Post Installation Optimization for Server 2016

Now that that work is done before you do any thing to the software you need to make an image of the system drive. Why you ask? Because we are human and as a human we make mistakes, with the newer Operating Systems a minor mistake in say Windows NT 4 would be easy to rectify, not so with the newer versions.

Now on to post installation optimization

One of the things you have to be careful with is services. In modern Microsoft operating systems the services are tied together, before disabling any services check the dependencies. If you are going to turn off the dependencies then turning off the main service may be feasible. At this time I am still compiling a list of "safe" to turn off services. You should also go into the Group Policy and find the corresponding policy for the service - that is if it has one - and disable it also. A hacker could turn on a disabled service with a small amount of code and if the service has a port associated with it; also open that port.

Post installation optimization best practices

One of the first things I do is move the pagefile from the system drive to another drive, preferably another physical disk. If this isn't possible (limited space for a second hard / SSD drive, I use a lot of laptops for my servers) then a second partition will help with the disk access time to the system drive.

Because this will require a restart I do the environmental paths, if you know that there will be other applications installed that require adding the install directory to the path then I would do that now. I also move the "Temp" directory /folder to another drive (you may want to consider a RAM drive if you have spare memory for the  temp directory and the pagefile . (Even a large ram drive will fill up with junk, you will need to consider a restart on a schedule.)

Post installation optimization in a domain or a stand alone server

If this is a non domain server then I would create a second account, set the password, and add it to the Administrator's group. Then after the restart log on with the new account. First step after restart is to rename the Administrator id and set the password with complexity, this will assist your security in deterring those that would like to use your server for other purposes.

If this is a domain server you of course will have a user id that you can use to log on, if this isn't a Domain Controller then the original Administrator ID will remain. Reaming the Administrator to a common name through out the domain is a best practice. Another is only giving the password to a tech / Systems Admin when needed and that requires a high level sign off. And the password is changed frequently (possibly though a script) and only higher level System Administrators or Network Engineers have access to the password.

On a non-domain server you may want to change the Group Policies, there is a long list (gets longer each new version...) of policies you may want to disable. If you disable a policy a virus or most scripts can not over ride the disable.

Domain servers should have a machine and a user policy downloaded when the server is brought into the domain. A well thought out Group Policy will help keep your new server secure.

Post installation optimization last steps...

Newer server versions have less junk than the corresponding workstations however there seems to be a consciences at Microsoft that we need a xbox, or games, or what the headline on Bing is. It is your choice on deleting or disabling these programs, some take up a lot of memory and processor time. My last install was an upgrade and I needed to get this web site up and running so I didn't do my due diligence and see how much memory I gained back by shutting off Contana, Xbox, ect.

In a 12GB of ram and an i5 processor my memory usage is below 1.2 GB at idle, with IIS 10 running it is at 1.7 GB, I have watched while someone connected to the blog and didn't see any effect (it may drag a little when there are a lot more people using the blog) will have to monitor it closely; the main web site is pure html with out much over head for ASP or CGI.

Now I am ready for another image, remember your recovery is only as good as your last backup!

My next step will be to install IIS 10 - the fun never stops... :)