Windows Server 2008 R2

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
kernel 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, version 7.5 of IIS (the Web server), and support for up to 256 logical processors.

Editions:
There are seven editions: Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, HPC Server, Itanium and
Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 (Essentials Edition).

Hardware Requirements:

Minimum for Windows Server Recommended for Windows Server 2008

Maximum: 8 GB (Foundation) or 32 GB
Memory 512 MB RAM (Standard) or 2 TB (Enterprise, Datacenter,
and Itanium-Based Systems)

Video
adapter and Super VGA (800 × 600) Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution
monitor
32 GB or greater for editions 32 GB or greater for editions other than
other than Foundation Foundation
Foundation: 10 GB or more  
Computers with more than 16
Hard drive GB of RAM require more disk
Foundation: 10 GB or more
disk free space for paging, hibernation, and
space dump files[35]
Computers with more than 16 GB of RAM
  require more disk space for paging,
hibernation, and dump files[35]
   
Optical drive DVD-ROM DVD-ROM
Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher-
Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher-resolution
Devices resolution monitor, keyboard and
monitor, keyboard and mouse
mouse
Features:
Although it seems like Windows Server 2008 was just released, Microsoft is already getting ready to
deliver the follow-up release, Server 2008 R2. This release follows the cycle used for Windows Server
2003—the major OS release, followed by a minor R2 release. Server 2008 R2 includes a host of new
management capabilities and functionality that administrators are sure to love. Look for a full review of
Windows Server 2008 R2 coming soon to WindowsITPro.com and Windows IT Pro. For now, let's look at
the top ten new features in Server 2008 R2.

10. 64-bit only—Windows Server 2008 R2 marks the first time that the Windows Server OS will be 64-bit
only, meaning that Server 2008 R2 must run on x64-compatible hardware. Almost all of today's popular
server hardware will accommodate this requirement, but the R2 release won't run on 32-bit systems.

9. Support for 256 cores—Improved scalability is another important feature in Server 2008 R2, which
will be able to utilize up to 256 cores. This number is a huge jump from the 64-core limit in the original
Windows Server 2008.

8. Core Parking—Windows Server 2008 R2's new Core Parking functionality enables improved power
management. Core Parking lets the OS suspend cores that aren't in use, thereby saving the power
required to run those cores. Parked cores can be reactivated in milliseconds to respond to increased
workloads.

7. Remote Desktop Services—Another change in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the rebranding of Terminal
Services to Remote Desktop Services. However, the changes aren't in name alone. The new Remote
Desktop Services includes support for the Aero Glass interface, multiple monitors, and DirectX 11, 10
and 9.

6. New Hyper-V—A new Hyper-V release is included in Server 2008 R2. A prerelease version of Hyper-V
was shipped with the original Windows Server 2008. R2 includes the latest version of Hyper-V. In this
version, VMs are able to address up to 32 cores per VM, and the use of TCP Offload and Jumbo Frames
provides improved networking performance. One of the biggest improvements in Hyper-V is support for
the next item, Live Migration.

5. Live Migration—Probably one of the most anticipated features in R2, Live Migration improves VM
availability by letting you move Hyper-V VMs between hosts with no downtime. Live Migration is
Microsoft's answer to VMware's VMotion. Live Migration is built on top of R2's new Cluster Shared
Volumes technology, which lets multiple cluster nodes concurrently access the same LUN.

4. Support for the .NET Framework in Server Core—One of the biggest disappointments in the original
Server 2008 release was the lack of support for the .NET Framework in Server Core, which meant that
technologies that seemed perfect for Server Core, such as Windows PowerShell and ASP.NET
applications, couldn't run on Server Core. R2 fixes this problem by adding support for a subset of the
.NET Framework that supports both ASP.NET and PowerShell.
3. PowerShell 2.0—Server 2008 R2 includes PowerShell 2.0, which features improved WMI cmdlets and
support for running scripts on remote systems, creating ScriptCmdlets, and running background jobs. In
addition, R2 has a new graphical PowerShell UI for developing and debugging PowerShell scripts.
PowerShell 2.0 is compatible with PowerShell 1.0

2. Remote server management—Server Manager was one of the best improvements in Server 2008
because it provides a centralized and useful console for managing Windows Server. However, Server
Manager is limited to working with the local system. With R2, Server Manager can be installed on
network clients and can be used to manage remote Server 2008 systems.

1. Active Directory Administrative Center—For administrators, the biggest change in Server 2008 R2 is
undoubtedly the new Active Directory Administrative Center, which replaces the older Active Directory,
Domains and Trusts, Sites and Services, and Users and Computers management tools. The Active
Directory Administrative Center is built on top of PowerShell and its actions are scriptable. One really
nice feature is the new Active Directory Recycle Bin.

Service Packs:
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 temporarily 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".