What is Windows Server?

Windows 2012 R2 is is a server version of Windows like 2008, 2008 R2, 2012 and others before it and 2016 after. 2012 R2 is based on the same kernal version as the consumer operating system Windows 8.1. Server operating systems have a lot more common and share many features with there consumer workstation counterparts. Servers cost quite a bit more but have many server class services and roles that they can provide not available to workstations. This version also has a lighter weight core (no graphical user interface-GUI) option that can be remotely managed that reduces vulnerabilities associated with the GUI. Server can also serve third party installed applications. As for just some of the server roles/services built in here is a quick and dirty list which is by no means a complete list…

Active Directory (authentication and management services)

DHCP

DNS

Web server

File server (has de-duplication capabilities as well)

Terminal services (remote desktop)/remote desktop services gateway

Storage spaces

Hyper-V

Windows Server 2012 include enhancements to the following:

Graphical user interface (GUI) - Windows Server 2012 was created with the Metro design language so it has the same look and feel as Windows 8 unless installed in Server Core mode. Administrators can switch between Server Core and the Server with a GUI options without a full reinstallation.

Address management - Windows Server 2012 has an IP address management (IPAM) role for discovering, monitoring, auditing and managing the network's IP address space.

Hyper-V- Hyper-V 3.0 offers a scalable, virtual extensible switch that allows a virtual network to extend its functionality in ways that were difficult or impossible to achieve in previous versions.

Active Directory - Several changes have been made to Active Directory. The PowerShell-based Deployment Wizard can work remotely, allowing administrators to promote cloud-based servers to domain controllers without the Wizard running on the server itself. Following the completion of this process, PowerShell scripts containing copies of commands used in the process can assist with the automation of additional domain controllers, allowing for large-scale Active Directory deployments.

File System - Addition of ReFS (Resilient File System) for file servers.

Storage migration - Live storage migration is permitted and shared storage will no longer be required for virtual machine (VM) migration when using Hyper-V Replica.

Clustering. Cluster-aware updating will be automated, which will allow the entire cluster to stay online during the updating process with little to no loss in availability.

NIC teaming. This is the first version of Windows Server with built-in network interface card (NIC) teaming. This feature allows administrators to team together NICs for failover and bandwidth aggregation, creating server resiliency built into the operating system.