Introduction

There are many third-party tools available for performing functions like data backups and performance monitoring, and because these tools exist it is easy to automatically assume that they will do a better job than anything that comes in the operating system. Given that, we often categorize backups and monitoring into areas where we will have to spend extra money. I'm not trying to argue that every add-on tool for these functions is unnecessary, because they do certainly give benefit to the right kinds of companies. But for anyone willing to dig into Server 2012 R2 and discover what it can accomplish on its own accord, without extra add-ons, I think you will find that it meets the needs of many businesses.