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Introduction

Windows Server 2008 is the most advanced Windows Server operating system yet, designed to power the next-generation of networks, applications, and Web services. Windows Server 2008 R2 builds on the award-winning foundation of Windows Server 2008, expanding existing technology and adding new features to enable IT professionals to increase the reliability and flexibility of their server infrastructures. New virtualization tools, Web resources, management enhancements, and exciting Windows 7 integration help save time, reduce costs, and provide a platform for a dynamic and efficiently managed data center. Powerful tools such as Internet Information Services (IIS) version 7.5, updated Server Manager and Hyper-V platforms and Windows PowerShell version 2.0 combine to give customers greater control, increased efficiency and the ability to react to front-line business needs faster than ever before.

Improving the Web Application Platform

Windows Server 2008 R2 includes many enhancements that make this release the most robust Windows Server Web application platform yet. It offers an updated Web server role, Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5, and greater support for .NET on Server Core. Design goals for IIS 7.5 concentrated on improvements that enable Web administrators to more easily deploy and manage Web applications, that increase both reliability and scalability. Additionally, IIS 7.5 has streamlined management capabilities and provides more ways to customize your Web serving environment.

Enabling Server and Desktop Virtualization

Virtualization is a major part of today’s data centers. The operating efficiencies offered by virtualization allow organizations to dramatically reduce operational effort and power consumption. Windows Server 2008 R2 provides the following virtualization types: Client and Server virtualization provided by Hyper-V and Presentation virtualization with Remote Desktop Services. Hyper-V virtualizes the system resources of a physical computer allowing you to provide a virtualized environment for operating systems and applications. Remote Desktop Services (formally known as Terminal Services) virtualizes a processing environment and isolates the processing from the graphics and I/O, making it possible to run an application in one location but have it be controlled in another. Presentation virtualization allows users to run a single application, or a complete desktop offering multiple applications.

Improving Power Management and Streamlining Management

The ongoing management of servers in the data center is one of the most time-consuming tasks facing IT professionals today. Any management strategy you deploy must support the management of both your physical and virtual environments. To help with this problem, Windows Server 2008 R2 has new features to reduce the ongoing management of Windows Server 2008 R2 and to reduce the administrative effort for common day-to-day operational tasks. And these administrative tasks can be performed on the server or remotely.

Scalability and Reliability

Windows 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 will be available, including leveraging sophisticated CPU architectures, increased operating system componentization, and improved performance and scalability for applications and services.

 

Introduction

Windows Server System is integrated server infrastructure software from Microsoft that is designed to support end-to-end solutions built on Windows Server 2003. It creates an infrastructure that is based on the Microsoft concept of integrated innovation: a whole-system design approach that helps you simplify development, deployment, and management by anticipating needs and opportunities. It is intrinsically designed to work together and interact seamlessly with other data and applications across your IT environment so that you can reduce the costs of ongoing operations, deliver high reliability and security in your IT infrastructure, and drive valuable new capabilities for the future growth of your business.

Windows Server System truly helps you do more with less.

The Windows Server System Platform

The foundation for Windows Server System is the Windows Server 2003 operating system, which delivers the core infrastructure and common services across the following categories. The server platform provides:

1. The underlying security model, directory services, and operations and management services to support the Operations Infrastructure.
2. The core application definition and programming model as the foundation for the Application Infrastructure.
3. The core data and collaboration services that support the Information Worker Infrastructure.

Through deep integration with these core platform services and a common architectural approach, Windows Server System delivers a comprehensive and interoperable infrastructure that helps reduce complexity and costs, and it empowers IT professionals to simplify development, management, and operations and deliver high-value, information-rich business applications. As a result, Windows Server System helps IT organizations increase the strategic impact of the investments they make to support the people, processes, information, and relationships that drive the business. The following figure illustrates the scope of Windows Server System.

Figure 1.
Windows Server System includes infrastructure software for operations, applications, and information workers and offers common platform services.

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Operations Infrastructure

Business and IT exist in a delicate balance that can just as easily foster innovation as bring it to a grinding halt. IT administrators are challenged to deliver secure and manageable solutions while at the same time minimizing downtime and costs. We understand this challenge and we've made it a core part of our mission to reduce the complexity of operational infrastructure to help simplify and lower the costs of deployment, management, security, and operations. These changes mean more resources for reinvestment in your business.

At its foundation, the Windows Server 2003 server platform is designed to deliver simplicity, automation, and flexibility in the data center and across the IT environment. By focusing on server consolidation, increased server utilization, and the automation of core management tasks, the new Windows Server 2003 platform is proven to increase IT efficiency by as much as 30 percent. And by delivering major advancements to simplify management, small businesses with limited IT resources as well as enterprise customers with complex operational needs can take advantage of these efficiencies.s.

The Windows Server System security and management servers build on the Windows Server 2003 server platform to deliver an integrated Operations Infrastructure that promotes operational efficiencies through simplified deployment, management, and security, as well as reduced IT infrastructure costs.

Products and capabilities include the following:

• Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server
  Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server is an extensible, multilayer enterprise firewall and Web cache that helps provide secure, fast, and manageable Internet connectivity. ISA Server also provides a high-performance Web proxy and cache that improves performance and delivers cost savings by effectively managing network bandwidth.
• Microsoft Systems Management Server
  Microsoft Systems Management Server delivers cost-effective, scalable change and configuration management for desktops and servers based on Microsoft Windows and helps administrators to distribute security updates for all Microsoft products throughout an enterprise. Built on industry-standard management protocols, Systems Management Server is compatible with complementary management tools from Microsoft and other companies.
• Microsoft Operations Manager
  Microsoft Operations Manager delivers enterprise-class operations management by providing comprehensive event management, proactive monitoring and alerting, reporting, and trend analysis. It is also key to helping reduce the day-to-day support costs associated with running applications and services in a Windows–based IT environment.
• Microsoft Application Center
  Microsoft Application Center is Microsoft's deployment and management tool for high-availability Web applications built on Windows. Application Center makes managing groups of servers as simple as managing a single computer. Application Center empowers developers and Web site administrators to deploy applications quickly and easily while minimizing the in-depth application knowledge requirements. In turn, this reduces the complexity and cost of operating scalable, highly-available applications.

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Application Infrastructure

In today's highly complex IT environments, no application is an island—every development project needs to consider the implications of interoperability and how to integrate an application within the existing IT environment. And so the key criteria for any decision about application infrastructure—in addition to the benefits it provides—is, how productive is the development environment? How much plumbing does the infrastructure provide so that the developers don't need to build it themselves? What is the long-term impact of that application infrastructure on the IT environment as a whole?

Windows Server System is focused on integration and interoperability. Consequently, Windows Server System strives to provide the highest level of dependability, performance, and productivity for application development, while also making it easier to interoperate with line-of-business applications already in place in your IT organization.

The Windows Server 2003 server platform delivers the following core elements:

1. An integrated programming model through the .NET Framework that enables an unprecedented level of software integration using XML Web services.
2. An integrated Web server through Internet Information Services that delivers Web security, reliability, and speed.
3. Integrated directory services that deliver performance, scale, and flexibility.

Together, Visual Studio .NET 2003 and Windows Server 2003 provide a unified application platform with a consistent programming model that scales from device to data center. Because the development toolset and the .NET Framework are tuned specifically for the Windows Server operating system, this integrated application platform delivers the highest levels of developer productivity and operating system performance.

The Windows Server System database management and e-business servers extend this application platform to provide the integrated and interoperable Application Infrastructure for enterprise application integration, business process automation, through-the-firewall messaging, and customer and partner e-business portals. Through common infrastructure and .NET technology, Windows Server System ensures that these capabilities work well for the line-of-business applications that exist in your IT environment today so that these applications can be extended and connected with other internal applications, as well as with business partners, suppliers, and customers.

Products and capabilities include the following:

• Microsoft SQL Server
  Microsoft SQL Server is a complete, Web-enabled database and data analysis package that opens the door to the rapid development of a new generation of enterprise-class business applications that can give your company a critical competitive advantage. SQL Server provides core support for XML and the capability to query across the Internet and beyond the firewall.rnet and beyond the firewall.
• Microsoft BizTalk Server
  Microsoft BizTalk Server enables you to rapidly build and deploy integrated business processes within your organization and with partners. BizTalk Server offers a set of tools and services that make building business processes and integrating applications faster. You can quickly implement trading partner relationships independent of operating system, programming model, or programming language.
• Microsoft Commerce Server
  Microsoft Commerce Server reduces the complexity and time required to deliver tailored, effective e-commerce solutions. By providing the application framework, together with sophisticated feedback mechanisms and analytical capabilities, Commerce Server helps you to quickly develop sites that optimize the customer experience, encouraging repeat business and forging tighter partner relationships.
• Microsoft Content Management Server
  Microsoft Content Management Server dramatically reduces the time required to build and deploy content-driven Web sites that deliver high scalability, reliability, and performance. Content Management Server empowers content providers to manage their own content and provides site users with a targeted and personalized experience tailored to their individual profiles and browsing devices.
• Microsoft Host Integration Server
  Microsoft Host Integration Server extends your Windows–based applications to other systems by providing application, data, and network integration. Host Integration Server helps you quickly adapt to new business opportunities while preserving existing infrastructure investments.
• Microsoft Speech Server
  Microsoft Speech Server, the newest integrated member of Windows Server System, delivers flexible speech technologies at the lowest total cost of ownership.

The Windows Server System Application Infrastructure helps you maximize development productivity and reduce complexity and costs. As a result, you can focus on meeting your business needs.

Information Worker Infrastructure

We see a world where information workers—individuals who rely on information to do their jobs—can effortlessly find, access, manage, and share information through an integrated information infrastructure. This infrastructure needs to connect people, information, and processes to optimize business value through communications and collaboration.

Windows Server System delivers an integrated and interoperable infrastructure designed to maximize the productivity of information workers. With a focus on integration through common architecture, the Information Worker Infrastructure delivered in Windows Server System helps unlock previously isolated information, increase the speed and effectiveness of collaboration, and empower information workers to make more informed decisions quickly.

Windows Server 2003 server platform delivers the core data and collaboration services that help you deliver richer collaboration solutions more easily and help lower support overhead by letting users do more work on their own. Information worker productivity begins with data. The integrated data services in Windows Server 2003 deliver a scalable storage architecture that helps to protect end-user data, ensure data availability and integrity, and reduce the inadvertent loss of data while empowering users to recover their data on their own. Integrated media services deliver streaming media capabilities to support a rich experience for users while enabling IT to more easily manage network bandwidth. In addition, with the integrated team services, information workers can easily create Web sites for information sharing and document collaboration, enabling simpler and more effective team collaboration.
The Windows Server System communication and collaboration servers extend the capabilities of the Windows Server 2003 server platform for highly productive team collaboration, messaging, and real-time communications. This integrated Information Worker Infrastructure helps companies to seamlessly connect information, people, and systems to drive superior visibility and to foster better, faster decisions across the entire business.

Products and capabilities include the following:

• Microsoft Exchange Server
  Microsoft Exchange Server delivers best-in-class e-mail*#150;based collaboration services with security, reliability, and ease of access, giving information workers better control of their business communications so that enterprises of all sizes can make decisions more efficiently and compete more effectively.
• Microsoft Office Live Communication Server 2003
  Microsoft Office Live Communication Server 2003 is the enterprise-ready platform for instant messaging (IM), presence awareness, and extensible real-time communication and collaboration that connects people, information, and business processes—enabling better decisions faster. With a familiar user experience integrated into the Microsoft Office System environment, Live Communications Server 2003 allows people to communicate without the constraints of geography, office location, or time zone.
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server
  Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server is the flexible portal offering that enables information workers to quickly and easily find, share, and publish information. Together, SharePoint Portal Server and Windows SharePoint Services give users the ability to organize information, readily access that information, manage documents, and enable efficient collaboration, all in a familiar, browser-based and Microsoft Office-integrated environment.

Server Platform

Windows Server 2003 is the most secure and reliable server platform Microsoft has ever released. As the foundation for the Windows Server System, the server platform provides a unifying layer of common services across the IT, application, and information worker infrastructures.

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