Windows Operating System Functions

Identifying Major Operating System Functions

As you read in the preceding chapter, the OS is responsible for two major functions: managing hardware devices and providing an environment in which applications can execute. One of the major applications that needs to execute is the user interface (UI), which lets users control all other applications and their execution. In the case of Windows-based computers, this UI — the shell — is Windows Explorer. So together with hardware, this software that makes up the OS is responsible for getting things done. The hardware and software get tied together in the location where everything happens: memory.

Understanding memory management

Memory is the playing field where hardware and software mix. Memory management is the responsibility of the OS. The OS makes sure that the hardware and software components work within their own confines of memory. As memory resources are requested, the OS releases them either to the hardware device driver or to the application. The OS then takes steps to make sure that the application accesses only the memory areas allocated to that particular application. If an application attempts to access memory not allocated to it, the OS has to decide what to do with the application, which is to deny access to the memory.

As part of memory management, the OS keeps track of physical memory on the computer as well as hard drive space used as extra memory available to the computer. Access time to physical memory is measured in nanoseconds, and access time to disk drives is measured in milliseconds. These scales are widely different, and so is the access time of information from these memory locations. Both types of memory are lumped together to make up virtual memory. Sometimes the term virtual memory is applied to the hard drive space used to simulate memory, but at the OS level, the term is used to refer to all memory available for storage on the system.

As applications launch and get loaded into memory, physical memory is used. When this space becomes limited, the OS moves some data from RAM onto the hard drive. The OS records the change in the actual location so that when the application requests that information again, the information can be moved back into physical memory and accessed.

Checking the OS version

No matter which OS you use, at some point you need to know its exact version number. This is often the case when you install new software, which requires a specific version of the OS. There are many methods for retrieving this information in Windows.

The System Control Panel or System Properties lets you know which version and service pack level of the OS you are running (see Figure 2-1). You can get to the System Properties dialog in the following ways:

Choose Start ⇒ Control Panel ⇒ System.
Right-click Computer and choose Properties.

FIGURE 2-1: The System Control Panel is available in all versions of Windows.

In Windows 8.1, use the following methods:

Choose Start ⇒ Control Panel ⇒ System.
Right-click This PC and choose Properties.

System Properties will show you the version name, like Windows Vista or Windows 7, but starting with Windows Vista and newer OSes you need the System Information tool to locate the version number. To see this information in the System Information tool, choose Start ⇒ All Programs ⇒ Accessories ⇒ System Tools ⇒ System Information.

The System Information tool includes the version number in the main window (see Figure 2-2). The System Information tool can be launched through the Start menu prior to Windows 8.1, but in all versions of Windows you can use the Run command and type msinfo32.exe.

FIGURE 2-2: The System Information tool for Windows provides a great deal of detailed information.

Some of the version numbers you might see are listed in Table 2-1. Notice that these version numbers are continuations of Windows NT version 4.0 in version and build numbers.

TABLE 2-1 OS Version Numbers for Modern Versions of Windows

Operating System	Version Number
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation	4.00.1381 Build 1381
Windows 2000 Professional	5.00.2195 Build 2195
Windows XP Professional	5.10.2600 Build 2600
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise	5.2.3790 Build 3790
Windows Vista Enterprise	6.0.6000 Build 6000.16386
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise	6.0.6000 Build 6000.16386
Windows 7 Enterprise	6.1.7600 Build 7600
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise	6.1.7600 Build 7600
Windows Server 2012	6.2.9200 Build 9200
Windows 8.0	6.2.9200 Build 9200
Windows Server 2012 R2	6.3.9600 Build 9600
Windows 8.1	6.3.9600 Build 9600

Windows version numbers have three parts: the version number, the build number, and the Service Pack level (although not all tools will show you the Service Pack level). The version number (6.1 for Windows 7) will not change for the lifetime of the product. As patches and upgrades become available for the OS, Microsoft releases hot fixes. Hot fixes are listed in the Programs and Features Control Panel. When a sufficient number of fixes have been released, Microsoft releases a Service Pack, which incorporates most hot fixes as well as other unreleased fixes or features.

Windows changes the build number of the OS as you apply service packs. The two major parts of the build number do not change, so for Windows Vista they will remain as 6.0; the two minor parts of the build number change, so the minor version number for Service Pack 1 is actually 6001.18000.

After you know which version of the software you are running, you can take a look at what makes up your OS.

Understanding Major Operating System Components

In the following sections, you briefly examine how applications actually run on Windows computers. For a more complete description of how applications are supported, see Book 6, Chapter 2.

Getting into the architecture

Windows 2000 was a complete rewrite of the Windows OS, but at a risk of causing compatibility issues. When Windows boots, it immediately enters a 32-bit protected-mode or a 64-bit long-mode state. With a 32-bit processor, the entire OS operates from this 32-bit state, and the kernel is loaded into Ring 0, which Microsoft refers to as kernel mode (see Figure 2-3). All processes running in kernel mode are protected from any processes running in Ring 3, or user mode.

FIGURE 2-3: The Windows architectural overview.

The Intel processor design divides operation of the code into four separate execution levels, called rings. Ring 0 is at the middle of this arrangement, and Ring 3 is at the outside. These are the only two rings that Microsoft implemented during the development of 32-bit Windows OSes.

The kernel is the core part of the OS that controls everything else that happens on the computer. The kernel is responsible for keeping user-mode processes separated. Each application is started in its own area. One application is not directly allowed to interact with other applications and must pass such requests through Executive Services, which operate in kernel mode. This isolation of the applications from each other and from the rest of the OS is one of the keys to the stability of the current Windows system.

Kernel-mode processes are separated from user-mode processes but are vulnerable to corruption by other kernel-mode processes. The processor’s architecture is all that protects kernel-mode processes from each other, and it often fails in its job. This means that Stop events (the ones that cause the infamous Blue Screen of Death), which reboot the system, are usually caused by a conflict of the processes running in kernel mode. For more on Stop events, see Book 7, Chapter 2.

Paging your memory

Windows uses hard drive space to extend the amount of memory available to applications. The total pool of available memory is the virtual memory page pool, or just virtual memory. Virtual memory, composed of physical RAM and hard drive space, is maintained by the Virtual Memory Manager (VMM). Figure 2-4 shows how these systems relate.

FIGURE 2-4: A sample of virtual memory within the Windows 8.1 OS.

The VMM is responsible for keeping track of where different kinds of information are located in memory. As applications request to have information placed in memory, the VMM places the information in an area of RAM. If RAM is getting full, some information is moved from RAM to an area on the hard drive. The location on the hard drive is a swap file (in older version of Windows) or a paging or page file (current versions of Windows). As applications request stored data, the VMM moves information so that the data is available in RAM.

You configure the paging file in the System Properties. You might want to adjust the virtual memory settings because

You are running out of space on your boot partition (the one with the Windows directory).
You want to improve paging performance by
- Reducing disk contention with the OS: In this case, you can move the paging file to a different physical disk if you have one.
- Load balancing the page file between different physical drives: Current Windows systems allow you to have multiple paging files, each on a different disk.

Follow these steps to adjust how much virtual memory your computer uses when using Windows:

Open the System Properties dialog box by right-clicking the Computer on the Start menu and choose Properties, and then select Advanced System Settings.
In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
Click the Performance Settings button.

The Performance Options dialog box appears.
On the Advanced tab, click the Virtual Memory Change button (refer to Figure 2-4).

In the Virtual Memory dialog box that appears, you can set an initial and a maximum size for the paging file on each logical drive.
Adjust the settings as needed.

If you reduce the size of the paging file on your boot partition below the size of the physical RAM on your system, you are warned that some of the recovery options will be disabled. The paging file is used as a storage space for the memory.dmp file that is generated during a Stop error. As long as you have not undersized your boot partition, you should not have to worry about this too much, but in some environments, such as virtual machines, it is not uncommon to have the boot partitions undersized.
Click OK on three consecutive dialog boxes to close them all.

Choosing your file systems

Just as many companies have different systems for filing data, with Windows you have several options when choosing a file system. MS-DOS offers the File Allocation Table (FAT), which started out as FAT12 and then became FAT16 in later versions of MS-DOS. Windows 95 then added to that base file system with FAT32. In between this time, the different architecture of Windows NT offers the New Technology File System (NTFS). The latest versions of Windows support all three file systems, and you get some control over how to use them.

When using Windows, your choices include FAT, FAT32, and NTFS. Table 2-2 summarizes some of the differences between the file systems.

TABLE 2-2 Differences between the Major Windows File Systems

File System	OS Support	Partition Size	Max File Size
NTFS	All versions of Windows NT (including Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.1) support NTFS, but there were major changes to the file system with the release of Windows 2000. Computers running older versions of Windows NT might not be able to access the files.	10MB up to a theoretical limit of 16EB*	Limited only by the size of the volume
exFAT	Originally released with a version of Windows CE and making its desktop debut with Windows 7. This file system was developed as an extension of the FAT32 file system to be used on removable media and in places where NTFS is inappropriate or unusable. Windows XP, Window Vista, and Mac OS X 10.6.4 have support for this file system.	64ZB (512TB recommended)*	64ZB (512TB recommended)*
FAT32	FAT32 was released with Windows 95 OSR2, and all versions of Windows 9x after that support FAT32. Windows 2000 was the first OS in the Windows NT family to support FAT32.	Up to 2TB,* usually used for FAT volumes larger than 512MB. Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.1 will not format partitions larger than 32GB with FAT32.	4GB
FAT	Accessible by all Microsoft OSes since MS-DOS, including all Windows NT–based operating systems. It is also widely supported by other OSes.	Up to 4GB. MS-DOS and Windows 9x allow you to create FAT partitions only up to 2GB; Windows NT–based systems can create partitions up to 4GB.	2GB

*One terabyte (TB) equals approximately 1,000 gigabytes. One exabyte (EB) equals approximately 1 billion gigabytes, or 1 million terabytes. One zebibyte (ZB) equals approximately 1,000 exabytes. That’s a lot of memory!

In most cases, you want to use NTFS because it

Supports security on folders and files
Is a journaling file system, so it offers better recovery in case of power interruptions
Offers a more stable platform for data storage

Although some older applications might have compatibility issues with NTFS, these issues are rare. For more on file systems, see Book 2, Chapter 5.

NTFS should always be chosen as the file system for stability and security. Choose FAT, FAT32, or exFAT only if you need to dual-boot a computer with another OS, such as Windows 9x or Linux.

Understanding the Registry

Windows uses its Registry to record settings for applications and the OS. When people first started writing applications for Microsoft-driven computers, they usually needed to record a series of per-use or per-computer settings. In most cases, they wrote these settings to a file stored on that computer. This system worked fine most of the time, but the people who needed to manage those computers and applications found that some of these configuration files were binary files and some were text files, and occasionally they would get corrupted and be unusable.

To solve some of this confusion, Microsoft came up with a file standard that appeared when Windows was introduced to the world. The new solution was the INI (“innie”) file, which is a text file that uses sections, settings, and values stored in a standardized format. Because data is written and can be retrieved using a standard format, the OS can use standard procedures to store and retrieve the data rather than relying on each application developer to write his or her own procedures. Listing 2-1 shows a portion of a sample INI file that would have been opened in notepad.exe. For all text-based configuration files, you can make changes with notepad.exe or wordpad.exe.

LISTING 2-1: A Sample INI File

[Options] WordSel=0 Units=0 Maximized=0 FrameRect=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA PageMargin=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DefaultFormat=5 [Text] Layout2=CAAAAAAAAAEAAAAAAADAAAAAAAAA LayoutAux2=CAAAAAAAAAEAAAAAAADAAAAAAAAA Wrap=0 BarState0=0 BarState1=0 [RTF] Layout2=CAAAAAAAAAEAAAAAAADAAAAAAAAA LayoutAux2=CAAAAAAAAAEAAAAAAADAAAAAAAAA Wrap=0 BarState0=0 BarState1=0

Section names are enclosed in square brackets.

With the release of Windows 95 and Windows NT, Microsoft programmers developed a new way to deal with this issue — they created a single location in which to store all configuration information for a computer: the Registry.

Like INI files, the Registry uses a standard format, breaking down settings into two basic categories: for computers and for users. Computer settings are stored in a section named HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and user settings are stored in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Application developers are encouraged to use this new location to store settings for their applications and have even been given a special software key to store their settings. It is up to the software developer to decide whether settings are user- or computer-based and to manage the settings appropriately.

All well-written programs should be using the Registry to store configuration information, but you may see INI files storing setup options for installer programs, or the similarly formatted INF files for drivers.

Remember that Registry stores all settings in either HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER, depending on whether the setting is related to the computer or the user.

For detailed information about how to view and manage settings stored in the Registry, read Book 6, Chapter 4.

Navigating Your Computer

File and folder structure or paths is how you get around the disk system on your computer. Being able to get to the files you need when you need them is crucial. From the command prompt, you can work with cd (change directory) and dir (directory), which I cover at length in Book 5, Chapter 5. When you are using Windows, you can choose between Windows Explorer or File Explorer (not Internet Explorer) and Computer (or This PC in Windows 8.1). Either tool can be used for navigation, and your choice is purely preference. This section looks at these tools in a fresh (default) Windows installation using the default settings. If you have changed your settings, some windows might not be the same as I describe. When possible, I try to describe the differences among Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.1.

Computer

Computer (or This PC for Windows 8.1) is the most common way people access files on their computers because it’s easy to find in the Start menu on Windows Vista and Windows 7. When you click Computer, a large window is displayed (as shown in Figure 2-5), listing the drives on your computer. You can then double-click your C: drive to see what files are located on that drive.

The navigation buttons on the toolbar at the top of the Computer window allow you to go back to the previous folder or up to the parent folder. Cut, Copy, and Paste buttons allow you to move files between folders.

Several tasks are more easily accomplished with an additional open window, such as copying files from one folder to another. To open an additional window, double-click Computer on the desktop and browse to the correct folder; or, hold down your Ctrl key while you double-click a folder, which leaves the original window in place and opens a new window for the folder that you double-clicked.

If you don’t like how the files in the Computer window are displayed, use the Views button on the toolbar to change the view from Icons to Thumbnails, Tiles, List, or Details. Thumbnails view allows you to see the contents of many files, such as graphics; Details view lists file sizes and modification dates, which is often useful when trying to locate specific files. The choice of viewing style is preference. Windows Vista and newer OSes add to your choice of views with Content and a variety of icon sizes (from small to extra large). Content will show details about the contents of your files, such as dimensions, file type, or size. The Thumbnails view has disappeared with the newer OSes, but do not fret, because for most graphic files, you can see the contents in the Content, Tiles, or larger Icons views.

In the address line near the top of the Computer window, you can type the name of the folder that you want to go to and directly switch to it. For example, you could type C:\Windows to switch to the Windows folder.

When you select an item in the Computer window, you see properties for that item at the bottom of the window in Windows. To display or hide the Preview, Navigation, or Details panes in Windows Vista or Windows 7, choose them from the Layout submenu of the Organize menu. In Windows 8.1, choose them from the View Ribbon.

To explore many of the options for displaying information in the Computer window, open the Folder Options dialog box from the Folder and Search Options from the Organize menu in Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

If you open and explore the Folder Options, you will find options for browsing folders and opening folders, and how the Navigation pane will function all on the General tab. Many options are found on the View tab, including how to display files with the hidden attribute set, empty drives, system files, and file extensions. This tab also provides an option to apply these settings to all folders, as well as the option to reset folders to their default settings. Windows Vista and Windows 7 include a Search tab to adjust search settings, which include searching in system directories and displaying partial matches. To prepare for your A+ Exams, it is a good idea to review the settings that can be modified in the Folder Options dialog box.

Windows Explorer

By the end of this section, you will see that Computer as an application does not actually exist. To open this application in Windows, choose Start ⇒ All Programs ⇒ Accessories ⇒ Windows Explorer. This opens the Windows Explorer program with the left pane — the Navigation pane or Folders Explorer Bar — enabled.

Now, you will see why a My Computer application does not really exist. If you select Computer in the Navigation pane, close the navigation pane, and change the view to Icons for both Windows, you will see that this window is the same as the Computer window. To show the Navigation pane, select Organize ⇒ Layout ⇒ Navigation Pane. The Navigation pane allows you to quickly move from one folder to another, or copy files from one folder to another without opening multiple windows. Many Windows users prefer the Explorer view to the My Computer view of their files.

In summary, both views of your files use the same program: Windows Explorer or explorer.exe.

explorer.exe is not only used for My Computer and Windows Explorer. The first time it is run on your computer, it is launched as the desktop. If you close all open windows and check your Processes tab in Task Manager, you will see one copy of explorer.exe still running. If you right-click on explorer.exe in the processes list and choose End Process, your desktop will disappear, and you will see only your wallpaper. If explorer.exe does not automatically reload, choose Task Manager ⇒ File ⇒ New Task (Run) to open the Create New Task dialog box, type explorer.exe, and click OK to reload the desktop copy of explorer.exe.

To quickly open Windows Explorer, right-click Computer and choose Explore from the shortcut menu. This Explore option shows up in the contextual menu for any folder. By default, Explore is not in the context menu of Windows 7. An even faster way to open Explorer: Press the Windows key + E.

Command line

The last way to get around on your computer is the oldest of the methods: the command line. While this may look like an old MS-DOS prompt, it is not. When you’re dealing with Windows, you are running the 32-bit or 64-bit command line application. This application can execute any command found on the system, but is most often used for commands without a Windows GUI component. Microsoft has command line tools available to perform most system management tasks from the command line, which is useful when troubleshooting or when creating scripts or batch files to perform tasks.

You access the command line in Windows Vista and Windows 7 by choosing Start ⇒ All Programs ⇒ Accessories ⇒ Command Prompt, or with Windows 8.1, by right-clicking the Start Menu and choosing Command Prompt. If you right-click it, you have the option of running it as the Administrator. Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 allow you to hold Shift while right-clicking a folder and choose Open Command Window Here instead of having to navigate to the path from a command prompt.

Using Tools and Configuration Utilities

A computer’s configuration is very important for both cosmetic and functional reasons. In the following sections, you get a good look at the tools that you use to manage your system configuration.

Control panel applets

Most settings for your computer are stored in the Registry, but the Registry is a place where if you make an error while making changes, it can require that you re-install your OS. To make your actions less prone to major errors, Microsoft created the Control Panel. The Control Panel contains applets that allow you to change many system settings without requiring you to make direct changes to the Registry. Control panel applets are the recommended method of changing most of your system settings. Table 2-3 provides a summary of each Control Panel applet and identifies on which OS(es) you’ll find them.

TABLE 2-3 Control Panel Applets

Control Panel Applet	Description
Add Hardware (Windows Vista)	Runs a Plug and Play hardware detection of your computer to detect new hardware devices or allows you to manually select devices to install.
Administrative Tools	Opens a folder that contains the Administrative Tools for Windows. These tools allow you to configure, manage, and control your Windows computer.
Date and Time	Changes the system date, time, and time zone.
Device Manager	Views and changes settings for hardware and driver software.
Ease of Access Center	Changes settings for accessibility features for users with physical limitations.
Folder Options	Changes default folder options. These options are also available through the Windows Explorer Tools ⇒ Folder Options command.
Fonts	Displays a list of fonts installed on your computer, allows you to see what the fonts look like, and allows you to delete fonts from or copy fonts into the folder.
Internet Options	Configures Internet options and connection settings; clears your Temporary Internet Files and History folders.
Keyboard	Changes the sensitivity settings for your keyboard and the layout for your keyboard.
Mail	Configures the mail system for the computer.
Mouse	Configures the orientation, motion, and double-click settings for your mouse.
Network and Sharing Center	Configures connections to your network or other networks.
Program and Features	Allows you to start the installation of programs, displays a list of installed programs that can be removed, and allows you to add or remove optional OS components (such as games).
Personalization	Configures display options. This includes video card settings, screen resolution, color depth (number of colors), and color scheme.
Phone and Modem	Configures dialing rules and modem settings.
Power Options	Configures power management settings for your computer.
Printers (Windows Vista) Devices and Printers (Windows 7 and Windows 8.1)	Adds, removes, or configures printer settings and queues.
Regional and Language Options (Windows Vista) Region and Language (Windows 7) Region (Windows 8.1) Language (Windows 8.1)	Configures the OS to support different currency, numeric, date, and time settings for specific countries; inputs and displays languages.
Scanners and Cameras (Windows Vista and Windows 7)	Configures installed scanners and cameras. For Windows 8.1, this is found in Devices and Printers.
Scheduled Tasks (Windows Vista and Windows 7)	Adds, modifies, or deletes scheduled tasks.
Security Center (Windows Vista and Windows 7) Action Center (Windows 8.1)	Configures and reviews security settings for the computer, including antivirus, Windows Firewall, and automatic updates.
Sound	Sets sounds for system events, such as “window open” or “new mail”; configures audio or multimedia hardware.
Speech Recognition	Changes settings for text-to-speech systems or for voice recognition.
System	Configures advanced system settings for hardware and performance. These settings cover hardware profiles, found in Book 6, Chapter 1; remote settings; and system protection, found in Book 7, Chapter 3.
Taskbar and Navigation (Windows 8.1)	Configures settings for how items are displayed in the Taskbar and on the Start screen.
Taskbar and Start Menu (Windows Vista and Windows 7)	Configures settings for items displayed in the Taskbar and the Start menu.
Troubleshooting (Windows 7 and Windows 8.1)	Common interface for launching a number of troubleshooting wizards to fix common Windows problems.
User Accounts	Configures user profiles and user settings.
Windows Defender	Offers protection against malware, Trojans, and unwanted software.
Windows Firewall	Contains configuration settings for the Windows Firewall that comes with Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Windows Update	Configures the Automatic Update service on Windows and allows you to choose how and when your updates are installed.

All versions of Windows support several power options:

Power plans: Power plans are preset configuration options for power settings. The plans’ names and settings vary between versions of Windows. Power plans allow you to quickly switch between power configurations.
Sleep/Suspend: Sleep is a low-power configuration that powers down most of the components of the computer, but leaves some power running through the system memory. When the computer is activated again, all devices are powered back up and the system resumes normal operations. When the system is in Sleep mode, if power is lost, the data in memory is lost.

Windows 7 supports a setting called Hybrid Sleep, which puts the computer into Sleep mode and then writes memory data to the hard drive, in the same way as if it were preparing to hibernate, so that if power is lost, the contents of memory are still available. In Hybrid Sleep mode, the computer will resume quickly as in normal Sleep mode. Windows 8.1 always uses Hybrid Sleep mode as its Sleep mode.
Hibernate: To prevent data loss and reduce power requirements, Hibernate writes the contents of memory to a file on the hard drive and completely powers the computer off. In this case, power consumption is equal to that of a powered-off computer. When the computer is powered on, if the memory file exists, the memory information is loaded back into memory, and the computer is in the same operational state as when it went into hibernation.

Windows Vista has the following new Control Panel applets:

Tablet PC settings: These settings determine how tablet PC functions work, such as handwriting recognition operations and screen orientation on your tablet computer. This will only be present on tablet systems.
Pen and input devices: Touchscreen navigation, such as pen, pointer, and hand gesture settings, are controlled in this Control Panel applet.
Offline files: Windows Vista adds a centralized control panel to control the configuration and monitoring of the offline files service. Monitoring of synchronization is performed through the Open Sync Center on the Tools menu of Windows Explorer.
Problem reports and solutions: When Windows applications or drivers crash, Windows creates a problem report. The Problem Reports and Solutions Control Panel applet allows you to see these reports and proposed solutions.

Windows 7 has the following new Control Panel applets, which continue in Windows 8.1:

HomeGroup: This Control Panel applet allows you to create or join a HomeGroup. A HomeGroup gives Windows 7 a simplified interface to configure sharing of files and resources between computers. Computers must be configured for the Home network location to participate in a HomeGroup.
Action Center: Windows 7 provides a central location for problem reports, solutions, and key security and maintenance information, and initiates a recovery to an earlier point of time.
RemoteApp and Desktop Connections: Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, through the improved Remote Desktop Services, allow the publishing of remote desktop sessions as well as single applications. This Control Panel applet is a client-side connection manager for these remote applications and sessions. This allows the management of these remote services to be centralized in a single location.

Microsoft Management Console

One common complaint about earlier versions of Windows was that you had to use a different management tool for every task. For example, Windows use to have separate tools for managing every aspect of the server or OS, from managing users or computers in a network domain and locally on the computer, tools for managing performance, and tools for managing disks and disk partitions. With Windows 2000, Microsoft took steps to consolidate these disparate tools with the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), and although it has been upgraded, the MMC remains the main management interface for all newer versions of Windows.

The MMC is a framework into which other tools — snap-ins — can be loaded. All items that you see in your Administrative Tools folder represent MMC sessions configured with preset snap-ins. To see the raw interface, run mmc.exe from the Run command or from the command line.

Taskbar and notification area

To help you keep an eye on programs running on your computer and to allow you to switch quickly between running programs, Microsoft created the Taskbar. Its default location is at the bottom of the desktop, but it is movable. The left end holds the Start menu, and the other end holds has the notification area, which was formerly called the system tray, or Systray. The space between holds tiles representing running applications.

Right-click an empty area of the Taskbar and choose Properties to modify settings for the Taskbar and the notification area, such as auto-hiding the Taskbar, displaying the Quick Launch toolbar, grouping buttons, showing the clock, and hiding inactive icons.

Start menu/Start screen

If all the items on your desktop were missing, you would still be able to accomplish all that you need to do via the Start menu. Windows Vista streamlined the Start menus, providing an integrated Run/Search command and removing “Start” from the menu name (displaying only the Windows logo). With the variety of Start menu customizations that are available to you, you can still make the Windows 7 Start menu operate like older versions. Windows 8 further enhanced the experience by delivering the Start experience as an entire screen. For people missing the Start button, Microsoft reintroduced it in Windows 8.1, although still linking it to the Start screen, and Windows 10 reintroduced a greatly enhanced Start menu.

The Start menu, like its name suggests, can be used to start most applications on your computer. Contrary to its name, you can also use it to shut down your computer.

Remote Desktop Connection

There are a number of tasks that you can perform on a remote computer, such as modifying files, changing printer settings, or editing the registry; but there are times that you want to launch and run applications on that computer, and it is at these times you would use Remote Desktop Connection to connect across a network to another computer and remotely take over the desktop or console. See Figure 2-6. The technology in use is the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) from Microsoft, which defines how to send key strokes and mouse movements across a network from one computer to another computer, and how to have what is displayed on the screen of a computer sent to another computer. Using these mechanisms, you can remotely use another computer on your network, just as if you were sitting in front of that computer.

From a computer running Remote Desktop Connection, you can connect to a virtual desktop on a server running Windows Server, which can support hundreds of remote users simultaneously. Or, you can connect to the desktop of a Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8.1 (not Home or Core editions) computer. In either case, you can run applications on the remote computer as if you were sitting at the computer. Your computer passes mouse movements and keystrokes up the remote computer, and you see virtual screen shots of what is happening on the remote computer screen. Note: These are virtual screen shots and not really what is happening on the screen; what you are seeing does not appear on the remote computer screen.

You can find Remote Desktop Connection in the Start menu under All Programs ⇒ Accessories ⇒ Communications, or you can launch it from the Run command by typing mstsc.exe.

Remote Desktop Connection, through RDP, is a great tool for remotely troubleshooting a variety of problems because it can give you control of a computer on a remote network as if you were sitting right in front of it.

To configure access to your computer from a remote computer, either by a Remote Desktop connection or a Remote Assistance connection, you will use the Remote Settings tab of the System Control Panel applet. To open these settings on Windows Vista or Windows 7, choose Start, right-click Computer, choose Properties, and choose Remote Settings. This dialog box allows you to have Remote Assistance sessions, as well as allows the ability to have Remote Desktop session connections to your computer. The Remote Desktop session can also be restricted to the newer and more secure version of the Remote Desktop Connection client software.

Remote Assistance

Remote Assistance allows you to ask for or provide help to another person using a distant computer by watching what that user is doing, or by taking control of that computer and having the user watch you.

Remote Assistance uses RDP just like Remote Desktop Connection, but the implementation is very different. As a CompTIA A+ Certified Professional, you will often be asked to help a remote user perform a series of tasks. Many users just need a bit of extra guidance to complete a task, or have a question about something onscreen. After being involved in many telephone conversions with remote users, I can honestly say that a picture is worth a thousand words — sometimes even two thousand. Having the user show you exactly what is happening — or being able to show the user exactly what to do — can save a great deal of time.

Here’s how Remote Assistance works:

A user who needs help goes to Help and Support in the Start menu and opens the Help and Support Center. (The remote help is here as well.) On a Windows 8.1 computer, click the Start button and type Invite, then select the link in the search panel for Invite someone to connect to your PC and help you, or offer to help someone else.
With Windows Vista, you see a link for Windows Remote Assistance; and in Windows 7, click More Support Options to see a link for Windows Remote Assistance, for Windows 8.1, Step 1 brings you to this point. When the user chooses this and invites you to help, the user has the option of sending an invitation through Windows Messenger or email, or by saving the invitation to a file. Windows 7 adds a key-based Easy Connect, where you simply need to provide the helper with your key.

Regardless of the send-message method used, an invitation file is generated, and this invitation is key to the Remote Assistance system.
When the tech opens the invitation, he can open the Remote Assistance application and connect to a user’s computer via RDP.

Remote Assistance requests are always initiated by the person requesting help.

The Remote Assistance application also provides a chat section as well as a section where you can see and/or control the remote system, as shown in Figure 2-7. Unlike Remote Desktop Connection, with Remote Assistance, both the local and remote user can see what is going on with the problem computer and can communicate with a built-in Chat application.

FIGURE 2-7: The Remote Assistance process can be a boon for many help desk personnel.

Examining Windows Vista and Windows 7 Features

You will find many new features and functions with Windows Vista, Windows 7, and now Windows 8.1. The following sections introduce you to some of the features that are most important.

Aero Desktop

Windows Vista introduced the world to the Aero Desktop, which allows visual effects such as animations, transparent windows, custom tints, and thumbnail previews, Aero Snap, to list just a few.

Sidebar and Gadgets

Windows Vista introduced the Sidebar and Gadgets, which allow small applications to display various types of information in an area on the side of your screen. These applications include calendars, resource monitors, weather apps, slide shows, and currency converters. Windows 7 takes this a step further by not limiting the gadget area to the Sidebar. Windows 8.1 removes the Sidebar and Gadgets due to a security risk in their privileged status. You find more coverage on the Sidebar and Gadgets in Book 5, Chapter 1.

User Account Control

To increase security and reduce the risk of accidental changes happening on your computer, Microsoft has introduced User Account Control (UAC). Many of the changes you make on your computer can have serious implications to the overall system stability. When UAC is enabled, all major system changes require acknowledgment before committing to changes. When configuration applications are launched, or when changes are detected, UAC presents a confirmation dialog box. To find out more about UAC, review Chapter 2 of Book 9.

BitLocker Drive Encryption

Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise editions include BitLocker Drive Encryption, which is a low-level hard drive encryption component that can encrypt the entire contents of a disk volume. After you enable this feature, all files that you save to your hard drive volume are automatically encrypted. While you can access these files without additional effort, others will need to enter your password to gain access to the files. Not only are you able to encrypt volumes on your internal drive, but BitLocker-To-Go also allows you to encrypt a removable flash drive.

ReadyBoost

The ReadyBoost feature is an example of a little going a long way. On a computer with a standard hard drive, there is a penalty every time you read data from the drive, due to the rotational nature of the drive, which means the heads of the drive need to wait for the data that you are looking for to be present under the drive heads. This is called seek time. SSD (Solid State Drives) do not have this problem as data is stored in flash memory rather than on disk platters. Drive manufacturers use small amounts of fast cache memory to offset the issue through a system of read-ahead caching, where the drive guesses what data you want next by using a formula or algorithm.

ReadyBoost take read-ahead caching a step further by allowing you to attach flash media to your computer (in the form of USB flash drives, SD cards, or CompactFlash), and then using that media as additional fast cache memory. By increasing the amount of cache you have available, Windows 7 increases the effectiveness of read-ahead caching.

To enable or disable ReadyBoost on your flash media, use the Ready Boost tab from the media Properties dialog. To open the Properties dialog, right-click the drive in Computer and select Properties.

Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)

Shadow Copy is a feature introduced in Windows XP and sometimes referred to as the Volume Shadow Copy Server (VSS). VSS is an application programming interface (API) that supports copying data at a low level of the file system. It offers the benefit of being able to copy files that are open and being accessed, which it does by temporarily placing the files in a locked state. The magic of VSS is how it instantaneously locks the drive, but then creates a copy of any files to which a write or commit data operation is issued. When the write operation is requested for a file, VSS then creates a copy of the file in the VSS cache before actually performing the write operation to the file on the disk. This action is called copy on write.

In addition to the core API, VSS copies of drives can be scheduled, which causes any new file writes to be committed to a new copy of the files. This is managed on the fly at the file system level.

System Restore

Windows client operating systems have a system of restore points that are created automatically or manually to manage system files, the user’s files are not touched in this process. Automatic restore points are created when major events happen, such as application installations, driver installations, or other similar events. Users can manually trigger the creation of a restore point by using the System Protection tab of the Advanced System Settings of the System Control Panel.

This restore point process is tied to VSS, which is the service that is used to create the backup files. The process of reverting to a restore point is called System Restore. Full coverage of recovery points and the System Restore process is found in Book 7, Chapter 3.

Compatibility Mode

With each new version of Windows that arrives on the market, some applications do not operate in the new OS. To assist with getting these applications to work, Microsoft offers a series tweaks that can be enabled for the application through its Properties dialog box. These options have been growing since Windows Vista.

Compatibility Mode, as the name suggests, is about making the OS more compatible with the application. As the Windows OS evolves, changes are made in how it manages the display resolutions and with many internal system processes. These changes sometimes cause older software to not run quiet correctly — like changes in car models from one year to another that may cause old accessories to not fit properly in the newer models. The best solution is to upgrade to the latest version of the software, but when that is not an option, you can use Compatibility Mode to try to continue do things in the older version of the software that does not work with the newer OS. More on Compatibility Mode can be found in Book 6, Chapter 2.

XP Mode

Taking application compatibility further, Windows 7 offers the addition of the Microsoft Virtual PC (Microsoft’s desktop virtualization hypervisor) with a copy of Windows XP installed. This Virtual PC is used to run Windows XP–compatible applications in a seamless window on a Windows 7 computer. You can read more about XP Mode in Book 6, Chapter 2.

Windows Easy Transfer

Upgrading to a new computer can be a large pain. Windows Vista had the File and Settings Transfer Wizard, which has been dramatically improved with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. The new version makes it easy for you to transfer your files, email, pictures, and settings from your old computer to your new computer. While this tool comes with Windows 7, you can download components for older versions of Windows, such as Windows Vista, allowing you to transfer your information to your new Windows 8.1 computer. Easy Transfer adds a friendly front end to the User State Migration Tool (USMT), which is used in large enterprises to migrate user settings.

Pinning

When you have programs you run frequently, it can become a pain to constantly locate these applications in the nested Start menu or Start screen. Many people used to take the applications they use on a regular basis and put shortcuts on the desktop, but to access them users still had to minimize the open windows to get to the desktop. Windows Vista and Windows 7 maintain a dynamic list of recently used applications in the Start menu, but there are a limited number of items that are kept in the list. To solve this, Windows Vista enables you to pin items to the Start menu so that they are always available right on top of the menu.

This feature is also available in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 (where you pin to the Start screen). Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 give you the added option to pin application shortcuts to the Taskbar, making them even more easily available to you — no window minimizing at all.

Security Center/Action Center

As part of the Microsoft tool consolidation process, the Security Center represents Windows Vista’s one-stop security shop. By opening the Security Center, or by paying attention to the warnings in your system tray when you have a problem, the Security Center attempts to keep your computer safe. If any of the four security categories is not functioning correctly, a red shield icon shows up in the system tray. The four categories of security items are as follows:

Windows Update: The ideal configuration for updating is by configuring automatic updates. If automatic updates are not configured, you will see either a yellow or red warning.
Windows Defender: Microsoft got into the antivirus and anti-malware market with Windows Vista in the form of Windows Defender, its anti-malware software, and Microsoft Security Essentials, their antivirus anti-malware suite. This pair of applications continued in Windows 7. With the release of Windows 8.1, all security functionality was integrated into Windows Defender. This software offers protection against malware, Trojans, and unwanted software. Book 9, Chapter 3 has more information on antivirus and anti-malware software.
Windows Firewall: There was a time that we did not have firewalls on our computers, but since everyone needs and wants one now, Microsoft has integrated firewall features into the OS. Firewall software is critical in keeping prying eyes away from your computer over the network. The firewall monitors network traffic in and out of your computer and prevents many attacks against your computer. System Center/Action Center provides you with a quick insight into its current level of functionality. Firewalls are covered in Book 9, Chapter 2.
Other security settings: In addition to these settings, the last category in System Center currently includes User Account Control settings as well as Internet security settings.

Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 provide all this information in the Action Center under a Security category, with the same data broken down in the categories of Network Firewall, Windows Update, Virus Protection, Spyware and unwanted software protection, Internet security settings, and User Account Control.

Event Viewer

Many components of the Windows OS log information when certain events happen. The events may be informational, warnings, or critical items. Windows logs them to one of three logs: System, Security, or Application. These logs can be viewed with the Event Viewer, which is found in the Administrative Tools folder and is discussed in depth in Book 6, Chapter 4.

Administrative tools

All versions of Windows based on the NT base have included Administrative Tools, which is a folder (now located in the Control Panels folder) that contains the main tools for administrating a Windows computer. In addition to the Event Viewer, many administrative tools are covered throughout this book. These tools include Component Services, Computer Management, ODBC Data Sources, Event Viewer, iSCSI Initiator, Local Security Policy, Performance Monitor, Print Management, Services, System Configuration, Task Scheduler, Windows Firewall, and Windows PowerShell.

Control Panel views

With every generation of the Windows OS, the number of Control Panel items grows. To deal with this sprawl, Microsoft created Category View for the Control Panel. This view takes all the icons and places them within eight to ten categories (depending on the OS). Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 use these categories by default: System and Security; Network and Internet; Hardware and Sound; Programs; User Account and Family Safety; Appearance and Personalization; Clock, Language, and Region; and Ease of Access. All the other Control Panel applets are placed into one of these categories.

While the Category view was designed to make Windows easier to use and navigate, users familiar with the old, flat folder structure can be at a loss to find what they are looking for. Because of this, you will find an option in Windows Vista to switch to Classic View, which simply shows all the Control Panel applets by name. In Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, you find a small menu giving you the options of viewing by Category, Large Icons, or Small Icons (where the icon views are equivalent to Classic View). Old habits die hard sometimes.

Virtualization

Virtualization refers to the creation of one or more virtual computers to run software existing on the physical computer. The computer that plays host to these virtual computers runs a piece of software called a hypervisor. The hypervisor manages the virtual computer, which, like a physical computer, is made up of a processor, RAM, hard drive, and other peripherals, but limits exist as to what hardware can be virtualized. The hypervisor starts the virtual machine and allows the installation of an OS onto the virtual computer.

Many modern processors and motherboard BIOS/UEFI configurations now have virtualization options that must be enabled if you are going to run a hypervisor on them. In some cases, your software will not install if these options are not enabled, and when this happens, it will usually tell you in the error message that the BIOS settings must be enabled to permit installation or operation.

From a management perspective, each of these virtual computers is a full-fledged computer running an OS. But in actuality, all the running virtual computers are sharing the resources of the host computer running the hypervisor. Some common desktop hypervisors include the following:

Microsoft Virtual PC
Microsoft Hyper-V
VMware Workstation
VMware Fusion
Oracle VM VirtualBox
Parallels Workstation
Parallels Desktop for Mac

When dealing with the large scale virtualization of your servers, your company datacenter will be filled with powerful servers, virtualizing other servers. Some common datacenter hypervisors include:

VMware ESX Server (part of vCenter suite)
Microsoft Hyper-V
Citrix XenServer

Whether on the desktop or the server, the main purpose for using virtual machines is for resource management or simulation of networks. When you run a virtual machine on a virtual server you call the virtual machine the guest, while the server is referred to as the host. When you virtualize computers, you gain the following advantages:

The hardware is separated from the OS, making server replacements easier to achieve.
Hardware is utilized better. Servers often have large periods of idle time, and by running more than one virtual server on that hardware, you are able to bring the utilization of the hardware from under 10% in some cases, to greater than 90%.
Greater uptime or availability as virtual machines can be moved between servers with little or no impact to operations, allowing for hypervisor or hardware maintenance.
You can duplicate the structure of a larger networks and a large number of servers.
You can set up Lab, Development, and Pre-Production environments for testing and development.

When planning a virtual server environment, there are a few things to remember:

Hypervisor requirements: These are the requirements for installing and running the hypervisor. This will include requirements for the storage controller and devices, as well as the requirements for the network controller. In most cases, the requirements for running the hypervisor are quiet low.
Resource requirements: Unlike the requirements for the emulator, the overall resource requirements will be much higher. If you plan to virtualize 20 of your production servers on a single virtualization server, you will require a high level of resources. The actual amount of resources will depend on how much are actually in use. VMware has a sizing tool named Capacity Planner that monitors your servers for a period of time and calculates the size of your virtual servers hosting them based on the processor, disk, network, and memory resources actually in use.
Security requirements: When you grant a user access to your virtual host, you are potentially giving that user access to all of the guest machines on that server. Special care must be used to ensure that users only have access to the required guest machines.
Network requirements: When working with a virtual server, some thought should be given to the amount of data guests will generate. If each guest can generate 500 Mbps of data, and you plan to run ten guests on the host, you would need sufficient network resources to accommodate 5 Gbps of network activity. With guest machines acting as virtual routers and firewalls, you are able to create an entire network of servers on a single virtual host, including VLAN segments and all of the resources you would expect on a network.

By using virtual computers, you are able to create an entire test lab of servers and workstations on a single computer. While this is possible, remember that each virtual computer you start up is going to attempt to use resources of the host to perform operations. So if I have a computer with 8GB of RAM and I start up three virtual computers, each using all of an allocated 2GB of RAM, I only have 2GB of RAM for operations on my computer. Many hypervisors allow me to oversubscribe, so I could start up six computers, each with 2GB of RAM, on my 8GB computer. But as you can guess, if they all try to use all their memory, my host computer will start paging a substantial amount of data to the hard drive, slowing all of the virtual computers. This issue of resources is not only true about RAM but also CPU cycles, disk access, and network access. Oversubscribing is possible, but you should avoid it if you want good performance.

Going to the Cloud

Cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers over the Internet to store and access data rather than a local hard drive. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines cloud computing as a computing model that adheres to the following five principles:

On demand service: With traditional servers, when users decide they need an additional server, it can take weeks or months to select the new hardware, get approval to purchase it, and get it shipped in, racked, set up, the OS installed, and prepared to host the application that was intended for it. On demand means that once you decide you need another server, you can go to the web portal, and with a few clicks and a short wait, your server is ready for the application to be installed.
Rapid elasticity: Elasticity refers to the ability of the server to expand or contract based on need. For example, if you run a website that sells concert tickets, rapid elasticity is needed on days when new concerts are added for sale. If your web application normally runs one instance and supports 1,000 concurrent sales transactions, it will be overwhelmed when the latest hot concert tickets start selling and 50,000 users try to buy tickets at the same time. With elasticity, you can set a threshold so that when 80% of the connections are open, the cloud service will start up one or two more instances of the website. As the total number of connections start to fall as all of the tickets are sold, the additional instances of the website will be shut down and destroyed or de-provisioned. You will only pay for the additional instances when they are provisioned and running.
Resource pooling: With resource pooling, the cloud provider pools resources within its environment, so that several clients are running virtual machines and websites on the same server. Clients are segregated from each other, but they may be running on common servers and using the same storage, network switches, and routers. Resource pooling enables rapid elasticity between clients, such as the concert ticket website that may need to expand resources when the next hot concert comes to town, and the florist, who may need extra resources around Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Resource pooling is more of a feature that benefits the cloud services provider rather than the consumer of the services.
Measured service: A measured service is a service that is monitored and measured against a set of standards, which are defined in a service contract. The information in the measured service is used for resource management, resource planning, and billing.
Broad network access: To be a worldwide provider of cloud services, a company needs to provide access to resources and have resources around the world. This is often done by providing datacenters in different areas of the country or the world, and by providing network access points in a wider variety of locations.

You will find that all major providers of cloud computing solutions include these five components.

Evaluating private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, and community cloud

Take a look at Figure 2-8 and focus on the first column of boxes. This column represents all of the layers that make up a server (or group of servers) hosting an application. From the bottom up, resources are broken into three main layers, or categories:

Physical infrastructure: The physical side of the equation includes switches, network cards, storage or disks, physical servers hosting those components, and a virtualization hypervisor. Many large organizations have made the move from physical servers hosting applications to virtual servers running the actual software. In the end, this whole category refers to the hardware that is sitting in a server rack to run an application.
OS and middleware: When hosting a traditional piece of software, there are often two layers: one that the client sees and one that contains managing software or business logic. This includes the OS or may start above the OS level. For our purposes today we are going to place the OS in this group. Software runtime components are also included in this level. An example of this is a SQL database server. If you are an accounting server, all of the data and many of the calculating components would be hosted on the SQL server, which the users of the software never deal with directly.
Application: The application layer contains the application and the application data. These are the things that the user of the application would see, be aware of, and know very well.

FIGURE 2-8: A comparison of cloud services and management responsibility.

These layers make up most server-based applications in a corporate environment. These applications run such business operations as production scheduling; assembly lines; budgeting, payroll, and enterprise accounting systems; customer relations and tracking systems; sales; and invoicing. These systems are typically run by the internal IT department, and the cost of purchasing and operating the equipment is either absorbed as overhead or charged back to the department using the equipment.

When you set up a method to separate department services onto different virtual servers and provide the departments easy methods of provisioning their own virtual servers, web applications, and other resources, you have created a cloud-like environment — a private cloud — inside your own private network. There is nothing too crazy about a private cloud; in fact, some companies may be providing it without using the name.

The public cloud by comparison moves the computing infrastructure outside of your private network and to a public cloud service provider, or in some cases to a smaller company that provides the hosting of your virtual infrastructure. (The following section covers the three main public cloud offerings in more detail.)

So you have seen private cloud and will see public cloud; so where does a hybrid cloud fit into the picture? If you choose to move only some of your infrastructure and services to a public cloud provider, you are in a hybrid state, with both public and private clouds supporting part of your services. For some organizations, a hybrid cloud is an end state, while for others it is a transition state between private cloud and public cloud.

The final cloud option is a community cloud, which refers to a cloud-services solution set up by a group of organizations. Unlike setting up their own private cloud solution, which may be too large for them individually, the cost of the cloud infrastructure is shared among all members of the community. Usually these organizations already have a close working relationship and common security goals or needs, which makes sharing the infrastructure easier.

Sorting out public cloud offerings

Figure 2-8 shown earlier illustrates the components that make up any server-based solution, from the network to the servers to the databases to the front-end applications and their data. These components are the same whether you are managing the whole show, or whether you have someone else managing it. But there may come a time when you feel it is easier and cheaper to get someone else to manage those components. The following sections outline three public cloud offerings.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a form of cloud computing that uses virtual machines managed by someone else, like Microsoft Azure. This means that you choose a level of virtual machine you would like, and the IaaS provider will provision or create and prepare it for you. Your virtual machine files need to be stored someplace and needs some network connectivity, so prior to choosing your machine, you should create a storage location (a few menu clicks) and set up a virtual network (a few more menu clicks). If you do not set up these items, they will be automatically created for you by your IaaS provider, but there may be some restrictions you do not want.

So in the end, you will have a virtual machine (VM) running on a Microsoft Hyper-V server hosted in a remote Microsoft datacenter. You can now use Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to connect to your new server and do whatever you need to have your required software to function. Microsoft takes care of the host that is running your VM and relocates the VM to a different host when the current one needs maintenance or needs to be rebooted. It also takes care of your storage and networking needs, so again you have no management responsibility. You are only responsible for what needs to be on the server console, such as patching, defragmenting the disks, and other actions you would take care of at the OS level.

There is a cost for this service, which will vary depending on whom you use for your cloud provider. Microsoft will charge you a little bit for the memory and process cycles you are using when your VM is running, a little bit for the amount of storage you are using, a little bit for any data you transfer out of the server (but not into the server), and a little bit for any licensed software it provides. For example, if you choose a Microsoft SQL server from the catalog of pre-built VMs, you will pay a usage fee for the Windows OS and for the Microsoft SQL server, but if you choose an empty VM and install your own licensed Windows OS and Microsoft SQL server software, your usage costs will be less.

Now I like food, so to put this in food terms, if I am going to make a turkey dinner, I can go buy the turkey, carrots, potatoes, and so on, and bring it all home and cook it. One year my stove stopped working so I brought my ingredients to my sister-in-law’s house to use her stove — her infrastructure with my food. After cooking on her infrastructure, I was able to take my meal home and eat at my table. The end result was I still got turkey dinner at Thanksgiving, but I did not have to worry about electricity, repairs to the stove, and eventual replacement of the stove. This is IaaS: the use of someone else’s infrastructure to support your server.

IaaS is one area where you will see a lot of Hybrid Cloud implementation, as you are able to create synced copy of your Active Directory user accounts in the cloud, or you may want to create a site-to-site Virtual Private Network (VPN) to your cloud based servers, making them an extension of your corporate network.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Another public cloud offering is Platform as a Service (PaaS). With PaaS, you take this movement of responsibility one step further than IaaS: You give up detailed access to the OS and its management. Now you could create a server using IaaS, install IIS, .Net, a simple database to store user settings, and install your web-based application or service on top of that, but if you are primarily a web-developer or an overworked IT administrator, that takes time and requires ongoing maintenance. PaaS is the solution. When you go to your cloud provider, perhaps Microsoft Azure, you can choose to create an App Service or Cloud Service, both of which are web-based applications. By choosing this option, you have now removed the server administration work from maintaining this application. You no longer need to patch the server, manage the drives, or perform other mundane tasks; you only need to worry about your application. Your costs again vary by the size or power of the server that hosts your web application, but you no longer need to worry about the details of server management.

In terms of my turkey dinner, with PaaS, I choose to buy a prepared and already stuffed turkey and premade salad, potatoes, and vegetables. I return to my sister-in-law’s house to heat the meal, so I still do not have to worry about the infrastructure. In the end, I return to my house to eat and clean my dishes.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

The third public cloud offering is Software as a Service (SaaS), which takes software and server management, or lack of management, one step further. SaaS is a software licensing and delivery model. With SaaS you are only concerned with what the software can do for you, and not how it does it.

One example of SaaS in action is using external email through Microsoft Office 365 or Google Apps. In this case, I can still use my email client or a web interface to get my mail. I don’t have to worry about Microsoft Exchange servers, managing and patching the server OS, high-availability options, hardware replacement, or anything else involved in managing a Microsoft Exchange server farm. Another example is using a contact management solution through SalesForce, which involves no infrastructure on your end. Simply by filling out a few web pages you can be running a contact management server completely managed by someone else in the cloud.

To continue the food example, I now choose a nice restaurant and go out for turkey dinner with all the fixings. It is not exactly like the dinner I would cook, but I did not have to buy and prepare the food, buy an oven to cook it in and plates to serve it on, or clean everything up after the fact.

1. Phil is using a Windows 7 computer and has run into a problem. He has called you on the phone and has asked for you to open a Remote Assistance connection to his computer to walk him through the solution. What is the first step that you must take?

(A) Open the Remote Desktop Connections program.

(B) Ask Phil to choose Help and Support from the Start menu.

(C) Ask Phil to run geninvite.exe from Start ⇒ Run.

(D) Open the Remote Assistance program on your computer, File ⇒ Connect to computer, and choose Phil’s computer.

2. You have been asked to explain virtual memory to an executive in your company. You tell him that virtual memory is composed of which of the following? (Choose all that apply.)

box (A) Physical memory

box (B) Extended memory

box (C) Hard drive space

box (D) Compressed memory

3. Bill is looking to see whether he has Service Pack 1 installed for Windows 7. He went to the System Information Tool located at Start ⇒ All Programs ⇒ Accessories ⇒ System Tools. Is there a quicker way he could have found out this information?

(A) He could have used the Run command to run systemtool.exe.

(B) He could have right-clicked My Computer on the desktop, or from the Start menu, and chosen Properties.

(C) He could have used the command line tool ver from any command prompt.

(D) There are no other locations in the OS where this information can be displayed.

4. Your computer has just suffered from a Stop event (also known as the Blue Screen of Death). You are trying to decide what has caused the error. What is the most likely possibility?

(A) A multimedia application

(B) A background application

(C) A network error

(D) A system device driver

5. Bill is setting up a computer that will be used to boot into several different operating systems. He would like to have one partition used for sharing or transferring data between the OSes. What file system should he use?

(A) FAT

(B) FAT32

(C) NTFS

(D) Reiser FS

6. What tool combines all Windows configuration and management tools into one place?

(A) Computer Management

(B) Administrative Tools

(C) Microsoft Management Console

(D) Administrative Command Interface

7. What is the main protocol that is used by both Remote Desktop Connection and Remote Assistance?

(A) Dec/Net

(B) 802.11g

(C) SNMP

(D) RDP

8. You have been asked to evaluate virtualization solutions to be deployed in your corporate datacenter. Which one of the following is a solution you may consider?

(A) Citrix XenApp

(B) Microsoft Hyper-V

(C) VMWare Workstation

(D) Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection

9. The options on the left are the available components in an IaaS solution. Fill in the components in their correct location in the IaaS server model. Each choice will be used only once.