With great power comes great complexity. Microsoft attempts to change that dictum as its new server OS, code-named Longhorn, gets closer to prime time. Though the OS has a long way to go before its planned release in 2007, Beta 2 shows much of what Redmond has in mind. It's a good bet that IT pros will be pleased with the emphasis on security, the new tools for management, and the many significant under-the-hood improvements. But is it that much simpler to use? Microsoft makes a valiant effort to simplify the life of the busy administrator in a smaller shop—and almost succeeds (in this beta, at least).
The new Windows Server installs from a DVD with about 2.2GB of data. When I installed it, I encountered just a few glitches provoked by my generic ATA drive card, which wasn't recognized by the installer. CD installation isn't supported, but the developers have simplified deployment services over the network. Unlike earlier versions of the installer, this one doesn't require you to sit and watch—a much-appreciated improvement. In the interest of testing, however, I did sit and watch. I counted three reboots, and the system was up and ready to begin configuration in about 45 minutes. Instead of forcing you to choose hardware options like keyboard and network cards, as in the past, the setup program now tries to detect your hardware. The current version didn't do a great job with my older drivers, however—for example, I had to set up my network cards manually. I'd expect the final release to support more drivers.
New setup wizards abound in Longhorn Server. You notice this right away with its Initial Configuration Wizard, which displays common getting-started options such as changing the administrator password. I liked the Add Roles Wizard (as I did in Windows Server 2003) and used it successfully to add common server roles such as domain controller with Active Directory, Web server using Internet Information Services 7.0, print and file server, and other options. In this beta, adding multiple roles sometimes caused the installer to freeze, requiring a reboot. Longhorn stores all the required files on your server by default, so you don't have to pop in the DVD as you reconfigure, which is handy.
Some administrative tasks, such as adding several dozen users under Active Directory, haven't changed much. As a baseline, Microsoft has promised software compatibility with Windows Server 2003 R2 in Longhorn, so you probably won't be surprised that many Longhorn wizards and tools resemble those in Server 2003. An improved Microsoft Management Console (MMC), the basic tool for administration, now adds context-sensitive "actions" on a panel to the right, making it a lot easier to know what options are available as you perform basic administrative chores.
That's the good news.
In Build 5381, which I tested, I found several of the new wizards and tools to be downright daunting. The Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is especially taxing. Administering this tool will require a thorough knowledge of networking protocols. There are literally dozens of possible rules (for controlling inbound and outbound traffic) by protocol by default, and you can design custom rules that drill down to individual users, ports, and even applications. I simulated setting up access to SQL Server and online games for a specially designated user. This is perfect for enterprise IT users, but it'll take training and real expertise for smaller organizations.
The new Event Viewer looks like a powerful tool—one that may make Longhorn a great deal easier to use, by letting admins filter events better to spot trouble more easily. At the moment, however, clicking for help on individual messages doesn't give much help—it yielded some quite cryptic information, at least in this beta release.
The new IS 7.0 Manager console fares better. It gives administrators considerable command of basic and advanced Web server options. Under the hood, Web-server functionality has been divided into a whopping 40 separate modules, though you'd never know it from the slick IS 7.0 Manager interface. The impressive graphical Performance Diagnostic Console is another winning feature that gives a quick picture of server health, including CPU, disk, network, and memory usage.
Longhorn Server is powerful in many ways that ordinary users won't see, but that IT administrators and power users will definitely appreciate. The list of infrastructure improvements includes a reengineered network stack with seamless IPv6 and IPv4 interoperability, better support for clustering, NTFS file system improvements, better patch management, and the first implementation of Microsoft's Network Access Protection (NAP) technology. NAP can make sure that remote clients have the latest patches and antivirus software before being given access to network resources.
For those who prefer Linux's "fix it and forget it" approach to security, the new Longhorn offers a non-GUI version of the OS, called Server Core, which you can administer via a command line or shell. Of course, this option will be available only for certain limited server roles, but it's good to see that Microsoft is thinking about ways of keeping it simple.
The greatly improved Terminal Services support is a big advance. In my testing, I was able to launch a Microsoft Word application on a remote client in its very own window. This ability blurs the distinction between local and remote applications. Terminal Services also adds some strong features, such as the ability to access remote applications securely through a Web browser—even without establishing a VPN first. Microsoft has waited years to create online versions of its productivity applications; perhaps it's been waiting for network connectivity to allow a seamless remote rich-client experience, both in and out of a browser. This version of Longhorn makes considerable progress toward that goal.
Though earlier versions of Longhorn server were aimed at developers, Beta 2 will appeal to the adventurous and early adopters. But it's still too early to run it on production systems. Running and configuring this OS will help larger enterprises with plenty of IT expertise get the most out of today's hardware (including clustered environments on 64-bit architectures) and securely connect networked and mobile users. I hope there's a way to keep all these new abilities simple so admins aren't required to get a black belt in security, networking, and Windows administration. I'm not convinced this OS is there yet, but Microsoft is working hard to pull that off as Longhorn comes closer to market.
