The Windows Server 2008 server operating system enables a network server to handle a diverse set of roles — such as print server, domain controller, Web server, and file server — and to be the platform for separately acquired server applications — such as Exchange Server or SQL Server.
The Standard Edition is designed for small-to-medium-sized organizations that need no more than one instance of the server software in a virtual operating system. For a highly dynamic, scalable IT infrastructure or for up to four instances of Windows Server in guest virtual machines, organizations should consider the Enterprise Edition.
Because Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista have a common code base, this initial release of Windows Server 2008 includes the Service Pack 1 update to Windows Vista.
32-Bit and x64 Versions: The installation media for this product include two sets of DVD-ROMs and can be used for either 32-bit or x64 systems.
Installing this product requires a licence key and installation media. Within 14 days of placing your order, instructions for obtaining the licence key will be sent to your organisation's registered e-mail address and free installation media will be delivered to your organisation's registered address.
- Under the Software Assurance programme, customers acquire the right to install any new release of products covered in the agreement during the term of their coverage.
- Hyper-V (available only for 64-bit platforms) provides tools for creating and managing a virtualized server computing environment, allowing organisations to reduce the amount of hardware needed to run server workloads, to reduce the amount of time it takes to set up hardware and software and reproduce test environments, and to run different operating systems on a single server.
- The optional Server Core installation provides a minimal environment for running specific server roles — Active Directory Domain Services, Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS), Internet Information Services 7.0, and Hyper-V — reducing the maintenance and management requirements and also the exposure to attack for those server roles.
- Windows Server 2008 delivers a unified platform for Web publishing that integrates IIS, ASP.NET, and Windows Communication Foundation and also supports SharePoint Services.
- Application Server is a new server role in Windows Server 2008. Application Server provides an integrated environment for deploying and running custom business applications that are built with Microsoft .NET Framework version 3.0.
Hardware:
- 1-GHz (or higher) processor (1.4-GHz for the x64 version); 2-GHz or higher recommended
- 512 MB or more RAM; 2 GB recommended
- 10 GB available hard-disk space; 40 GB recommended (computers with more than 16 GB RAM require more disk space for paging, hibernation, and dump files)
- DVD drive
Actual requirements depend on system configuration and the applications and features that are installed. Additional hard-disk space might be required for installation over a network.
Related Products: The following servers and licenses are in the Windows Server family.
Windows Server 2008 servers (Enterprise)Windows Server 2003 servers (Standard)
Windows Server 2003 servers (Enterprise)(English/Multilanguage)
Windows Server 2003 servers (Standard)(English/Multilanguage)
Windows Server licenses External Connector, Device CAL, User CAL, Terminal Services Device CAL, Terminal Services User CAL
