Windows Server 2008 R2
Encyclopedia
Windows Server 2008 R2 is a server
operating system
produced by Microsoft
. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and launched on October 22, 2009. According to the Windows Server Team blog, the retail availability was September 14, 2009. It is built on Windows NT
6.1, the same core operating system used with the client-oriented Windows 7. It is the first 64-bit-only operating system release from Microsoft.
Version enhancements include new functionality for Active Directory
, new Virtualization and Management features, the release of IIS 7.5
, and support for up to 256 logical processors.
There are seven editions: Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web,
HPC Server
and Itanium.
as the server variant of Windows 7.
On January 7, 2009, a beta release of Windows Server 2008 R2 was made available to subscribers of Microsoft's TechNet and MSDN programs, as well as those participating in the Microsoft Connect program for Windows 7. Two days later, the beta was released to the public via the Microsoft Download Center.
On April 30, 2009, the release candidate was made available to subscribers of Microsoft's TechNet and MSDN. On May 5, 2009, the release candidate was made available to the general public via the Microsoft download center.
According to Windows Server Division WebLog, the following are the dates of the year 2009 when Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 has been made available to various distribution channels:
Additionally, qualifying students have been able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM Standard Edition in 15 languages from DreamSpark
.
Microsoft has announced that Server 2008 R2 will be the last version of Windows supporting
the Itanium architecture.
, Cluster Shared Volumes
using Failover Clustering and Hyper-V
), reduced power consumption, a new set of management tools and new Active Directory capabilities such as a "recycle bin" for deleted AD objects. IIS 7.5 has been added to this release which also includes updated FTP server services. Security enhancements include the addition of DNSSEC
support for DNS Server Service
(note: even though DNSSEC as such is supported, only one signature algorithm is available (#5 / RSA/SHA-1). Since many zones use a different algorithm - including the root zone
- this means that in reality Windows still can't serve as a recursive resolver) and encrypted clientless authenticated VPN services through DirectAccess
for clients using Windows 7. The DHCP server supports a large number of enhancements such as MAC address
-based control filtering, converting active leases into reservations or Link Layer
based filters, IPv4 address exhaustion at scope level, DHCP Name protection for non-Windows machines to prevent name squatting, better performance through aggressive lease database caching, DHCP activity logging, auto-population of certain network interface fields, a wizard for split-scope configuration, DHCP Server role migration using WSMT, support for DHCPv6 Option 15 (User Class) and Option 32 (Information Refresh Time). The DHCP server runs in the context of the Network Service account which has less privileges to reduce potential damage if compromised.
Windows Server 2008 R2 supports up to 64 physical processors or up to 256 logical processors per system. (Note:Only the Datacenter and Itanium editions can take advantage of the capability of 64 physical processors. Enterprise, the next-highest edition after those two, can only use 8.) When deployed in a file server role, new File Classification Infrastructure services allow files to be stored on designated servers in the enterprise based on business naming conventions, relevance to business processes and overall corporate policies.
Server Core includes a subset of the .NET Framework, so that some applications (including ASP.NET
web sites and Windows PowerShell
2.0) can be used.
Performance improvement was a major area of focus for this release; Microsoft has stated that work was done to decrease boot time, improve the efficiency of I/O operations while using less processing power, and generally improve the speed of storage devices, especially iSCSI
.
Active Directory
has several new features when raising the forest and domain functional levels to Windows Server 2008 R2. When raising the domain function level, two added features are Authentication Mechanism Assurance and Automatic SPN Management. When raising the forest functional level, the Active Directory recycle bin feature is available and can be enabled using the Active Directory Module for Powershell.
Processor
Memory
Display
Disk Space Requirements
Other
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
produced by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and launched on October 22, 2009. According to the Windows Server Team blog, the retail availability was September 14, 2009. It is built on Windows NT
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
6.1, the same core operating system used with the client-oriented Windows 7. It is the first 64-bit-only operating system release from Microsoft.
Version enhancements include new functionality for Active Directory
Active Directory
Active Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers....
, new Virtualization and Management features, the release of IIS 7.5
Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
, and support for up to 256 logical processors.
There are seven editions: Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web,
HPC Server
Windows HPC Server 2008
Windows HPC Server 2008, released by Microsoft on 22 September 2008, is the successor product to Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003. Like WCCS, Windows HPC Server 2008 is designed for high-end applications that require high performance computing clusters . This version of the server software is...
and Itanium.
History
Microsoft introduced Windows Server 2008 R2 at the 2008 Professional Developers ConferenceProfessional Developers Conference
Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference is a conference for software developers, normally Windows developers.It covers new and upcoming technology from Microsoft, and so only occurs in the years when there is something new to talk about...
as the server variant of Windows 7.
On January 7, 2009, a beta release of Windows Server 2008 R2 was made available to subscribers of Microsoft's TechNet and MSDN programs, as well as those participating in the Microsoft Connect program for Windows 7. Two days later, the beta was released to the public via the Microsoft Download Center.
On April 30, 2009, the release candidate was made available to subscribers of Microsoft's TechNet and MSDN. On May 5, 2009, the release candidate was made available to the general public via the Microsoft download center.
According to Windows Server Division WebLog, the following are the dates of the year 2009 when Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 has been made available to various distribution channels:
- OEMs received Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM in English and all Language Packs on July 29. The remaining languages were available around August 11.
- ISV (Independent software vendor) and IHV (Independent hardware vendor) partners have been able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM from MSDN starting on August 14.
- IT Professionals with TechNet Subscriptions were able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM and obtain product keys for in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish beginning August 14 and all remaining languages beginning August 21.
- Developers with MSDN Subscriptions have been able download and obtain product keys for Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish starting August 14 and all remaining languages starting August 21.
- Microsoft Partner Program Gold/Certified Members were able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM through the Microsoft Partner Program (MPP) Portal on August 19.
- Volume License (VL) customer with an existing Software Assurance (SA) license were able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM on August 19 via the Volume License Service Center (VLSC).
- Volume License customers without a Software Assurance (SA) license can purchase Windows Server 2008 R2 through Volume Licensing on September 1.
Additionally, qualifying students have been able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM Standard Edition in 15 languages from DreamSpark
DreamSpark
DreamSpark is a program set up by Microsoft to provide students with software design and development tools at no charge. The program was originally available for university/college students in Belarus, Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, the U.K....
.
Microsoft has announced that Server 2008 R2 will be the last version of Windows supporting
the Itanium architecture.
New features
A reviewer guide published by the company describes several areas of improvement in version R2. These include new virtualization capabilities (Live MigrationLive Migration
Live migration allows a server administrator to move a running virtual machine or application between different physical machines without disconnecting the client or application...
, Cluster Shared Volumes
Cluster Shared Volumes
Cluster Shared Volumes is a feature of Failover Clustering first introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2 for use with the Hyper-V role. A Cluster Shared Volume is a shared disk containing an NTFS volume that is made accessible for read and write operations by all nodes within a Windows Server...
using Failover Clustering and Hyper-V
Hyper-V
Microsoft Hyper-V, codenamed Viridian and formerly known as Windows Server Virtualization, is a hypervisor-based virtualization system for x86-64 systems. A beta version of Hyper-V was shipped with certain x86-64 editions of Windows Server 2008, and the finalized version was released on June 26,...
), reduced power consumption, a new set of management tools and new Active Directory capabilities such as a "recycle bin" for deleted AD objects. IIS 7.5 has been added to this release which also includes updated FTP server services. Security enhancements include the addition of DNSSEC
DNSSEC
The Domain Name System Security Extensions is a suite of Internet Engineering Task Force specifications for securing certain kinds of information provided by the Domain Name System as used on Internet Protocol networks...
support for DNS Server Service
Microsoft DNS
Microsoft DNS is the name given to the implementation of domain name system services provided in Microsoft Windows operating systems.- Overview :...
(note: even though DNSSEC as such is supported, only one signature algorithm is available (#5 / RSA/SHA-1). Since many zones use a different algorithm - including the root zone
DNS root zone
A DNS root zone is the top-level DNS zone in a Domain Name System hierarchy. Most commonly it refers to the root zone of the largest global DNS, deployed for the Internet. Ultimate authority over the DNS root zone rests with the US Department of Commerce NTIA...
- this means that in reality Windows still can't serve as a recursive resolver) and encrypted clientless authenticated VPN services through DirectAccess
DirectAccess
DirectAccess is a new feature in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 that provides seamless intranet connectivity to DirectAccess client computers when they are connected to the Internet...
for clients using Windows 7. The DHCP server supports a large number of enhancements such as MAC address
MAC address
A Media Access Control address is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical network segment. MAC addresses are used for numerous network technologies and most IEEE 802 network technologies, including Ethernet...
-based control filtering, converting active leases into reservations or Link Layer
Link Layer
In computer networking, the link layer is the lowest layer in the Internet Protocol Suite , the networking architecture of the Internet . It is the group of methods or protocols that only operate on a host's link...
based filters, IPv4 address exhaustion at scope level, DHCP Name protection for non-Windows machines to prevent name squatting, better performance through aggressive lease database caching, DHCP activity logging, auto-population of certain network interface fields, a wizard for split-scope configuration, DHCP Server role migration using WSMT, support for DHCPv6 Option 15 (User Class) and Option 32 (Information Refresh Time). The DHCP server runs in the context of the Network Service account which has less privileges to reduce potential damage if compromised.
Windows Server 2008 R2 supports up to 64 physical processors or up to 256 logical processors per system. (Note:Only the Datacenter and Itanium editions can take advantage of the capability of 64 physical processors. Enterprise, the next-highest edition after those two, can only use 8.) When deployed in a file server role, new File Classification Infrastructure services allow files to be stored on designated servers in the enterprise based on business naming conventions, relevance to business processes and overall corporate policies.
Server Core includes a subset of the .NET Framework, so that some applications (including ASP.NET
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a Web application framework developed and marketed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic Web sites, Web applications and Web services. It was first released in January 2002 with version 1.0 of the .NET Framework, and is the successor to Microsoft's Active Server Pages ...
web sites and Windows PowerShell
Windows PowerShell
Windows PowerShell is Microsoft's task automation framework, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language built on top of, and integrated with the .NET Framework...
2.0) can be used.
Performance improvement was a major area of focus for this release; Microsoft has stated that work was done to decrease boot time, improve the efficiency of I/O operations while using less processing power, and generally improve the speed of storage devices, especially iSCSI
ISCSI
In computing, iSCSI , is an abbreviation of Internet Small Computer System Interface, an Internet Protocol -based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. By carrying SCSI commands over IP networks, iSCSI is used to facilitate data transfers over intranets and to manage...
.
Active Directory
Active Directory
Active Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers....
has several new features when raising the forest and domain functional levels to Windows Server 2008 R2. When raising the domain function level, two added features are Authentication Mechanism Assurance and Automatic SPN Management. When raising the forest functional level, the Active Directory recycle bin feature is available and can be enabled using the Active Directory Module for Powershell.
Service Pack 1
On February 9, 2011, Microsoft officially released the final release (RTM) of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) to OEM partners. Apart from bug fixes, it introduces two new major functions, RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory. RemoteFX enables the use of graphics hardware in order to include support for 3D graphics in a Hyper-V based VM while Dynamic Memory makes it possible for a VM to only allocate as much physical RAM as is needed temporally for its execution. On February 16th Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 became available for MSDN and TechNet Subscribers as well as Volume License customers. As of February 22nd, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 is generally available for download via the Microsoft Download Center and available on Windows Update. It has a version number of "6.1.7601.17514.101119-1850".System requirements
System requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2 are as follows:Processor
- 1.4 GHz x86-64X86-64x86-64 is an extension of the x86 instruction set. It supports vastly larger virtual and physical address spaces than are possible on x86, thereby allowing programmers to conveniently work with much larger data sets. x86-64 also provides 64-bit general purpose registers and numerous other...
or Itanium 2ItaniumItanium is a family of 64-bit Intel microprocessors that implement the Intel Itanium architecture . Intel markets the processors for enterprise servers and high-performance computing systems...
processor
Memory
- Minimum:512 MBMegabyteThe megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
RAM (may limit performance and some features) - Recommended:2 GBGigabyteThe gigabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage. The prefix giga means 109 in the International System of Units , therefore 1 gigabyte is...
RAM - Maximum: 8 GB RAM (Foundation), 32 GB RAM (Standard), or 2 TBTerabyteThe terabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The prefix tera means 1012 in the International System of Units , and therefore 1 terabyte is , or 1 trillion bytes, or 1000 gigabytes. 1 terabyte in binary prefixes is 0.9095 tebibytes, or 931.32 gibibytes...
RAM (Enterprise, Datacenter and Itanium-Based Systems)
Display
- Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher
Disk Space Requirements
- Minimum (editions higher than Foundation): 32 GBGigabyteThe gigabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage. The prefix giga means 109 in the International System of Units , therefore 1 gigabyte is...
or more - Minimum (Foundation edition) 10 GBGigabyteThe gigabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage. The prefix giga means 109 in the International System of Units , therefore 1 gigabyte is...
or more. - Computers with more than 16 GB of RAM require more disk space for paging and dump files.
Other
- DVD drive, keyboard and mouse, Internet access (Optional, but required for updatesWindows UpdateWindows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components, including Internet Explorer...
and online activation)
Editions
| Features | | Foundation | | Standard | | Web | | HPC High-performance computing High-performance computing uses supercomputers and computer clusters to solve advanced computation problems. Today, computer systems approaching the teraflops-region are counted as HPC-computers.-Overview:... | | Enterprise | | Datacenter | | Itanium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum physical memory (RAM) (64-bit X86-64 x86-64 is an extension of the x86 instruction set. It supports vastly larger virtual and physical address spaces than are possible on x86, thereby allowing programmers to conveniently work with much larger data sets. x86-64 also provides 64-bit general purpose registers and numerous other... ) |
|||||||
| Maximum physical CPUs supported | |||||||
| Cross-File Replication (DFS-R) | |||||||
| Failover Cluster Nodes (Nodes) | |||||||
| Fault Tolerant Memory Sync | |||||||
| Hot Add Memory | |||||||
| Hot Add Processors | |||||||
| Hot Replace Memory | |||||||
| Hot Replace Processors | |||||||
| Network Access Connections (IAS) | |||||||
| Network Access Connections (RRAS) | |||||||
| Remote Desktop Admin Connections | |
||||||
| Remote Desktop Services Gateway | |||||||
| Virtual Image Use Rights | |||||||
| Features | | Foundation | | Standard | | Web | | HPC High-performance computing High-performance computing uses supercomputers and computer clusters to solve advanced computation problems. Today, computer systems approaching the teraflops-region are counted as HPC-computers.-Overview:... | | Enterprise | | Datacenter | | Itanium |
See also
- Comparison of Microsoft Windows versionsComparison of Microsoft Windows versionsMicrosoft Windows is the name of several families of computer software operating systems by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces .-DOS-based :-NT...
- History of Microsoft WindowsHistory of Microsoft WindowsIn 1983, Microsoft announced the development of Windows, a graphical user interface for its own operating system , which had shipped for IBM PC and compatible computers since 1981...
Microsoft
- Official site for Windows Server 2008 R2
- Microsoft TechCenter for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows Server 2008 R2 for government