10. The Print Management Console (PMC). This was originally released with Windows Server 2003 R2. But unlike the R2 release, it’s a native function in Windows 2008, and available to everyone. PMC is a snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), which lets an admin see every printer in an entire organization, from one console. In addition, you can use Group Policy to map printers to specific user groups, so that the Accounting folks won’t be hogging printers that Engineering needs.
9. Auditpol. This is a verbose logging tool that allows you to configure, create, back up and restore audit policies on any computer in your organization. In these days of regulatory compliance, auditing is more important than ever, and Auditpol may eliminate the need for a third-party auditing program. It includes a greatly expanded list of auditing counters from the simple tools available in Windows 2003, and hundreds of different categories that let you “create a paper trail of what’s going on inside your OS,” Ralston says.
8. Windows Remote Shell (WinRS). To connect to a command prompt on a remote computer in Windows 2003, an admin needed to use Terminal Services. TS worked well but wasn’t scalable, requiring a connection to a console on each remote computer. WinRS makes secure connections to as many remote computers as necessary, all from a single console. That could be a significant time-saver for admins.
7. Event forwarding. This benefit is available to organizations that run Vista on their desktops. Event forwarding aggregates and forwards logs of chosen computers back to a central console, making management much more efficient. Say you’re an admin and you start getting calls from users who are seeing the dreaded “Event 51? pop up on their screens, indicating a logon problem. Instead of employing sneakernet technology — running from machine to machine to comb through security events or other problems — you simply “subscribe” Vista computers through your console, and they send whatever information you ask for right to your door.
6. Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS). In Windows 2003, this was known as Windows Rights Management Services. It was available in Windows 2003, but only as an add-on product for purchase. It’s built into Windows 2008, and includes some upgrades. AD RMS assists in the creation of rights-protected files, licensing rights-protected information, and checking to make sure that only authorized users have access to rights-protected data. Some of the enhancements for Windows 2008 include the ability to administer AD RMS through the MMC, and delegate AD RMS tasks through “administrative roles.”
5. New password policies. In Active Directory (AD), the domain is a security boundary. In the forerunner to Windows 2008, Windows Server 2003, that boundary led to the restriction of one password policy per domain. That is a limiting requirement, one that’s been done away with in Windows 2008. Now you don’t have to create new domains to have a new password policy; just set password policies for specific groups or users. If your C-level execs need more stringent policies than your administrative assistants, it’s easy to do in Windows 2008.
Web
Windows Server 2008 gives you the ability to deliver rich Web-based experiences efficiently and effectively, with improved administration and diagnostics, development and application tools, and lower infrastructure costs.
Internet Information Services 7.0: Windows Server 2008 delivers a unified platform for Web publishing that integrates Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0, ASP.NET, Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. IIS 7.0 is a major enhancement to the existing Windows Web server and plays a central role in integrating Web platform technologies. IIS 7.0 helps developers and administrators alike maximize their control over network/Internet interfaces through key functionality pillars that include delegated administration, enhanced security and a reduced attack surface area, integrated application and health management for Web services, and improved administration tools.
Virtualization
With its built-in server virtualization technology, Windows Server 2008 enables you to reduce costs, increase hardware utilization, optimize your infrastructure, and improve server availability.
Terminal Services: Windows Server 2008 introduces new functionality in Terminal Services to connect to remote computers and applications. Terminal Services RemoteApp completely integrates applications running on a terminal server with users' desktops such that they behave as if they were running on an individual user's local computer; users can run programs from a remote location side-by-side with their local programs. Terminal Services Web Access permits this same flexibility of remote application access via Web browser, granting an even wider variety of ways user can access and use programs executing on a terminal server. These features in conjunction with Terminal Services Gateway allow users to access remote desktops and remote applications via HTTPS in a firewall-friendly manner.
Security
Windows Server 2008 is the most secure Windows Server ever. Its hardened operating system and security innovations, including Network Access Protection, Federated Rights Management, and Read-Only Domain Controller, provide unprecedented levels of protection for your network, your data, and your business.
Network Access Protection (NAP): A new framework that allows an IT administrator to define health requirements for the network and to restrict computers that do not meet these requirements from communicating with the network. NAP enforces administrator-defined policies that describe the health requirements for the given organization. For example, health requirements may be defined to include all updates to the operating system be installed, or having antivirus or antispyware software installed and updated. In this way, network administrators can define the baseline level of protection all computers carry when connecting to the network.
Microsoft BitLocker provides additional security for your data through full volume encryption on multiple drives, even when the system is in unauthorized hands or running a different operating system time, data, and control.
Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC): A new type of domain controller configuration in the Windows Server 2008 operating system that makes it possible for organizations to easily deploy a domain controller in locations where the physical security of a domain controller cannot be guaranteed. An RODC hosts a read-only replica of the Active Directory directory services database for a given domain. Prior to this release, users who had to authenticate with a domain controller, but were in a branch office that could not provide adequate physical security for a domain controller, had to authenticate over a wide area network (WAN). In many cases, this was not an efficient solution. By placing a read-only Active Directory database replica closer to branch users, these users can benefit from faster logon times and more efficient access to authentication resources on the network, even in environments with inadequate physical security to deploy a traditional domain controller.
Failover Clustering: Improvements are aimed to makes it easier to configure server clusters while providing protection and availability of your data and applications. By using the new Validate Tool in failover clusters, you can perform tests to determine whether your system, storage, and network configuration is suitable for a cluster. With failover clusters in Windows Server 2008, administrators can carry out setup and migration tasks, as well as management and operations tasks more easily. Improvements to the cluster infrastructure help administrators maximize availability of the services they provide to users, achieve better storage and network performance and improve security.
Solid Foundation for Business Workloads
Windows Server 2008 is the most flexible and robust Windows Server operating system to date. With new technologies and features such as Server Core, PowerShell, Windows Deployment Services, and enhanced networking and clustering technologies, Windows Server 2008 provides you the most versatile and reliable Windows platform for all of your workload and application requirements.
Server Core: Beginning with the Beta 2 release of Windows Server 2008, administrators can choose to install Windows Server with only the services required to perform the DHCP, DNS, file server, or domain controller roles. This new installation option will not install non-essential services and applications and will provide base server functionality without any extra overhead. While the Server Core installation option is a fully functioning mode of the operating system supporting one of the designate roles, it does not include the server graphic user interface (GUI). Because Server Core installations include only what is required for the designated roles, a Server Core installation will typically require less maintenance and fewer updates as there are fewer components to manage. In other words, since there are fewer programs and components installed and running on the server, there are fewer attack vectors exposed to the network, resulting in a reduced attack surface. If a security flaw or vulnerability is discovered in a component that is not installed, a patch is not required.
Windows PowerShell: A new command-line shell with over 130 tools and an integrated scripting language. It enables administrator to more easily control and securely automate routine system administration tasks, especially across multiple servers. Windows PowerShell does not require you to migrate your existing scripts, and it is ideally suited for automation of new Windows Server 2008 features. A new admin-focused scripting language, and consistent syntax and utilities, Windows PowerShell accelerates automation of system administration tasks—such as Active Directory, Terminal Server, and Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0—and improves your organization's ability to address the unique system management problems of your environment.
Windows PowerShell is easy to adopt, learn, and use, because it does not require a background in programming, and it works with your existing IT infrastructure, existing scripts, and existing command-line tools.
Server Manager: A new feature that is included in Windows Server 2008. It is a "one-stop-shop" designed to guide Information Technology administrators through the end-to-end process of installing, configuring, and managing server roles and features that are part of Windows Server 2008. Server Manager replaces and consolidates a number of features from Microsoft Windows Server 2003 such as Manage Your Server, Configure Your Server, and Add or Remove Windows Components. You can use Server Manager to configure various "roles" and "features" on your machine.
Windows Deployment Services (WDS): An updated and redesigned Windows Server 2008 version of Remote Installation Services (RIS), WDS assists with the rapid adoption and deployment of image-based Windows operating systems. WDS allows network-based installation of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 to "bare metal" computers (no operating system installed), and even supports mixed environments including Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003. Windows Deployment Services thus provides an end-to-end solution for deployment of Windows operating systems to client and server computers and reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO) and complexity of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista deployments.
