Last year I wrote on automatically updating your Server Core. While a lot of people valued the information in that post, the information was rather unsatisfactory on the subject of manually updating Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008. Now is the time to correct this apparent omission. Read on!       ...

The Read-only Domain Controller is one of the new and most existing features of Windows Server 2008. So is Server Core. Combining these two features opens up a whole new world of possibilities for your Active Directory environment. Server Core Domain Controllers are the high-performance low-maintenance brothers of Domain Controllers running on ...

Domain Controller Stickiness is a problem which prevents Active Directory clients to be connected to the best Domain Controller they can be. The root cause of this problem is once an Active Directory client found a Domain Controller (using DNS) it would store the name of that Domain Controller in its DC Locator cache and keep using that Domain ...

Look no further. Quest Software’s Dmitry Sotnikov has got .Net Framework 2.0 and Powershell 1.0 running on Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008. I know this is something a lot of people have been asking for, but the best way to describe my feelings at this moment is ambiguous. Why it's been left out in the first place ...

A server running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 could behave flaky from time to time. Monitoring it gives clues towards this behavior and/or provides insight in why it behaves flaky. I've taken a closer look at monitoring Server Core boxes from the command line and want to share my experiences with you on this matter today. ...

A little while ago I showed you how to perform some of the common management tasks on your Server Core installation using the Microsoft Management Console Snap-Ins, available through Computer Management (compmgmt.msc). Last week I showed you how to install Server Roles and Features on top of your Server Core installation. This time I want to ...

Server Core is proving to be a versatile infrastructure platform. After installing your basic Server Core installation, configuring network interfaces, activating, enable remote management (through RDP or WinRM) and changing the look and feel it might be time to install additional roles and optional features. Roles It's not just infrastructure ...

Remote management of Server Core installations helps you. It prevents you from having to struggle with the command line interface on the console of your Server Core installation, while at the same time benefit from a lot of the new stuff Windows Server 2008 and Server Core have to offer. About MMC I feel the best management tools available for ...

For years now Microsoft is using Windows Product Activation to protect its intellectual property from piracy. Windows Vista en Windows Server 2008 both sport Volume Activation 2.0. Although Server Core does not sport a full fledged Graphical User Interface, it doesn't escape the claws of Windows Product Activation. In this post I'll try to ...

Technology is all about putting it to good use. This is why I'm starting a new series of blog posts on Server Core usage scenarios aimed to putting Windows Server 2008 Server Core installations to good use! Server Core is coming to you this Easter! Showcasing the Server Core potential Microsoft's original aim was to make a version of Windows ...