Greetings Everyone

Welcome to another Wednesday featured forum, today we will be looking at the Windows Server Forum.

Windows Server has been around for a very long time, going back to Windows 2000 and legacy all the way up to Windows Server 2016 which is the newest version.

With each version of windows there are numerous upgrades and features. For example, in Server 2012 you have a great feature or option called RSS - Receive Side Scaling, while I am not going to dive into what it does, it is just one of the many enhancements in the newer versions.

Windows Server, in any organization is the heart of the business, besides the hardware. All the applications that many organizations use, like SharePoint, Exchange, Active Directory, CRM and many many more all run on top of Windows Server. Each application carefully designed to work with specific versions to give you a stable platform. Many think that Microsoft is being difficult when they say you cannot run Exchange Server or SharePoint as an example on a certain version of the Server OS but for your companies own safety and stability there is reason behind this. It all has to be tested first before an Application like the ones listed above can run on that version of Windows Server.

Windows Server is also tested to work on the hardware we have at our fingertips like Dell, HP etc. and these vendors work closely with Microsoft to ensure that not only do you have the correct hardware but the software as well to support the hardware.

Let's jump to the Windows Server Forums. Like Azure, this is also a very busy forum, with lots of questions being asked about many different things like:

• Internet Explorer Versions on Windows Server
• Anti-Virus Software supported and working on Windows Server
• Drivers for Windows to support the Hardware that runs beneath Windows Server.
• Storage options in the newer versions of Windows.
• Dotnet Framework that will work on each version of Windows.
• PowerShell versions on each version of Windows.
• Windows Shares.

The above is just a few of the many questions asked. Lets take a look at one example, but first to access the Windows Server Forum, click the following link:

Here is a question asked about Windows shares, as an example:

• Question

You will notice a number of MVP's on this forum answering each question and with each answer a wealth of knowledge. What makes it so interesting is that each environment is unique and so the challenges as well along with the questions.

To learn more about Windows Server you can follow the MCSA/MCSE certification track and also do reading at a number of sites:

• Microsoft Virtual Academy
• PluralSight
• Any Partner that offers training or courses.

That is all for now folks.

All the Best!

Edward