Windows Operating Systems

Microsoft(MS) Provides both Client and Server Operating Systems. As discussed in our earlier article here Client operating systems of Microsoft are Win11, Win10, Win7 etc. Server Operating Systems are Windows Server 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012 etc.  Here we will concentrate more on Server Operating Systems rather client operating systems.

Based on the features available Server operating systems are of different editions. Latest Server OS is Windows Server 2022. Below are the Edtions and features of Windows 2022 Server.

• Essentials
• Standard
• Datacenter

Essentials Edition of  Windows Server 2022 is used for small businesses.

Here is the link which give you information about the difference of features of Standard Edition and Datacenter Edition of Windows Server 2022.

Click below link for Older version of Windows Server editions and their features.

• Windows 2019 Server
• Windows 2016 Server

Minimum hardware requirements for the installation of Server Operating Systems as per Microsoft are here. While these are minimum requirements based on the applications requirements required capacity will calcuated or capacity is recommanded by application vendors.

Operating System

Before you start learning Windows Server Administration, It is very important to understand what and Operating System is, What are types of Operation Systems, Who are the major market holders.

Operating System:

Operating System is a peace of software that act a mediator between you and  physical devices like Laptop, Desktop, Server and of course you mobile devices as well.

How Assign Azure AD Premium Licenses to users.

In our earlier article here we did see how to activate AAD  Free Premium P2 licenses. Let us know see how to assign Licenses to the users which is very straight forward.

How to Activate Azure Active Directory Premium P2 Trail Licenses.

Azure Active Directory (AAD) comes with free license, which means only basic feature of AAD are available. Based on the licenses you have the features available will differ. Organizations that require features like PIM (Previlaged Identity Management), SSPR (Self Service Password Rest), MFA (Multifactor Authentication) with OTP on Authenticator App, SMS, Dynamic Groups, etc will go with Premium licenses (P1 or P2).

What is Azure Active Directory

Before we get into understanding of Azure Active Directory (AAD), let us understand what is an Identity.

What is an identity?
An identity is an Object mostly userid with a password that is used for authentication / authorization.

What is Azure Active Directory?

Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is a cloud-based identity and access management service. This service helps your employees access external resources, such as Microsoft 365, the Azure portal, and thousands of other SaaS applications.

Why do we need identities on Azure i.e., AAD?
Azure AD or Identies on azure are needed for
1)login to portal==>>portal.azure.com 
2)Get access to azure resources (RBAC) 
3)Get access to SaaS (Software as a Service) Applications.

Virtual Network Peering

Vnet peering enable communication between vnets, with in the same region, different regions, different subscriptions and ofcourse different Tenants. 

Vnets will helps with isolation which means resources accross vents will not communicate with each other, hence the need of Peering. 

Peering between the Vnets in the same Region is called Regional Vnet Peering. 

Peering between the Vnets in the different Regions is called Global Vnet Peering.

Vnet Peering traffic will go through private network of azure, which give you below advantages.
    *Secure
    *Reliability
    *Better performance

Peering should always two ways, If you create onway peering, two way communication will not work.

If you want allow traffic one way the other way to be bloked do it by Network Security Groups (NSG).

Here is the video which help you with the configuration of both Regional and Global Vnet Peering.

Creation of Azure Active Directory Guest Account

In this lab, you will learn how to create an Azure Active Directory Guest user ids.

Requirements: 

Global Administrator role or any of the limited administrator directory roles such as guest inviter or user administrator that allows guest user creation.

Log in to Azure portal and search for Azure Active Directory.

Navigate to the Users section under Manage in Azure Active Directory.