We know security is a top priority for you and your company. In the last few years we’ve seen an increased number of companies breached, information leaked and cybersecurity cases in the news. Clearly every organization needs to strengthen its security posture – but where do you start?
The answer is the Operating System! Windows Server 2016 brings new layers of security that will help you protect identities and privileged credentials, the virtualization fabric and virtual machines as well as the applications regardless of where you run them – on-premises or in the cloud.
Nano Server
Windows Server 2008 introduced the Server Core installation option, which represented a minimalist approach to Windows Server. The server systems don't need a heavy and potentially vulnerable graphical user interface (GUI).
Windows Server 2016 takes that idea one step further with the Nano Server installation option. Nano Server is an ultra-compact Windows Server version that not only includes no GUI, but also only the bare minimum operating system files, rendering the system's attack surface exceedingly small.
Nano Server can be managed locally, only in the most threadbare way, typically for initial setup. The following screenshot depicts the Nano Server Recovery Console.
Nano Server requires far less disk space, reduced patching and far fewer reboots than the full Windows Server 2016 installation option. Although Nano doesn't run all server roles, it can handle some workhorse scenarios such as Hyper-V hosting, IIS web hosting and Scale-Out File Server (SoFS).
