News

Microsoft Will Enhance Windows Server 2016 Remote Management

• By Kurt Mackie
• 04/12/2017

Microsoft said it's working on a new remote management option for Windows Server 2016 users that will let them remotely manage the Server Core option of Windows Server 2016 without having to make a difficult deployment choice.

Recently, however, users had the option to simply switch between Server Core and GUI modes, as was possible with the Windows Server 2012 R2 product. However, Microsoft pulled that capability during the early development of Windows Server 2016. At the time, Microsoft had explained that it was giving back the GUI (which it had wanted to pull from Windows Server 2016), but in doing so, the flexibility to swap modes between Server Core and the GUI had to be sacrificed.

Now, Microsoft is promising some relief, perhaps, although not much detail was included in the company's recent announcement. Microsoft claimed that organizations wouldn't have a need to switch server modes with the coming remote management improvement.

"We are working on improvements to the remote management experience to make it easier to operate and manage Server Core without the need to switch back and forth," the announcement tersely explained.

Microsoft already has browser-based Server Management Tools for Windows Server 2016, which also work with Windows Server 2012/R2. Microsoft Technical Fellow Jeffrey Snover had previously described these tools as one way to manage the headless Nano Server component of Windows Server 2016, but they also work when managing Server Core. The tools offer IT pros some graphical management controls, instead of having to use the command-line interface.

Since Server Management Tools already exist, Microsoft's announcement may be implying that some other GUI-based management solution will be coming. Questions sent to Microsoft's public relations, though, didn't elicit a response at press time.