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Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2

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The 64-Bit Windows Server 2008 R2 platform is the most advanced Windows Server operating system yet, designed to power the next-generation of networks, applications, and Web services. With Windows Server 2008 R2 you can develop, deliver, and manage rich user experiences and applications, provide a highly secure network infrastructure, and increase technological efficiency and value within your organization.

Windows Server 2008 R2 builds on the success and strengths of its Windows Server predecessors while delivering valuable new functionality and powerful improvements to the base operating system. New Web tools, virtualization technologies, security enhancements, and management utilities help save time, reduce costs, and provide a solid foundation for your information technology (IT) infrastructure.

New Features include:

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.

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.

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.

A Solid Foundation for your Business

Windows Server 2008 R2 provides a solid foundation for all of your server workload and application requirements while also being easy to deploy and manage. The all new Server Manager provides a unified management console that simplifies and streamlines server setup, configuration, and ongoing management. Windows PowerShell, a new command-line shell, helps enable administrators to automate routine system administration tasks across multiple servers.

Windows Deployment Services provides a simplified, highly secure means of rapidly deploying the operating system via network-based installations. And Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clustering wizards, and full Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) support plus consolidated management of Network Load Balancing, make high availability easy to implement even by IT generalists.

The new Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 R2 allows for installation of server roles with only the necessary components and subsystems without a graphical user interface. Fewer roles and features means minimizing disk and service footprints while reducing attack surfaces. It also enables your IT staff to specialize according to the server roles they need to support.

Virtualisation Built-in

Windows Server Hyper-V, the next-generation hypervisor-based server virtualization technology, allows you to make the best use of your server hardware investments by consolidating multiple server roles as separate virtual machines running on a single physical machine. You can also efficiently run multiple operating systems - Windows, Linux, and others – in parallel on a single server. With Hyper-V and simple licensing policies, it's now easier than ever to take advantage of the cost savings of virtualization.

Applications can also be efficiently virtualized using Windows Server 2008 R2 centralized application access technologies. Terminal Services Gateway and Terminal Services RemoteApp allow easy remote access to standard Windows-based programs from anywhere by running them on a terminal server instead of directly on a client computer - without the need for a complicated virtual private network (VPN).

Built for the Web

Windows Server 2008 R2 comes with Internet Information Services 7.5 (IIS 7.5), a Web server and security-enhanced, easy-to-manage platform for developing and reliably hosting Web applications and services. A major enhancement to the Windows Web platform, IIS 7.5 includes a componentized architecture for greater flexibility and control. IIS 7.5 also provides simplified management, powerful diagnostic and troubleshooting capabilities that save time, and comprehensive extensibility.

Internet Information Server IIS 7.5 together with the .NET Framework 3.0 provides a comprehensive platform for building applications that connect users and data, enabling them to visualize, share, and act on information. Additionally, IIS 7.5 plays a central role in unifying Microsoft's Web platform technologies—ASP.NET, Windows Communication Foundation Web services, and Windows SharePoint Services.

High Security

Windows Server 2008 R2 is the most secure Windows Server yet. The operating system has been hardened to help protect against failure and several new technologies help prevent unauthorized connections to your networks, servers, data, and user accounts. Network Access Protection (NAP) helps ensure that computers that try to connect to your network comply with your organization's security policy. Technology integration and several enhancements make Active Directory services a potent unified and integrated Identity and Access (IDA) solution. And Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) and BitLocker Drive Encryption allow you to more securely deploy your AD database at branch office locations.

Available Versions

Windows Server 2008 R2 is available in multiple editions to support the varying server and workload needs of an organisation. Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard is the default operating system on all of our managed servers. Customers may choose an alternative OS if they wish.

Windows Web Server 2008 is designed to be used specifically as a single-purpose Web server, and delivers on a rock-solid foundation of Web infrastructure capabilities in the next-generation Windows Server 2008 R2. Integrated with the newly re-architected IIS 7.5, ASP.NET, and the Microsoft .NET Framework, Windows Web Server 2008 enables any organization to rapidly deploy Web pages, Web sites, Web applications, and Web services.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard is the most robust Windows Server operating system to date. With built-in, enhanced Web and virtualization capabilities, it is designed to increase the reliability and flexibility of your server infrastructure while helping save time and reduce costs. Powerful tools give you greater control over your servers, and streamline configuration and management tasks. Plus, enhanced security features work to harden the operating system to help protect your data and network and provide a solid, highly dependable foundation for your business.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacentre delivers an enterprise-class platform for deploying business-critical applications and large-scale virtualization on small and large servers. Improve availability with clustering and dynamic hardware partitioning capabilities. Reduce infrastructure costs by consolidating applications with unlimited virtualization licensing rights. Scale from 2 to 64 processors. Windows Server 2008 R2 DataCentre provides a foundation on which to build enterprise-class virtualization and scale-up solutions.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise delivers an enterprise-class platform for deploying business-critical applications. Help improve availability with clustering and hot-add processor capabilities. Help improve security with consolidated identity management features. Reduce infrastructure costs by consolidating applications with virtualization licensing rights. Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise provides the foundation for a highly dynamic, scalable IT infrastructure.