Onboarding Windows Server
So far, you’ve learned how to onboard Windows clients. Now, we’ll explore the server options. As with clients, how we onboard differs by OS due to support reasons and out-of-the-box feature availability.
Supported platforms are the first thing to note. You can onboard Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2022. This includes the Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) releases from 1803, for which you should follow the processes for Windows Server 2019.
Although onboarding methods for servers are largely like their client sibling versions —with manual scripts, Group Policy, and Configuration Manager still present — you will learn about the significant advantages Windows Server 2012 R2 now has over Windows 8.1, and how Windows Server 2016 follows the same onboarding method as Windows Server 2012 R2, despite having Microsoft Defender Antivirus built in.
There are also...