Microsoft Windows Server 2008
Fact Sheet
Microsoft®
Windows Server® 2008 is the next-generation Windows Server operating
system that will help IT professionals achieve more control, greater
flexibility and increased protection. Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 is publicly
available for download today at http://www.microsoft.com/getbeta3. The final
version of the operating system is on track for release to manufacturing in the
second half of 2007.
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 builds on the improved
reliability and security of Windows Server 2003 R2 to help organizations create
an optimized, more dynamic IT infrastructure by addressing the automation of
daily management tasks, tightening security, improving efficiency and
increasing availability. Windows Server 2008 will help IT professionals achieve
the following:
·
Simplify
administration tasks with a single Server Manager console, integrated task
scheduling, enhanced remote management, and the powerful scripting capabilities
of Windows PowerShell™
·
Improve security
and reliability by helping reduce the server footprint and potential attack
surface with the new Server Core installation option and by providing ongoing
health monitoring and compliance through improved event logging and auditing
·
Maximize use of
network resources while reducing costs with
Windows Server Virtualization, which will help customers progress toward
self-managing dynamic systems
·
Provide ready
access to business data from virtually anywhere with Terminal Services
enhancements and new branch office management features to keep businesses
productive and connected
·
Increase the
availability, reliability and performance of their infrastructure with
simplified failover clustering, dynamic partitioning and auto-tuning networking
features to automatically manage system resources
New Technologies
Microsoft Windows PowerShell. Windows
PowerShell is the new command-line shell and scripting language designed to
increase IT professionals’ productivity and control by allowing them to more
easily automate system management tasks. Windows PowerShell does not require a
background in programming, nor does it require that customers migrate their
existing scripts; it will work with existing command-line tools. Windows
PowerShell can be deployed in production in a customer’s current infrastructure
because it runs on Windows® XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista™
and the upcoming Windows Server 2008.
Internet Information Services
(IIS) 7.0. IIS 7.0 provides
a more secure, extensible platform for efficiently managing and reliably
hosting Web applications and services. With the availability of the IIS
7.0 Go-Live License, customers can host Web applications and Microsoft .NET
Framework 3.0 Web services on Windows Server 2008 in production environments
today.
Network Access Protection. Built
on network security standards such as IPsec and RADIUS, Network Access
Protection provides a new framework allowing an IT administrator to establish
health requirements for the network and restrict network access for connecting
computers that do not meet those requirements, and to provide ongoing
compliance checking to help ensure the network remains healthy.
Server Core Installation Option. Administrators
can choose to install Windows Server 2008 by using the new Server Core
installation option to deliver full server functionality for select server
roles without extra overhead. This option can improve security and reduce
management because fewer components are installed, requiring less maintenance
and fewer updates, improving security, and reducing demands on management.
Seven server roles are available in the server core installation option,
including Active Directory® Domain Services, Active Directory,
Lightweight Directory Services, file server and print services.
Read-Only Domain Controller
(RODC). Windows Server
2008 RODC is designed to be installed in remote locations that may lack
physical security such as branch offices. It enables local user authentication
through unidirectional replication from the global Active Directory, while
ensuring that sensitive information is not cached. It also allows
administrative permissions to be delegated to local users to manage the RODC
without allowing them any additional permissions on the domain.
Server Manager. Server
Manager simplifies and centralizes server management through a single
administrative console, allowing IT professionals to view and operate all the
tools related to server productivity in one location. This includes the easy
addition or removal of server roles and associated system tracking. The new
Server Manager command line interface in Beta 3 also provides a means for
scripting server configuration tasks across the server infrastructure.
Windows Server
virtualization. Windows Server
virtualization is Microsoft’s new hypervisor-based virtualization technology,
and will be a feature of Windows Server 2008. The Windows hypervisor is a thin
software layer between the hardware and Windows Server 2008 operating system
that allows multiple operating systems to run, unmodified, on a host computer
at the same time. It provides simple partitioning functionality and is
responsible for maintaining strong isolation between partitions to increase
flexibility, reliability and manageability.
Enhanced Technologies
Windows Firewall
with Advanced Security is now on by default for enhanced server protection, and
greater integration with IPsec allows for easier definition of computer
connection rules and isolation policies.
Failover clustering, dynamic
partitioning and auto-tuning networking features
automatically manage system resources that include memory and traffic to ensure
that customers have uninterrupted and faster access to the company network.
Terminal Services
now includes remote access features such as Terminal Services Gateway, Terminal
Services Easy Print and Terminal Services RemoteApp to provide users with
dramatically improved experiences and more scalable remote access to
centralized applications and server resources.
