Welcome to the comprehensive, production-grade practical engineering portal for Server Operating System - I (SOS-I). This framework provides an end-to-end automation architecture, complete theoretical foundation, and consolidated evaluation suite covering Windows Server 2012 R2 hosted inside a Microsoft Hyper-V Generation-2 UEFI virtualization environment on Windows 11 Pro.

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Lab Compliance Verified (100% Pass) All 5 practical blocks are engineered with automated verification scripts. You can run the entire test suite in seconds using the automated runner script or test each service individually.

🏛 Architectural Overview & Network Topology

The entire laboratory operates over an isolated Internal Virtual Switch (LabSwitch-Internal) on a Windows 11 Pro host. This decouples all internal server services (DNS, Web, DHCP, FTP, iSCSI SAN, and Backups) from external Wi-Fi networks while enabling host-to-guest administrative routing over the 192.168.10.0/24 subnet.

Network Subnet & Node Topology (192.168.10.0/24)

Gen-2 UEFI Isolated Stack
🖥 Host Hypervisor (Win 11)
  • • Switch: LabSwitch-Internal
  • • Host IP: 192.168.10.1 / 24
  • • Hypervisor: Type-1 Bare-Metal
  • • NAT Gateway: Host Routing
⚡ Primary Node (SRV-01)
  • • OS: Server 2012 R2 Gen-2
  • • Static IP: 192.168.10.10 / 24
  • • vCPUs: 2 | Dynamic RAM: 1-4 GB
  • • Boot: SCSI Controller UEFI
🗄 Storage Layer (Blocks 1 & 2)
  • • Storage Pool: 3x 10GB Disks
  • • Mirror VDisk: E: DATA-POOL
  • • iSCSI SAN Target: TCP 3260
  • • LUN01 Volume: F: iSCSI-SAN
🌐 Network & Security (3, 4, 5)
  • • DNS: lab.local & PTR Zone
  • • IIS 8.5: Port 80, 8080, Host Header
  • • DHCP: 192.168.10.100-200 (Opts 3,6,15)
  • • FTP: Port 21 (PASV 50000-50100)
  • • Backup: wbadmin & SPI Firewall

🧱 The 5 Core Practical Curriculum Blocks

Explore the dedicated guides for each individual practical engineering block:

Block # Topic / Focus Area Key Technologies & Cmdlets Documentation Link
Block 1 Hyper-V Gen-2 & Storage Spaces New-StoragePool, New-VirtualDisk, 2-Way Mirror, Drive E: Block 1 Guide →
Block 2 Server Core, Nano Server & iSCSI SAN FS-iSCSITarget-Server, 5GB LUN .vhdx, IQN Mapping, Drive F: Block 2 Guide →
Block 3 Web Server (IIS 8.5), NLB & DNS Forward/Reverse Zones, Host Headers, portal.lab.local, NLB Cluster Block 3 Guide →
Block 4 IP Addressing, DHCP Scope & FTP DHCP DORA, Scope Options 003/006/015, IIS FTP Passive Mode Data Ports Block 4 Guide →
Block 5 Windows Backup & Advanced Firewall wbadmin Bare Metal Recovery, Stateful SPI Custom Inbound Rules Block 5 Guide →

⚡ Quick Start: Automated Host Deployment

To provision the entire lab environment from scratch on your Windows 11 host (including the internal virtual switch, Generation-2 VM with dynamic memory, directory structure, and ISO boot attachment), execute in an Elevated PowerShell Console: 

# Execute from elevated PowerShell on Windows 11 Pro host
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force

# Run host orchestrator deployment script
& ".\scripts\00_Host_Deploy_Lab.ps1"
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Senior SysAdmin Tip: Generation-2 UEFI Boot When `vmconnect.exe` launches the console, press any key immediately when prompted with "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD...". Gen-2 VMs use synthetic SCSI controllers that boot significantly faster than legacy Gen-1 IDE emulators.

📂 Repository Directory Structure

The project follows a clean enterprise modular structure:

Directory Hierarchy 
hyper-v/
├── README.md                                 # Master practical guide & reference manual
├── docs/
│   ├── THEORY_AND_CONCEPTS.md                # In-depth architectural theory & OS mechanics
│   ├── VIVA_VOICE_QUESTIONS.md               # 30+ Viva Voce questions with detailed answers
│   └── TROUBLESHOOTING_GUIDE.md              # Systematic triage matrix for common lab issues
├── scripts/
│   ├── 00_Host_Deploy_Lab.ps1                # Host master orchestrator (creates switch, VM, boots ISO)
│   ├── 01_Block1_HyperV_Storage/             # Storage Spaces, hot-plugs, and mirror volume (E:)
│   ├── 02_Block2_iSCSI/                      # iSCSI Target role, 5GB LUN, and initiator mount (F:)
│   ├── 03_Block3_IIS_DNS/                    # Static IP, DNS zones, multi-site host headers, NLB
│   ├── 04_Block4_DHCP_FTP/                   # DHCP Scope, Options 3/6/15, and IIS FTP Passive site
│   ├── 05_Block5_Backup_Firewall/            # wbadmin bare metal backup and Advanced Firewall SPI
│   └── Test-AllPracticals.ps1                # Master 10-point automated compliance runner
└── website/                                  # HrshForPPL UI/UX Multi-Page Web Portal System
💬 Discussion & Community Feedback 3 Comments
TS
Prof. Tejas Sir Yesterday
Excellent end-to-end automation guide. Make sure students pay special attention to the difference between Active and Passive FTP data channel connections and DHCP Scope Options 003, 006, and 015 during their viva evaluations.
RA
Rahul Admin 2 days ago
The Test-AllPracticals.ps1 script saved so much time during the final lab verification check. It confirmed all 10 services were responding on port 80, 53, 3260, 21, and 67 without manual clicking!