TechNet Webcast: Active Directory Domain Services in Windows Sever 2008 R2 Technical Overview

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Thank you to everyone who attended the webcast I delivered on July 2.  We chatted about some of the new AD features in R2.  You can watch the replay of the webcast here:

Active Directory Domain Services in Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Overview 

I also want to thank Kevin Remde and Keith Combs for helping out with all the questions we had from the webcast.  Here are the list of questions from the live webcast:

Question: What virtual machine programs can run an x64 bit version of Windows Server 2008 R2?
Answer: Hyper-V supports 64-bit guests

Question: Is the Active Directory Administrative Center going to be extendable? Can we create our own tasks or panes using Powershell or Visual Studio?
Answer: Yes.

Question: You said the AD Admin Center is "customizable". What does that mean? Can I make changes to the GUI (add fields, change wording, add workflow, etc)?
Answer: It means that the API for the console is published so that you can extend it - add functionality to it. Or you can build your own and use PowerShell (like this admin console does) to do AD work.

Question: Can 2003 and 2008 DC’s coexist for a period of time?
Answer: You can certainly co-exist very nicely.

Question: What virtual machine programs can run from a 32 bit windows xp machine that can host a x64 bit version of windows server 2008 r2?
Answer: VMWare Workstation or Sun VirtualBox, but I haven't actually tried them on XP. Only Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Question: Can the Administrative Center be run on our Vista desktop? Is it only available with 2008 R2 release or can it be used on 2003/2008?
Answer: It is available as part of the new RSAT tools for Windows 7. I'm not sure if it will be in the Windows Vista SP1 version.

Question: Can also DC200 coexist with DC 2008 ?
Answer: Unfortunately there is no supported path for Windows Server 2000 to Windows Server 2008. Take a look here for more information:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc755199(WS.10).aspx#BKMK_Requirements

Question: Will there be AD Recycle bin Wizards?
Answer: Hopefully. Right now it's done through PowerShell.

Question: Can you elaborate on what possible problems would result from enabling the recycle bin that would cause me to rethink turning it on, since the operation is irreversible?
Answer: Space. The recycle bin is reserving space for those deleted items. It will eventually clear them out (tombstone period), but until then they are taking up space that you might otherwise want. That's the only reason I know of (and it's rarely a problem these days).

Question: If someone deleted an OU with objects in the OU, will the objects in the OU also be restored from the recycle bin?
Answer: No. You would restore them individually. But there is a cool way to do that in PowerShell by looking at information about the "original parent" of the object, and let PowerShell, for example, restore all of the computers and users that were in that OU. Here's a Screencast, Kevin Remde did: https://edge.technet.com/Media/Active-Directory-Enhancements-Windows-Server-2008-R2-Demo-Screencast-4-of-4/

Question: Is the space that the recycle bin takes up configurable or limitable?
Answer: No, I don't see a way to limit the size. The lifetime (default is 180 days) is configurable, however through PowerShell.

Question: What are the "Additional AD Recycle Bin Tasks" :
Answer: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd392260(WS.10).aspx

Question: Can you upgrade a 2003 AD server running on 32-bit to 2008 R2 32-bit?
Answer: No. There is no R2 32-bit. This is the first version of Windows Server that does not come in a 32-bit version. You can, however, easily migrate roles and role services over to new servers with provided tools.

Question: When is the release date scheduled for R2?
Answer: October 22, 2009

Question: Where is the Offline Domain Join Step-by-Step Guide:
Answer: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd392267(WS.10).aspx

Question: Will there be released updates to SCOM and SCCM - for handling windows 2008 R2 deployment and management - before the release or must we wait for fx. the SCOM Management Pack 2-3 months ?
Answer: R2 is a prerequisite and those teams will need at least 60-90 days for final testing before they release

Question: Can we use a DC 2K8 R2 into 2003 Domain?
Answer: yes