Overview
You are regularly challenged by the growing needs of the business. Operations demand around the clock availability and the need for heightened security and compliance has never been greater. These pressures all converge with the day to day challenges of maintaining control of ever-increasing server sprawl, resources, and budgets. Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 is designed to help you increase control, availability, and flexibility of your datacenter and desktop infrastructure while helping reduce costs.
Upgrading to the latest release of Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 will give you improved powerful virtualization capabilities that can transform how you deliver IT services to your end users and enable you to lay the foundation of a private cloud infrastructure.
Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 is a platform server that includes a robust set of features. Whether you want to consolidate servers, build a Microsoft private cloud, or offer Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, the features of Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 offer you the flexibility to deliver advanced capabilities to your business for increased IT efficiency and agility.
Upgrading to the latest release of Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 will give you improved powerful virtualization capabilities that can transform how you deliver IT services to your end users and enable you to lay the foundation of a private cloud infrastructure.
Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 is a platform server that includes a robust set of features. Whether you want to consolidate servers, build a Microsoft private cloud, or offer Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, the features of Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 offer you the flexibility to deliver advanced capabilities to your business for increased IT efficiency and agility.
Features
Virtualisation with Hyper-VHyper-V, a platform technology improved in Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 virtualizes the system resources of a physical computer, allowing you to provide a virtualized environment for operating systems and applications. You can optimize your server hardware investments by consolidating multiple server roles as separate virtual machines running on a single physical machine. This allows you to run multiple different operating systems in parallel, on a single server. Or can you use Hyper-V to build out a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) which enables a rich Windows experience for virtual desktops while enhancing security, regulatory compliance and manageability of your desktop environment. Learn More >
Remote Desktop Services and RemoteFXRemote Desktop Services (RDS) is a centralized desktop and application platform that uses session virtualization and VDI technologies to deliver and manage corporate desktops while offering a rich end user experience. RDS accelerates and extends desktop and application deployments to any device, improving remote worker efficiency, while helping keep critical intellectual property secure and radically simplify regulatory compliance. With Microsoft RemoteFX, Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 introduces a new set of remote user-experience capabilities that enable a media-rich user environment for virtual and session-based desktops. RemoteFX can be deployed to a range of thick and thin client devices, enabling cost-effective, local-like access to a media-rich desktop environment. RemoteFX also supports a broad array of USB peripherals to improve the productivity of users of virtual desktops. Learn More >
Web Application PlatformWindows Server 2008 R2 includes many enhancements that enable you to more easily deploy and manage web applications. It offers an updated Web server role, Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5, and greater support for .NET on Server Core. Additionally, IIS 7.5 provides a security-enhanced, easy-to-manage platform for developing and reliably hosting Web applications and services. By providing more control, more choice, more reliability, and more security, organizations can ensure their Web platforms are available whenever and wherever they are needed. Learn More >
Integrated Experience with Windows 7Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 has many features that are designed specifically to work with client computers running Windows 7, Microsoft’s most current version of the Windows client operating system.
Branche Cache The BranchCache feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 reduces WAN utilization and improves the responsiveness of network applications. BranchCache in the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems can help increase network responsiveness of centralized applications when accessed from remote offices, giving users in those offices the experience of working on your local area network. BranchCache also helps reduce wide area network (WAN) utilization. DirectAccess DirectAccess is a feature in the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems that gives users the experience of being seamlessly connected to their corporate network any time they have Internet access. With DirectAccess, users are able to access corporate resources, such as e-mail servers, shared folders, or intranet Web sites, securely without connecting to a virtual private network (VPN). Learn More > |
Power ManagementMicrosoft conducted a series of tests to compare the power consumption of Windows Server 2008 R2. The tests revealed that Windows Server 2008 R2 out of the box (OOB) achieved power savings of up to 18 percent over Windows Server 2003 OOB at comparable levels of throughput. Windows Server 2008 R2 has been designed with energy efficiency in mind, to provide you with ready and convenient access to a number of new power-saving features.
Server ManagementOngoing management of servers in the data center is one of the most time-consuming tasks facing IT professionals today. Inefficient servers can drive up energy usage and costs. Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 delivers features in Server Manager to reduce your administrative effort for common day-to-day operational tasks. Learn More >
Data ManagementStorage requirements today are growing at exponential rates with companies digitizing their content and having to store more unstructured data.
Organizations need to manage their data more effectively as well as more efficiently. Only by gaining insight into their data can companies reduce the cost of storing, maintaining, and managing data. Windows Server 2008 R2 File Classification Infrastructure (FCI) provides insight into your data by automating classification processes so that you can manage your data more effectively and economically. FCI does this by enabling to automatically classify files based on properties defined by administrators (such as whether or not a file contains personally identifiable information) and performing administrator-specified actions based on that classification (backing up files containing personal information to an encrypted store, for example). These mechanisms are included in the box as well as provided by extensible interfaces that allow IT organizations and partners to build rich end to end solutions for classifying and applying policy based on classification. FCI helps customers save money and reduce risk by managing files based on their business value and business impact. Learn More > Scalability & ReliabilityWindows Server 2008 R2 is capable of unprecedented workload size, dynamic scalability, and across-the-board availability, and reliability. A host of new and updated features are available, including leveraging sophisticated CPU architectures, increased operating system componentization, and improved performance and scalability for applications and services. Learn More >
Application CompatibilityApplication compatibility is a key factor in the experience you enjoy on Windows Server 2008 R2, and many of the leading industry line-of business and mission-critical applications have been certified to run on Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft offers free, downloadable test tools that help enterprise IT professionals, custom application developers and independent software vendors test third-party and custom in-house applications for compatibility with Windows Server 2008 R2 You can identify both software and hardware that has been certified to run on Windows Server 2008 R2 by visiting the Windows Server Catalog.
|
Editions
Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter delivers an enterprise-class platform for deploying business-critical applications and large-scale virtualization on small and large servers. Improve availability, enhance power management, and integrate solutions for mobile and branch workers. Reduce infrastructure costs by consolidating applications with unlimited virtualization licensing rights. Scale from two to 64 processors. Windows Server R2 2008 Datacenter provides a foundation on which to build enterprise-class virtualization and scale-up solutions.
Learn More > |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise is an advanced server platform that provides more cost-effective and reliable support for mission-critical workloads. It offers innovative features for virtualization, power savings, and manageability and helps make it easier for mobile workers to access company resources.
Learn More > |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard is the most robust Windows Server operating system to date. With built-in, enhanced Web and virtualization capabilities, it is designed to increase the reliability and flexibility of your server infrastructure while helping save time and reduce costs. Powerful tools give you greater control over your servers, and streamline configuration and management tasks. Plus, enhanced security features work to harden the operating system to help protect your data and network and provide a solid, highly dependable foundation for your business.
Learn More > |
Benefits
Today's technology landscape is changing as quickly and as radically as any time in its history. Virtualization and cloud computing are receiving most of the press, but other technologies, including remote access and branch connectivity, server security, and even raw computing performance are also moving forward rapidly. To keep your business competitive, consider transforming your datacenter. For all the technologies just mentioned, Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1enables you to take full advantage of virtualization and added security. Additionally, you can discover new ways to connect your employees or manage your datacenter more efficiently for cost savings.
Reduce Costs with Virtualisation
Virtualization, one of the most profound new IT development in recent years, has changed the modern datacenters - how they are architected, organized, leveraged, and managed. Users still running the 2003 edition are missing out on the compelling ways that Hyper-V, Microsoft's powerful virtualization platform, can assist the improvement of their datacenter's performance and return on investment (ROI). While earlier versions of Windows Server can accommodate rudimentary "bolted on" virtualization engines, Windows Server 2008 R2 provides you with both a powerful server platform and a full virtualization engine in a single box. Hyper-V can impact your datacenter from the ground-up.
- With Hyper-V you can consolidate servers to deliver significant cost savings that directly affect your facilities costs, like power and cooling
- Hyper-V can improve reliability and redundancy by easing the administrative burdens of mirrored servers, clustered servers, and rebuilding servers via software templates instead of lengthy installation and migration procedures
- Hyper-V can combine with Microsoft's System Center virtualization management suite to manage other hypervisors and virtual machines running operating systems other than Windows including VMware and Citrix platforms
Simplify Datacenter Management
New advancements like virtualization mean that server platforms need to upgrade and even change their management features to keep pace - and Windows Server 2008 R2 delivers on that requirement in abundance. In the Windows Server 2008 R2 box you will discover a host of new management capabilities unavailable in previous versions.
Windows Server 2008 introduced server roles, an easy way for you to dedicate a server instance to a particular task - file and print, remote access, domain and more. Windows Server 2008 R2 automatically activates only those features required to perform that task, though you can modify those settings if you choose. The result is a more secure server, since unnecessary services are not enabled. This feature also lets you quickly build and assign templates to specific server roles and workloads in case those servers need to be rebuilt.
Windows Server 2008 R2 also adds a host of new management consoles making tasks like Active Directory administration, server management, and virtualization management easier and more intuitive.
Enabling many of these consoles is another game-changer available only on Windows Server 2008 R2, and that's PowerShell. This simple scripting language gives you a complete customizable way to automate rote management tasks and create management workflows designed specifically for your datacenter and your business. Windows Server 2008 R2 even includes 240 PowerShell pre-built scripts as well as a graphical user interface so your IT admins can create more scripts quickly and easily.
Windows Server 2008 introduced server roles, an easy way for you to dedicate a server instance to a particular task - file and print, remote access, domain and more. Windows Server 2008 R2 automatically activates only those features required to perform that task, though you can modify those settings if you choose. The result is a more secure server, since unnecessary services are not enabled. This feature also lets you quickly build and assign templates to specific server roles and workloads in case those servers need to be rebuilt.
Windows Server 2008 R2 also adds a host of new management consoles making tasks like Active Directory administration, server management, and virtualization management easier and more intuitive.
Enabling many of these consoles is another game-changer available only on Windows Server 2008 R2, and that's PowerShell. This simple scripting language gives you a complete customizable way to automate rote management tasks and create management workflows designed specifically for your datacenter and your business. Windows Server 2008 R2 even includes 240 PowerShell pre-built scripts as well as a graphical user interface so your IT admins can create more scripts quickly and easily.
Improve Datacenter Security
Threats related to hacking, malware, viruses and even employee misuse of computing resources make security an important consideration for every datacenter manager. Windows Server 2008 R2 is equipped with powerful new security features designed to keep your datacenter and your business safe from danger, both inside and out.
The Server Role feature, for example, means servers meant for specific tasks enable only those services required to fulfill those tasks, automatically disabling any unneeded services. That means a smaller attack surface for malware and hackers to exploit.
Windows Server 2008 R2 has also included a new data encryption feature, called BitLocker that applies encryption algorithms to specific data volumes, locking down valuable data from prying eyes. We have also included new Business Process Analyzers that automatically audit your servers to make sure you are running those servers with the latest security patches and best practices. This is a big help for businesses required to pass regulatory requirements, like those imposed by SOX, HIPAA and credit card processing auditors.
Companies remaining on older versions of Windows Server, including Windows Server 2003, will have increasing problems passing such audits, since those platforms are necessarily out of date. Windows Server 2003, for example, entered its Extended Support phase in July of last year. That means datacenters using this platform will not receive automatic security updates. Migrating to a modern server platform is a necessary first step in keeping your business more secure.
The Server Role feature, for example, means servers meant for specific tasks enable only those services required to fulfill those tasks, automatically disabling any unneeded services. That means a smaller attack surface for malware and hackers to exploit.
Windows Server 2008 R2 has also included a new data encryption feature, called BitLocker that applies encryption algorithms to specific data volumes, locking down valuable data from prying eyes. We have also included new Business Process Analyzers that automatically audit your servers to make sure you are running those servers with the latest security patches and best practices. This is a big help for businesses required to pass regulatory requirements, like those imposed by SOX, HIPAA and credit card processing auditors.
Companies remaining on older versions of Windows Server, including Windows Server 2003, will have increasing problems passing such audits, since those platforms are necessarily out of date. Windows Server 2003, for example, entered its Extended Support phase in July of last year. That means datacenters using this platform will not receive automatic security updates. Migrating to a modern server platform is a necessary first step in keeping your business more secure.
Reduce Power Consumption
Windows Server 2008 introduced a 'balanced' power policy, which monitors the utilization level of the processors on the server and dynamically adjusts the processor performance states to limit power to the needs of the workload. Windows Server 2008 R2 enhances this power saving feature by adding Core Parking and expanding on power-oriented Group Policy settings.
Active Directory Domain Services Group Policy in Windows Server 2008 provided you with more control over power management on client PCs. These capabilities are further enhanced in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 to provide even more precise control in more deployment scenarios for even greater potential savings.
Active Directory Domain Services Group Policy in Windows Server 2008 provided you with more control over power management on client PCs. These capabilities are further enhanced in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 to provide even more precise control in more deployment scenarios for even greater potential savings.
Increase Application Performance
The server hardware industry has long been shipping CPUs capable of 64-bit computing. Windows Server 2008 R2 was the first Microsoft product platform to move to a 64-bit only model. That does not mean you cannot run 32-bit applications on Windows Server 2008 R2, but it does mean that 64-bit applications will run significantly faster and handle larger compute loads than previous Windows Server platforms. We have also upgraded Windows Server's network performance for much faster communication between servers, workstations, remote computing sites, and users. New features include a completely redesigned TCP/IP stack, support for SMB 2.0 and making it easy for your IT administrators to enable IPv6 where appropriate.
