Lesson 1

In order to provide better security when transferring data over a network, Windows provides enhancements to the cryptographic algorithms used to obfuscate data. Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft. Introduced on April 24, 2003 as the successor to Windows Server, it is considered by Microsoft to be the cornerstone of their Windows Server System line of business server products.
According to Microsoft, Windows Server 2003 is more scalable and delivers better performance than its predecessor, Windows 2000
If you are migrating or upgrading from a Windows 2000 environment, you need to know that the ipv6.exe command-line utility is no longer supported in Windows Server 2003. All IPv6 configuration in Windows Server 2003 takes place using the netsh utility.

If you choose to use virtualization software, you need only one physical computer to perform the exercises in this book. That physical host computer must meet the following minimum hardware requirements:

1. x64-based processor that includes both hardware-assisted virtualization (AMD-V or Intel VT) and hardware data execution protection. (On AMD systems, the data execution protection feature is called the No Execute or NX bit. On Intel systems, this feature is called the Execute Disable or XD bit.) These features must also be enabled in the BIOS. (Note: You can run Windows Virtual PC without Intel-VT or AMD-V.) If you want to use Hyper-V on Windows 8, you need a processor that supports Second Level Address Translation (SLAT).
2. 8 GB of RAM (more is recommended).
3. 80 GB of available hard disk space.
4. Internet connectivity.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) and virtualization are both significant technologies in the realm of computing and networking, but they have different origins and timelines of popularity. Virtualization technology, in its modern form, became popular in the early 2000s, though its roots can be traced back to the 1960s with the development of time-sharing systems on mainframes. VMware, one of the pioneers in making virtualization popular for x86 architecture, was founded in 1998, and its first product, VMware Workstation, was released in 1999. This period marked the beginning of widespread adoption of virtualization technology in enterprise environments, particularly for server consolidation and more efficient utilization of hardware resources. Software Defined Networking (SDN)^[1], on the other hand, emerged as a concept later. The term "SDN" was coined around 2009, with significant academic and industry interest sparked by the Clean Slate Program at Stanford University and the subsequent formation of the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) in 2011. SDN gained popularity as a way to make networks more flexible, programmable, and efficient by decoupling the control plane (the part of the network that decides where traffic is sent) from the data plane (the part of the network that actually sends packets to their destinations).
Given this, it can be said that SDN emerged after virtualization became popular. Virtualization paved the way for more dynamic and flexible use of computing resources, which in turn set the stage for innovations in networking, like SDN, that seek to provide similar flexibility and efficiency improvements.

[1]Software Defined Networking (SDN): Software-Defined Networking (SDN) separates the control plane (network intelligence) from the data plane (data forwarding) for programmable network management.