Contents at a glance Introduction CHAPTER 1 Installing and configuring servers CHAPTER 2 Configure server roles and features CHAPTER 3 Configure Hyper-V CHAPTER 4 Deploying and configuring core network services CHAPTER 5 Install and administer Active Directory CHAPTER 6 Create and manage Group Policy CHAPTER 1 Installing and configuring servers nstalling new Windows servers on your network is not something to be done casually -you must plan the installation well in advance. Among other things, you must decide what edition of the operating system to install, whether you are installing the full graphical user interface (GUI) or the Server Core option, what your virtualization strategy will be, if any , and what roles you intend to implement on the server. If you are installing Windows Server 2012 for the first time, you might also have to decide whether to add the server to your production network or install it on a test network . This chapter discusses the process of installing Windows Server 2012, using either a clean install or a server upgrade, and the server configuration tasks you must perform immediately following the installation. Finally, it considers the configuration of various types of hard disk technologies used for local storage and the deployment of roles to servers all over the network .