Microsoft Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 is the most
advanced Windows Server operating system yet, designed to power the
next-generation of networks, applications, and Web services. With Windows
Server 2008 you can develop, deliver, and manage rich user experiences and
applications, provide a highly secure network infrastructure, and increase
technological efficiency and value within your organization.
Windows Server 2008 Product Documentation
Windows Server 2008 builds on the
success and strengths of its Windows Server predecessors while delivering
valuable new functionality and powerful improvements to the base operating
system. New Web tools, virtualization technologies, security enhancements, and
management utilities help save time, reduce costs, and provide a solid
foundation for your information technology (IT) infrastructure.
A Solid Foundation for Your Business
Windows Server 2008 provides a solid
foundation for all of your server workload and application requirements while
also being easy to deploy and manage. The all new Server Manager provides a
unified management console that simplifies and streamlines server setup,
configuration, and ongoing management. Windows PowerShell, a new command-line
shell, helps enable administrators to automate routine system administration
tasks across multiple servers. Windows Deployment Services provides a
simplified, highly secure means of rapidly deploying the operating system via
network-based installations. And Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering
wizards, and full Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) support plus consolidated
management of Network Load Balancing, make high availability easy to implement
even by IT generalists.
The new Server Core installation
option of Windows Server 2008 allows for installation of server roles with only
the necessary components and subsystems without a graphical user interface.
Fewer roles and features means minimizing disk and service footprints while
reducing attack surfaces. It also enables your IT staff to specialize according
to the server roles they need to support.
Virtualization Built-in
Windows Server Hyper-V, the
next-generation hypervisor-based server virtualization technology, allows you
to make the best use of your server hardware investments by consolidating
multiple server roles as separate virtual machines running on a single physical
machine. You can also efficiently run multiple operating systems - Windows,
Linux, and others – in parallel on a single server. With Hyper-V and simple
licensing policies, it's now easier than ever to take advantage of the cost
savings of virtualization.
Applications can also be efficiently
virtualized using Windows Server 2008 centralized application access
technologies. Terminal Services Gateway and Terminal Services RemoteApp allow
easy remote access to standard Windows-based programs from anywhere by running
them on a terminal server instead of directly on a client computer - without
the need for a complicated virtual private network (VPN).
Built for the Web
Windows Server 2008 comes with
Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS 7.0), a Web server and
security-enhanced, easy-to-manage platform for developing and reliably hosting
Web applications and services. A major enhancement to the Windows Web platform,
IIS 7.0 includes a componentized architecture for greater flexibility and
control. IIS 7.0 also provides simplified management, powerful diagnostic and
troubleshooting capabilities that save time, and comprehensive extensibility.
Internet Information Server IIS 7.0
together with the .NET Framework 3.0 provides a comprehensive platform for
building applications that connect users and data, enabling them to visualize,
share, and act on information. Additionally, IIS 7.0 plays a central role
in unifying Microsoft's Web platform technologies—ASP.NET, Windows
Communication Foundation Web services, and Windows SharePoint Services.
High Security
Windows Server 2008 is the most secure
Windows Server yet. The operating system has been hardened to help protect
against failure and several new technologies help prevent unauthorized
connections to your networks, servers, data, and user accounts. Network
Access Protection (NAP) helps ensure that computers that try to connect to your
network comply with your organization's security policy. Technology integration
and several enhancements make Active Directory services a potent unified and
integrated Identity and Access (IDA) solution. And Read-Only Domain Controller
(RODC) and BitLocker Drive Encryption allow you to more securely deploy your AD
database at branch office locations.
High Performance Computing
The benefits and cost savings of
Windows Server 2008 extend to Windows HPC Server 2008 for your high performance
computing (HPC) environment. Windows HPC Server 2008 is built on Windows Server
2008, x64-bit technology and can efficiently scale to thousands of processing
cores with out-of-the-box functionality to improve the productivity, and reduce
the complexity of your HPC environment. Windows HPC Server 2008 enables broader
adoption by providing a rich and integrated end-user experience that scales
from the desktop application to the clusters, and includes a comprehensive set
of deployment, administration, and monitoring tools that are easy to deploy,
manage, and integrate with your existing
