Microsoft just released Windows Server 2012 R2 (18 October 2013). In this article, I’m going to describe which changes are available in this release compared to the first Windows 2012 release for the Remote Desktop Services (RDS)/Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). This topic contains only brief information about Windows Server 2012 R2 Hosting, if you want to be more familiar with Windows Server 2012 R2, you should try HostForLife.eu.

Installation

Logically we need to start the installation of the RDS components. Comparing this with Windows 2013 there are actually not anything changed. The possibility to install RDS using the specific Remote Desktop Services Installation is still available, followed by the two same installation methodologies: a standard deployment to divide the different RDS roles over several servers and the Quick Start deployment where the roles are installed on one server. Using the RDS installation method logically also the question to deploy a virtual machine-based desktop deployment or session-based desktop deployment is still asked. Just as in Windows 2012 it will install a VDI infrastructure the Remote Desktop Virtualization Host or the formerly known as Terminal Server based infrastructure.

It is also still possible to use the role-based installation, also here no changes comparing to Windows Server 2012.

Which is actually new it the possibility to install the RD Connection Broker role on a Domain Controller server. Personally I only would use this for demo environments or really small infrastructures. Also there is possibility to in-place upgrade of a RD Session Host to 2012 RS (from the current 2012 version).

Configuration

Also on this part I can be really quick, there are not any noticeable changes made to the configuration part. It is fully comparable with the configuration possibilities in Windows 2012; I don’t see anything new, also no things are removed. There are also no changes visible to the User Profile Disk feature.

Also making changes to the RDWeb Access is still done via the same way (edit the web.config file).

Is there something new?

You could think is there something new within this R2 release for Remote Desktop Services. There are definitely changes/new features, but most they are based on the user experience. Many improvements are difficult to shown in article based review. I will describe the new features, my thoughts about those new features and where possible show the features.

Improved RemoteApp Behaviour

Although this looks like a small step for the user experiences this is in my opinion a big step. The improved behavior is shown at two ways. The first one is when you are dragging the Remote App to another location on the desktop the complete application still will be shown, while previous versions only showed the frame of the application. Secondly a full preview thumbmail is shown when hovering over the app in the taskbar, just as applications directly available on the client. In previous versions only a standard icon of the application was shown. Also there is now full support for transparent windows for RemoteApps and Aero peek, again creating the same view as local applications.

Quick Reconnect

When using the Remote and Desktop Connections (RADC) in Windows Server 2012 it could take a while to reconnect to all RemoteApps. Microsoft claims that this process is improved and is now around 5 seconds to fully reconnect. Also network loss detection has been improved with a more intuitive reconnect phase. Logically this are good improvements for a better user experience.

Codec Improvements

Also the codecs are improved to further reduce the bandwidth for non-video content including the possibility to offload all progressive decode processing to AVC/H.2.64 hardware available in the client. Also DirectX 11 is now supported by extending the ability to virtualize a GPU on a Hyper-V host.

RemoteApp within a Remote Desktop Session

Although this was already available in Windows 2012 itself, it is not known a lot so I thought it was a good idea to mentSion it once more. It is now possible/supported to start a Remote Desktop session and start within this session a RemoteApp (form another server). This options creates the possibility to use the silo concept with Microsoft RDS separating a specific (set of) application(s) on specific servers for performance, incompatibility and/or security reasons.

Dynamically monitor/resolution changes

Within Windows 2012 R2 it is now possible to change the amount of monitors during the RD session or the view of screen (for example on a Surface) the session will automatically resize according the change made without a reconnection. I think this is a big step forward and end users will love this, especially with tablets in mind where the user switches often from horizontal to the vertical view and vice versa.

Support for ClickOnce Applications

Although just a view supplier use this kind of installation technique and is has some challenges within managed user profile environments it a good thing that ClickOnce applications can be offered as a RemoteApp within Windows Servers 2012 R2. Above improvements are mostly based on the user experience. There are also some changes made from a technical or administrative viewpoint.

Online Data Duplication

Probably the biggest announcement for RDS made for Windows Server 2012R2. Online Data Deplucation can achieve a big reduction on storage capacity requirements (Microsoft claims up to 90%) for personal VDI machines. As it looks like that personal VDI machines are the most used deployment technique for VDI infrastructures Microsoft arranges that one of the biggest challenges becomes a smaller challenge.

Shadowing is back

In Windows 2012 Microsoft removed the RD Shadowing option completely, while in Windows 2008 (R2) the functionally was already reduces. Although I see that most customers are now moving to Remote Assistance Microsoft is re-introducing the shadowing functionality again. Microsoft is stating that it is supporting both single as multiple monitors, but it’s unclear to me if the situation is the same as in Windows 2008R2 where it was needed that both the user as the support team should have the same monitor amount. Unfortunate I could not test this is my demo environment, anyone with experiences and would like to share those let me know (so I can add it the article).

Conclusion: To upgrade or not to upgrade

Windows Server 2012R2 Remote Desktop Services brings in my opinion several new features and improvements that are a real added value. But should you upgrade to this R2 release. It depends on your current situation. If you are still on Windows 2008R2 or lower, I think this is a good moment to consider upgrading to the latest platform. If you are still using a 32bit edition the 64bit challenge still apply and should not be forgotten. If you are running Windows Server 2012 it depends on the current end-user satisfaction. If they do not complain about the parts that are now improved I don’t think an upgrade is necessary. A different situation if you are using personal VDI machine and can use the online data duplication feature I think upgrading to Windows Server 2012 R2 is almost a must. Summarized R2 offers several good new features and improvements.

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Windows Server 2012 R2 brings a host of new features that greatly enhance the functionality of the operating system. Many of these improvements expand on existing capabilities of Windows Server 2012 R2. You can try the features described below, on Windows Server 2012 R2 Italy Hosting.On Windows Server 2012 R2 hosted by HostForLIFE.eu, you have new and improved features that deliver extremely high levels of uptime and continuous server availability. The platform also includes greater management efficiency. This simplifies and automates the deployment and virtualization of major workloads. Greater automation means server deployments are faster and upgrades are now even simpler.

-Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2 will ship at the same time with full feature support.

-Tiered Storage Spaces provides greater performance and scalability. Allows a mix of SSD and HDD in a single space and the storage spaces engine automatically moves the hot blocks to the SSD from the HDD via the in-box tiering technology. The ability to size the SSD and HDD tiers separately is available. It's possible to pin important files to the SSD tier.

-Ability to graphically create a three-way mirrored virtual disk on a Storage Space.

-Site-to-site VPN Gateway.

-In-box iSCSI target now leverages VHDX, allowing larger LUNs.

-Dynamic NIC Teaming allows more granular balancing based on flowlets, enabling best performance and utilization of available resources.

-IPAM support for virtualized environments, providing a consistent IP management experience.

-New PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) extensions as part of Windows PowerShell 4, which helps ensure the components in the data center have the correct configuration.

-Work folders enable users to have access to all their data by replicating all user data to corporate file servers then back out to other devices. Data is also encrypted and if a user device is un-enrolled from management the data corporate data is removed.

-CIM and DMTF standards-based, enabling great consistent management across all types of devices.

Now that Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 is available, the same is true for Windows PowerShell 3.0 since it is included in the operating system. Windows PowerShell will also be available for down level operating systems (Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2) shortly, as part of the Windows Management Framework (WMF). In addition to PowerShell, new versions of Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and Windows Remote Management (WinRM) is included in the WMF.

What is new?

PowerShell 2.0 brought a whole set of new features including background jobs, remoting and the PowerShell ISE. In PowerShell 3.0 there have been made a great number to these features as well as many new ones. I will go through some of the major news:

Workflows – Based on the Windows Workflow Foundation the PowerShell team have brought workflows into PowerShell. A workflow is a sequence of automated steps or so called activities which performs tasks or receives data from managed devices. This makes it possible for IT Professionals to perform automated tasks against a wide variety of devices, for example software installation. A practical example is the installation and configuration of a Windows Server Failover Cluster, where installation and configuration can be orchestrated from a workflow. Among the feature set of a workflow is the ability to suspend and resume execution, no matter if the reason is planned or a temporary network outage. You can see examples and read more about this feature in this article on the PowerShell team blog.

Enhancements to PowerShell Remoting - Robust sessions is a new feature in PowerShell Remoting which makes it possible for a PowerShell Remoting session, a so-called “PSSession”, to survive a temporary network outage. Delegated administration is another new feature in remoting, where a RunAsAccount can be configured on a remoting endpoint. This makes it possible to delegate tasks to for example helpdesk user, without needing to delegate tasks on the backbone application itself.

Simplified syntax – Especially for beginners, the syntax for various parts of PowerShell might be hard to remember and understand. An example of this is the syntax for the –FilterScript parameter of Where-Object and the –Process parameter of Foreach-Object, which both accepts a so-called script block. In version 1.0 and 2.0 of PowerShell we had to use the $_.propertyname syntax inside this scriptblock. For example Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status –eq ‘Running’}. In version 3.0, this still works, but there is an alternate more user friendly syntax as well: Get-Service | Where-Object Status –eq ‘Running’. Here we can see that we did not have to use the curly brackets or the $_. syntax. You should note that you have to use the existing syntax if you are doing more than one comparison, however, this makes it much easier for beginners who are likely to do a single comparison in the beginning. Also experienced users will enjoy this feature since it requires less typing.

More user friendly – A lot of enhancements have been made to make PowerShell more user friendly. A common mistake for new users is not loading the required module for the cmdlet they want to run. For example, if you run Get-ADUser without first running Import-Module ActiveDirectory, you would get an error message stating that Get-ADUser is not recognized. In PowerShell 3.0 there is a new feature called module autoloading, which automatically loads the required module for the cmdlet which is being run. Another features in terms of user friendliness is the new cmdlet Show-Command, as well as the Intellisense feature in PowerShell ISE. You can read more about these two features in this and this article on the PowerShell team blog.

Windows PowerShell Web Service – makes it possible to expose a set of PowerShell cmdlets as a Restful Endpoint via OData (Open Data Protocol). This makes it possible to run PowerShell cmdlets from both Windows and non-Windows devices. Note that this feature is more targeted against advanced users and developers.

Windows PowerShell Web Access – If you have used Microsoft Exchange Server`s webmail functionality, OWA, this feature will look familiar. The sign in page for PowerShell Web Access looks very similar to the OWA sign in page. When logged in, you will be presented with a PowerShell session. This makes it easy to use PowerShell both from a web browser on your computer as well as from mobile devices such as an Iphone or Windows Phone. Note that this feature requires Windows Server 2012. You can find instructions on how to configure this feature in this article on Microsoft TechNet.

Updateable help – Until PowerShell 3.0 the help files that is parsed when you are using the Get-Help cmdlet has been a part of the installation. Updating these files have not been possible, since rolling out help files through the channels for updating the operatingsystem (Windows Update, WSUS) could not be justified. Due to this reason, it was not possible for the PowerShell team to correct errors and enhance the help files after the product had shipped. To overcome this limitation, a new feature named updateable help has been added in version 3.0. There is a new cmdlet called Update-Help you can execute in order to update the help files. If you need to download the files in order to bring them over to a computer not connected to the internet you can use the Save-Help cmdlet. You can read more about updateable help in this article by PowerShell MVP Don Jones.

Microsoft Script Explorer – Technically this is not a part of PowerShell 3.0, but rather a standalone download released in the same timeframe as PowerShell 3.0. Using Script Explorer you can search for scripts and other resources on both Microsoft TechNet as well as 3rd party repositories and local UNC-paths, for example a company repository. Script Explorer can either be run as a standalone application or integrated into the PowerShell ISE as an add-on. By integrating it to the ISE you can copy scripts you find directly in to the editor. Script Explorer will also support Windows PowerShell 2.0.

In addition to the above mentioned features, there has been made a great number of bug fixes and enhancements based on feedback from Microsoft Connect.