms” check box, and click Next.
Continued on page 2
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