Windows 2008 Server Role Servers Explained

A server on a network – standalone or member – can function in a number of roles. As the needs of your computing environment change, you may want to change the role of a server. By using the Server Manager and the Add Roles Wizard, you can install Active Directory Domain Servers to promote a member server to a domain controller, or you can install individual roles or combinations of various roles, such as DHCP, WINS, and DNS.

It is also relatively straightforward to demote a domain controller to a simple role server or remove any number of roles and features from a server.

Server Manager is the key configuration console you will use for installing server roles and features on your server. It can be configured to open automatically as soon as you log in to the
Windows console or desktop.

Types of roles

Let’s look at the various roles and features you can install on Windows Server 2008.

Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS)
AD CS role services install on a number of operating systems, including Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 Server. Naturally the fullest implementation of AD CS is only possible on Windows Server 2008. You can deploy AD CS as a single standalone certification authority (CA), or you can deploy multiple servers and configure them as root, policy, and certificate issuing authorities. You also have a variety of Online Responder configuration possibilities.

Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
This is the role in the Windows Server 2008 operating system that stores information about users, computers, and other resources on a network. AD DS is also used for directory-enabled applications such as Microsoft Exchange Server.

Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)
AD FS employs technology that allows users over the life of a single online session to securely share digital identity and entitlement rights, or ‘”claims” across security and enterprise boundaries. This role – introduced and supported on all operating systems since Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 – provides Web Single Sign-On (SSO) services to allow a user to access
multiple, related Web applications.

Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS)
This service is ideal if you are required to support directory-enabled applications. AD LDS is a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) compliant directory service.

Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS)
This service augments an organization’s security strategy by protecting information through persistent usage policies. The key to the service is that the right management policies are bound to the information no matter where it resides or to where it is moved. AD RMS is used to lock down documents, spreadsheets, e-mail, and so on from being infiltrated or ending up in the wrong hands. AD RMS, for example, prevents e-mails from being accidentally forwarded to the wrong people.

The Application Server role
This role supports the deployment and operation of custom business applications that are built with Microsoft .NET Framework. The Application Server role lets you choose services for applications that require COM+, Message Queuing, Web services, and Distributed Coordinated Transactions.

DHCP and DNS
These two roles install these two critical network service services required for every network. They support Active Directory integration and support IPv6. WINS is not classified as a key role for Windows Server 2008, and you install it as a feature, discussed later.

Fax Server role
The fax server lets you set up a service to send and receive faxes over your network. The role creates a fax server and installs the Fax Service Manager and the Fax service on the server.

File Server role
This role lets you set up all the bits, bells, and whistles that come with a Windows file server. This role also lets you install Share and Storage Management, the Distributed File System (DFS), the File Server Resource Manager application for managing file servers, Services for Network File System (NFS), Windows File Services, which include stuff like the File Replication Service (FRS), and so on.

Network Policy and Access Services
This provides the following network connectivity solutions: Network Access Protection (NAP), the client health policy creation, enforcement, and remediation technology; secure wireless and wired access (802.1X), wireless access points, remote access solutions, virtual private network (VPN) services, Radius, and more.

Print Management role
The print services provide a single interface that you use to manage multiple printers and print servers on your network.

Terminal Services role
This service provides technologies that enable users to access Windows-based programs that are installed on a terminal server. Users can execute applications remotely (they still run on the remote server) or they can access the full Windows desktop on the target server.

Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)
UDDI Services provide capabilities for sharing information about Web services. UDDI is used on the intranet, between entities participating on an extranet, or on the Internet.

Web Server role
This role provides IIS 7.0, the Web server, ASP.NET, and the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF).

Windows Deployment Services
These services are used for deployment of new computers in medium to large organizations.

Features

Server Manager also lets you install dozens of features on Windows Server 2008. These so-called features are actually programs or supporting layers that support or augment the functionality of one or more roles, or simply add to the functionality of the server. A good example of a feature is the clustering service. Now called Failover Clustering, this feature can be used to support mission-critical roles such as File Services, Printer Services, and DHCP Server, on server clusters. This provides for higher availability and performance.

Other features you will likely install include SMTP Server, Telnet Client and Server, Group Policy Management (for use with Active Directory), Remote Assistance, and more.

Configure FAX server using Windows Server 2008 and Standard Fax Modem

In this article, I am going to deploy a test fax server using windows Server 2008 Fax Server Role, Standard Fax Modem (Motorola or US Robotics) and Exchange Server Email Distribution Group. A fax server is comprised of four different components: the Fax Server role, Fax service, Fax Service Manager, and Windows Fax and Scan.  The Fax Server server role can save the fax administrator a significant amount of time. Instead of installing fax machines on client computers and managing and monitoring fax machines, you can complete those tasks in 2 or 3 steps on multiple computers simultaneously and remotely. By using Fax Service Manager with user groups, you can automatically make fax connections available to users and computers in your organization.  Note that virtualizing fax server will not be feasible because of Fax modem’s direct com port connectivity requirement with Windows Server 2008. The following are the steps require to install and configure FAX server.

Step1: Create a Distribution Group in Exchange Server that will receive fax via email

Step2: Connect and Install FAX modem

Start Menu> Control Panel> double click on Phone and Modem Options, and then in the Location Information dialog, enter information for your country/region, area/city code, carrier code, information to dial an outside line, and whether you use tone or pulse dialing.

Step3: Install Fax Service Manager

Microsoft recommend that you install the Fax Server role locally and not by using a Remote Desktop connection. You can install the Fax Server role remotely, but you need to make sure that local resource sharing is turned off and type mstsc.exe /c from command prompt .

Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.

In the left pane of Server Manager, click Roles, and then in the right pane, click Add Roles.

In the Add Roles Wizard, on the Select Server Roles page, select the Fax Server check box. When you do this, a message displays that the Print and Document Services server role also needs to be installed with the Fax Server server role.

Click Add Required Role Services, and then click Next.

On the Select Fax Users page, click Add, and then type the domain and user name for groups and users that you want to have access to the fax server. Click OK, and then click Next.

On the Specify Who Can Access the Fax Server Inbox page, do one of the following and then click Next, Click All users can access the fax server inbox to give all users with access to the fax server the ability to view all received faxes. This option provides less privacy because every fax user can access all received faxes, but also requires less management.

If you chose to limit access to the inbox to routing assistants, on the Select Routing Assistants page, click Add and then type the group name or domain and user name for groups and users who you want to be members of the Routing Assistants group. Click OK and then click Next.

Continue through the wizard until you reach the Confirm Installation Selections page, and then review the choices that you made. Click Install.

To share the Fax printer that has been created, click Start, and then click Control Panel. Under Hardware, click View devices and printers. In the list of printers, right-click Fax, click Printer properties, click the Sharing tab, select Share this printer, and then type a name for the printer that you want your network users to see.

Click on Apply and OK.

Step4: Configure Fax Server to use SMTP e-mail routing

Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Fax Service Manager.

In the left pane, right-click Fax, and then click Properties.

To enable incoming faxes to be routed to recipients by e-mail, click the Receipts tab

Also on the Receipts tab, click Authentication, and then, based on how your SMTP server is set up, Click Integrated Windows Authentication if NTLM authentication is needed to access the SMTP server, click Credentials, and then type a user name and password.

In the left pane, double-click Devices and Providers, double-click Devices, double-click the device you want to configure, and then click Incoming Methods.

configure the Route through e-mail method, click the E-mail tab, and then type the e-mail address to which you want incoming faxes to be delivered

After the incoming methods have been configured, in the details pane, right-click each method, and then click Enable to enable the method

In the left pane, double-click Devices and Providers, and then click Devices. In the right pane, right-click the device you want to configure, click Properties, and then click the General tab.Click Automatic Answer and click Send to enable the fax device to answer calls automatically

configure a CSID, in Called Subscriber ID (CSID), type a CSID string. This string is limited to 20 characters

In the left pane, double-click Fax, double-click Outgoing Routing, right-click Groups, point to New, and then click Group.

In the Add New Group dialog box, type a group name.  Click Yes to confirm.

In the left pane, double-click Fax, and then double-click Outgoing Routing.

Right-click Rules, point to New, and then click Rule.In Add New Rule, if you know the country/region code, type it in Country/region code. If you are not sure of the code, click Select. In the list, click a country/region, and then click OK. In Area code, select Specific to limit the rule within the selected country/region, and then type the area code, or select All areas to apply the rule to the entire country or region.

To add a new account, right-click Accounts, click New, and then click Account. In Create New Account, provide a user name and domain, and then click OK.

Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager. In the left pane, double-click Configuration, double-click Local Users and Groups, and then click Groups.

To enable users to send and receive faxes using the fax server, in the right pane, double-click Fax Users, click Add, and then provide user account information.

Step5: Check Fax