Windows Server 2012 R2 Setup

A lot of the settings needed in 2008 R2 are already in place. But there are also some changes, so I'm noting them down.

IN GENERAL
- Install as UEFI, not MBR. (Rufus GPT & FAT32).
- Install Drivers and Windows Updates.
- Check SSD OS Trim Function (fsutil, activated by default).

SERVERMANAGER.EXE (No Longer .MSC)
- Configure Server Name and Ethernet.
- Configure RDP and Set Up Users.
- Install the Windows Server Backup feature.
- Install the Network Load Balancing feature (Provides wbadmin.exe).
- Install the .NET Framework 3.5 feature (misc. software requires it).
- Install Hyper-V.

HYPER-V
Disabled host sharing of virtual switches in the manager.
Host and VM's will have separate and dedicated NIC's.

TSCONFIG.MSC - Is No More!
- Win+X > Computer Management > Users > Sessions
Set RDP timout and reconnection settings here.
- Remember GPEDIT.MSC settings for more secure RDP.

ADDITIONAL NOTES
Set up whatever which sparks an interest...
Such as...
- StableBit DrivePool & Scanner
- hMailServer
- Immunet
- Pulseway
- Optimize slow network speeds from LAN clients by disabling NIC offload engine(s) in its advanced settings:

IPv4 Checksum Offload
Large Send Offload V2 (ipvN)
TCP Checksum Offload (IPvN)
UDP Checksum Offload (IPvN)
VM Queues (may not exist)

Windows 10 as a Server
And just in case you want to run Windows 10 as a server (as I do for best graphic driver transcoding) then you can turn off automatic updates in gpedit.msc computer configuration area (if you have pro/ent) > admin templates > windows-components > windows updates. If you also want to permanently turn off defender, it's in the same area. Windows firewall is under windows settings > security settings > ... This will result in the security center being happy and not throw any red flags as you control it organization style.