Windows Server 2008 is the server operating system containing many of the new client features from Windows Vista . This is a similar relationship to that between Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP .
:''See also: Features New To Windows Vista
Windows Server 2008 is built from the same code base as Windows Vista; therefore, it shares much of the same architecture and functionality. As the code base is common, it automatically benefits from most of the Technical , Security , Management And Administrative Features New To Windows Vista such as new improved rewritten Networking Stack (native IPv6 , native wireless, speed and security improvements); improved Image-based installation, deployment and recovery; improved diagnostics, monitoring, event logging and reporting tools; Better Security Features such as Bitlocker , ASLR , improved Windows Firewall with secure default configuration; .NET Framework 3.0 technologies, specifically Windows Communication Foundation , Microsoft Message Queuing and Windows Workflow Foundation ; and the core kernel, memory and file system improvements. On the hardware side, processors and memory devices are modelled as Plug And Play devices, to allow Hot-plugging of these devices. This allows the system resources to be partitioned dynamically using ''Dynamic Hardware Partitioning''; each partition having its own memory, processor and I/O host bridge devices independent of other partitions.4
Perhaps the most notable new feature of Windows Server 2008 is a new variation of installation called ''Server Core''. ''Server Core'' is a significantly scaled-back installation where no /Active Directory Domain Services, ADLDS ( ADAM ), DNS Server , DHCP Server , File Server , Print Server , Windows Media Server , Terminal Services Easy Print, TS Remote Programs, And TS Gateway , IIS 7 Web Server and Windows Server Virtualization virtual server. This last role is expected to be available at most 180 days after release of Windows Server 2008.
Windows Server 2008 features major upgrades to Terminal Services . ''Terminal Services'' now supports Remote Desktop Protocol 6.0 . The most notable improvement is the ability to share a single application over a Remote Desktop connection, instead of the entire desktop. This feature is called ''Terminal Services Remote Programs.'' Other features new to Terminal Services include ''Terminal Services Gateway'' and ''Terminal Services Web Access'' (full web interface). With ''Terminal Services Gateway'', authorized computers are able to connect securely to a Terminal Server or Remote Desktop from the Internet using RDP via HTTPS without implementing a VPN session first. Additional ports do not need to be opened in the firewall, RDP is tunneled through HTTPS. ''Terminal Services Web Access'' enables administrators to provide access to the Terminal Services Sessions via a Web interface. ''TS Web Access'' comes with an adjustable Webpart for IIS and Sharepoint , which advertises the possible applications and connections to the user. Using ''TS Gateway'' and ''TS Remote Programs'', the whole communication is via HTTP(S) and the remote applications appear transparent to the user as if they are running locally. Multiple applications run in the same session to ensure that there is no need for additional licenses per user. ''Terminal Services Easy Print'' does not require administrators to install any printer drivers on the server, but guarantees successful client printer redirection and availability of all printer UI and properties for use in remote sessions. Terminal Services sessions are created in parallel, instead of a serial operation - the new session model can initiate at least four sessions in parallel, or more if a server has more than four processors.
See Also: Windows PowerShell
Other new or enhanced features include:
- A new "Read-Only Domain Controller" operation mode in Active Directory, intended for use in branch office scenarios where a domain controller may reside in a low physical security environment. The RODC holds a non-writeable copy of Active Directory, and redirects all write attempts to a Full Domain Controller . It replicates all accounts except sensitive ones. In RODC mode, credentials are not cached by default. Moreover, only the Domain Controller running the PDC -Emulator needs to run Windows Server 2008. Also, local administrators can log on to the machine to perform maintenance tasks without requiring administrative rights on the domain.
- Restartable Active Directory allows ADDS to be stopped and restarted from the ''Management Console'' or the command-line without rebooting the domain controller. This reduces downtime for offline operations and reduces overall DC servicing requirements with ''Server Core''. ADDS is implemented as a ''Domain Controller Service'' in Windows Server 2008.
- All of the Group Policy Improvements from Windows Vista. Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is built-in.
- Policy-based networking with Network Access Protection , improved branch management and enhanced end user collaboration. Policies can be created to ensure greater Quality Of Service for certain applications or services that require prioritization of network bandwidth between client and server.
- Internet Information Services 7 - Increased security, xcopy-deployment, improved diagnostic tools, Delegated Administration .
- New Cryptography (CNG) API which supports Elliptic Curve Cryptography and improved certificate management.
- Improved Hot Patching , a feature that allows non-kernel patches to occur without the need for a reboot.
- Granular password settings within a single domain - ability to implement different password policies for administrative accounts on a "group" and "user" basis, instead of a single set of password settings to the whole domain.
- Fully multi-componentized operating system.
- Server Message Block 2.0 protocol in the new TCP/IP stack provides a number of communication enhancements, including greater performance when connecting to File Shares over high-latency links and better security through the use of Mutual Authentication and message signing.
- Windows Deployment Services replacing Automated Deployment Services and Remote Installation Services . Windows Deployment Services (WDS) support an enhanced multicast feature when deploying operating system images. Multicasting OS deployments with Windows Server 2008
- Support for being booted from Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI)-compliant firmware on X86-64 and Itanium systems.
- Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.
- DFS enhancements - On Demand Replication (Ghosting), SYSVOL on DFS2, Read-only Folder Replication Member. There is also support for domain-based DFS namespaces that exceed the previous size recommendation of 5,000 folders with targets in a namespace. Breaking the 5K Folder “Barrier” in Domain-Based Namespaces: Filing Cabinet blog
- ''Disk management'' improvements:
- --- The ability to resize hard disk partitions without stopping the server, even the system partition.
- --- Shadow Copy based block-level backup which supports optical media, network shares and Windows Recovery Environment .
- Support for 256-bit AES encryption for the Kerberos Authentication protocol.
- Internet Storage Naming Server ( ISNS ) enables central registration, deregistration and queries for ISCSI hard drives.
- Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol , a new Microsoft Proprietary VPN protocol.
- AuthIP , a Microsoft proprietary extension of the IKE Cryptographic Protocol used in IPsec VPN networks.
- An optional "Desktop Experience" component provides the same Windows Aero user interface as Windows Vista, both for local users, as well as remote users connecting through Remote Desktop.
- Improvements due to client-side (Windows Vista) enhancements:
- --- Searching Windows Server 2008 servers from Windows Vista clients takes advantage of enhanced indexing and caching technologies on both to provide performance gains.
- --- In a networked environment with a Print Server running Windows Vista, clients can render print jobs locally before sending them to print servers to reduce the load on the server and increase its availability.
- --- Offline Files are cached locally so that they are available even if the server is not, with copies seamlessly updating when the client and server are reconnected.
- '' Windows System Resource Manager '' is being integrated into Windows Server 2008. It can be used to control how much resource a process or a user can use.
- --- ''Process Matching Criteria'', which is defined by the name, type or owner of the process, enforces restrictions on the resource usage by a process that matches the criteria. CPU time, bandwidth that it can use, number of processors it can be run on, and memory allocated to a process can be restricted. Restrictions can be set to be imposed only on certain dates as well.
- Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition
- Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition
- Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition
- Windows Web Server 2008
- Windows Storage Server 2008
- Windows Small Business Server 2008 (Codenamed Cougar) (x64 only)
- Windows Server Codenamed "Centro" (for mid-markets) (x64 only)
Windows Server 2008 for Itanium -based Systems ( IA-64 ) will also be available. ''Server Core'' is available in x86 and x64 Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter editions. It is not available in Web edition or in the Itanium edition. It is important to note that ''Server Core'' is simply a ''server role'' in some of the editions, it is not a separate edition by itself. As of beta 3, each edition has a separate evaluation DVD.
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