Fellow desktop guys and gals - I know that the word “server” can illicit the faint obnoxious smell of an air of superiority. Server/network peeps were the untouchables of the IT world - they made a lot of money, they had an insane knowledge base on a specialized topic (AD, Exchange, Networking, etc), and most of all they were better than you; or at least that is what they thought.

These days when looking at IT as a cost center, you begin to see the emergence of the “GOAT” - the “Gerald of all Trades”. (I know, it’s Jack, but I really wanted to say GOAT and not have it relate to sports.)  The back office operations teams are now more than ever required to manage multiple systems on a smaller labor budget than they may have previously.  No longer do you have an Exchange guy and a Telephony gal, but one person to do both jobs.  What I find is that in today’s market an increasing number of desktop engineers are being required to manage their own servers.

What?!

Yep.  I’ve met a number of engineers who welcome this change and I’ve met engineers who were happy with the way things were.  What I can tell you is having a basic understanding of how servers are configured and managed (I’ll give you a hint - it’s NOT that much different than configuring desktops) is going to become increasingly important for you as the lines between “server gal” and “desktop guy” are blurred.  This series of posts is going to be designed to help you understand the basics of the server operating system (in most cases Server 2016 since it’s the latest) and the various ways we use these servers - from Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) to Remote Desktop Services (RDS).

I won’t be going in-depth into any one technology necessarily, but rather we’ll be taking a look at some of the basics that will make you a better engineer or architect at your company.  First on the list for the next post will be “Why You Should Have A Lab, And How To Build One.” Until then, comment below and let me know if there is any topic that you would like to see covered in the coming weeks.