Windows Server 2008Other feature server 08:
core os improvement
active directory improvements
policy related improvements
disk management & file storage improvements
protocol & cryptography improvements
improvements due to client-side (windows vista) enhancements
miscellaneous improvements
Core OS improvements
Fully multi-componentized operating system.
Improved
hot patching, a feature that allows non-kernel patches to occur without the need for a reboot.
Support for being booted from
Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI)-compliant firmware on
x86-64 systems.
Dynamic Hardware Partitioning
Support for the hot-addition of processors and memory, on capable hardware.
Support for the hot-replacement of processors and memory, on capable hardware
Active Directory improvements
A new "Read-Only Domain Controller" operation mode in Active Directory, intended for use in branch office scenarios where a domain controller may reside in a low physical security environment. The RODC holds a non-writeable copy of Active Directory, and redirects all write attempts to a Full
Domain Controller. It replicates all accounts except sensitive ones. In RODC mode, credentials are not cached by default. Moreover, only the Domain Controller running the
PDC-Emulator needs to run Windows Server 2008. Also, local administrators can log on to the machine to perform maintenance tasks without requiring administrative rights on the domain.
Restartable
Active Directory allows ADDS to be stopped and restarted from the Management Console or the command-line without rebooting the domain controller. This reduces downtime for offline operations and reduces overall DC servicing requirements with Server Core. ADDS is implemented as a Domain Controller Service in Windows Server 2008.
Policy related improvements
All of the
Group Policy improvements from Windows Vista. Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is built-in. The Group Policy objects are indexed for search and can be commented on.
[11]Policy-based networking with
Network Access Protection, improved branch management and enhanced end user collaboration. Policies can be created to ensure greater
Quality of Service for certain applications or services that require prioritization of network bandwidth between client and server.
Granular password settings within a single domain - ability to implement different password policies for administrative accounts on a "group" and "user" basis, instead of a single set of password settings to the whole domain.
Disk management and file storage improvements
The ability to resize hard disk partitions without stopping the server, even the system partition. This applies only to simple and spanned volumes, not to striped volumes.
Shadow Copy based block-level backup which supports optical media, network shares and
Windows Recovery Environment.
DFS enhancements - SYSVOL on DFS-R, Read-only Folder Replication Member. There is also support for domain-based DFS namespaces that exceed the previous size recommendation of 5,000 folders with targets in a namespace.
[12]Several improvements to
failover clusters (
High-availability clusters).
[13]Internet Storage Naming Server (
iSNS) enables central registration, deregistration and queries for
iSCSI hard drives.
Protocol and cryptography improvements
Support for 128- and 256-bit
AES encryption for the
Kerberos authentication protocol.
New
cryptography (CNG) API which supports
elliptic curve cryptography and improved certificate management.
Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol, a new Microsoft
proprietary VPN protocol.
AuthIP, a Microsoft proprietary extension of the
IKE cryptographic protocol used in
IPsec VPN networks.
Server Message Block 2.0 protocol in the new TCP/IP stack provides a number of communication enhancements, including greater performance when connecting to
file shares over high-latency links and better security through the use of
mutual authentication and message signing.
Improvements due to client-side (Windows Vista) enhancements
Searching Windows Server 2008 servers from Windows Vista clients delegates the query to the server, which uses the
Windows Search technology to search and transfer the results back to the client.
In a networked environment with a
print server running Windows Vista, clients can render print jobs locally before sending them to print servers to reduce the load on the server and increase its availability.
Event forwarding aggregates and forwards logs of subscribed Windows Vista client computers back to a central console. Event forwarding can be enabled on the client subscribers from the central server directly from the event management console.
Offline Files are cached locally so that they are available even if the server is not, with copies seamlessly updating when the client and server are reconnected.
Miscellaneous improvements
Windows Deployment Services replacing Automated Deployment Services and
Remote Installation Services. Windows Deployment Services (WDS) support an enhanced multicast feature when deploying operating system images.
Internet Information Services 7 - Increased security,
XCOPY deployment, improved diagnostic tools,
delegated administration.
An optional "Desktop Experience" component provides the same
Windows Aero user interface as Windows Vista, both for local users, as well as remote users connecting through Remote Desktop
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