Requirements and Predeployment Pointers

Before testing and deploying DAC, you need to keep a few pointers in mind. While Microsoft touts DAC as the saving grace for many IT woes, there are problems that can still crop up with deploying DAC.

The biggest caveat is that DAC works only on Server 2012, Windows 8, and Windows RT (the tablet OEM version of Windows 8) clients. Of course, most Windows shops already have servers, Active Directory, NTFS permissions, and their entire Windows ecosystem in place. So what to do?

The expectation is that most infrastructures will add in perhaps a Windows Server 2012 domain controller and some Server 2012 file servers. This will enable use of user claims and other components of DAC within a current Windows environment. These server boxes don’t even have to be physical servers; DAC can be deployed on virtual machines.