Overview:
This walk through will walk you through the basic setup and configuration of Windows Server 2016 Standard.  In this walk through I won’t be covering any roles or features, I will just be going from bare metal server/VM to a point where you are ready to install any software onto the server.

Prerequisites:
Build a Server/VM with at least the minimum specs from Microsoft.  I never build my servers with the minimum specs because it would be very under power for most tasks. Here are the specs I use for most servers unless the minimum specs for the software I am running are higher then this:

• 4 cores (2 cores per socket)
• 4GB of RAM
• 80GB Hard Drive for the OS Drive
• 1 Network Connection

Installing:

1. Boot from the install image (Use Rufus to create a boot USB, burn a disk or PXE Network Boot to a WDS Server).
2. Select your Language and Keyboard.
3. Unless you really need Data Center Edition, Standard Edition will be fine for most installs.
4. Select the hard drive you want to install the OS.
5. Wait for Windows to be installed and reboot.
6. Select your Region settings.
7. Accept the License Terms.
8. Enter a Password for the Local Administrator Account.

OS Setup:

1. Login to the Local Administrator Account.
2. If you are running the server inside a VM, install the Tools now.
3. Reboot.
4. Login to the Local Administrator Account.
5. Once the Server Manager launches, click on “Local Server” on the Left Panel.
6. Click on “Server Name” and change it to something that fits your naming convention.
7. Reboot.
8. Login to the Local Administrator Account.
9. Once the Server Manager launches, click on “Local Server” on the Left Panel.
10. Click on “Ethernet Adapter” and set the IPv4 address you want the server to use.
11. Disable IPv6.
12. Click on “Domain” and join the server to your Domain.
13. Reboot.
14. Login to your Active Directory Server and move the newly added server to the Organization Unit you want the server to be in.
15. Back on your new server, login to the Local Administrator Account.
16. Launch a Command Prompt.
17. Run “gpupdate /force”.
18. Reboot.
19. Login to the Local Administrator Account.
20. Once the Server Manager launches, click on “Local Server” on the Left Panel.
21. Click on “Remote Desktop” and then select “Allow remote connections to this computer”.
22. Click “OK” to confirm.
23. Enable Jumbo Packets if your network supports it.
24. Click on “Product ID” and activate your OS product key.
25. Click on “Windows Update” and install all updates for the OS.
26. Reboot.

At this point, the process varies.  If I am working in a VM, I like to shutdown the server and take a “Clean” snapshot of the whole VM so I have something to easily fall back to if I screw anything up with the software install.
Then I move on to deploying any software, roles or features for the reason I created the server.