Windows Server 2008 released

[gxsaurav]

5 years after the last server centric operating system from Microsoft, namely Windows Server 2003, Microsoft released Windows Server 2008 to RTM on February 4 2008. It is available for immediate download via Technet & MSDN.

Windows Server 2008 is a unique & different release in many manners compared to the old server operating systems. It is loaded with features of Windows Vista & reliability of Windows Server. For the first time ever Windows Sever 2008 installation is like Windows Vista, means a big image file which reduces the installation time.

However this isn't all. Windows Server 2008 Is Microsoft`s Leanest, Meanest Yet. This is first version of Server OS which can be slimmed down to even a headless configuration & you can remove everything you don't need from this server OS. The new Windows Server boasts a set of networking enhancements that dramatically boost file serving performance, and the product can be deployed in a new, stripped-down Server Core configuration, which significantly reduces the attack surface of systems hosting certain Windows Server roles.

It comes with IIS 7, Microsoft Hypervisor, Windows Powershell, Headless operation in form of Server Core installation & many other management enhancements.

This time installation can also be done using the newly created Windows Deployment Services which make it very easy for system admins to deploy.

Windows Server 2008 ships with an overhauled TCP/IP stack and a new version of its SMB file-sharing service, which together can deliver significant performance gains in file-sharing scenarios, specifically over high-latency connections.

Unlike previous versions of Windows Server, which bound network adapters to a single processor, Windows Server 2008 is able to spread the processing load for incoming network traffic across multiple processors.

Another enhancement to Windows Server's TCP/IP stack is the Receive Window Auto Tuning feature, which determines the optimal amount of data to be sent over a connection at once by measuring the latency of the connection. On low-latency links, larger amounts of data can be sent efficiently at one time, but as connection latency grows, Windows Server sends less data per transmission window.

Microsoft's SMB (Server Message Block) 2.0 file services protocol boosts performance over high-latency links by reducing the “chattiness” of the protocol. Rather than wait for receipt acknowledgments before sending more data, SMB 2.0 supports sending multiple SMB commands per packet. This more parallel method of operation can deliver substantial speedups that grow more dramatic as connection latency lengthens.

One of the most immediately recognizable new features of Windows Server 2008 is the Server Manager, which is an outgrowth of the "configure my server" dialog that launches by default on Windows Server 2003 machines. However, rather than serve only as a starting point to configuring new roles, the new Server Manager gathers together pretty much all of the operations you'd want to conduct on your server.

One of the most promising new features of Windows Server 2008 is its support for hypervisor-based virtualization. The feature, which Microsoft calls Hyper-V, enables administrators to host x86 or x86-64 operating systems on Windows Server, and compares well to VMware's ESX Server and Citrix's XenEnterprise virtualization products.

One of the Terminal Services enhancements, which Microsoft calls RemoteApp, enables administrators to publish individual applications, as opposed to remote desktop sessions. I tested out RemoteApp with the Firefox Web browser, the GIMP image editing application and VMware's Virtual Infrastructure client. From a Windows XP or Windows Vista client, these applications appeared as if running locally, complete with resizable windows

The modular design exhibited in Windows Server 2008's stripped-down core configuration carries over to Microsoft's Web server, IIS 7.0, which consists of more than 40 separate modules that administrators can install as needed. This modularity helps limit IIS 7.0's attack surface and keeps patching requirements as low as possible.

Also noteworthy in IIS 7.0 is the server's move to XML-based text files for configuration, which can help simplify configuration tasks and broaden the sorts of tools that administrators can use to manage their configuration settings.

Source eWeek

[iMav]

now thats cool

[MetalheadGautham]

I wonder how this fares in front of pre existing famous server OSes like Slackware, RHEL, etc :roll:

[Charan]

RemoteApps looks interesting ..

@GX is the details about licencing released wrt virtualization?

[The Conqueror]

Cool News

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by MetalheadGautham

I wonder how this fares in front of pre existing famous server OSes like Slackware, RHEL, etc

Windows Server 2008 is better. Those other server OS don't have technologies like hypervisor etc & it will take them 1 or 2 more release to catch up to Windows Server 2008.

Charan, these are the licensing costs as given by eWeek, that's all that I know right now.

[The Conqueror]

Windows Server is the best of all

[kalpik]

Who said linux servers dont have a hypervisor? Heard of KVM?

[NucleusKore]

And Open SuSE has XEN

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by kalpik

Who said linux servers dont have a hypervisor? Heard of KVM?

Nope, I have not...Linux sux when it comes to advertising the features.

[kalpik]

Heh.. these have been around since like 2-3 years now i guess.. BTW, got my PM?

[din]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Nope, I have not...Linux sux when it comes to advertising the features.

LOL, thats it

Even without ads, majority of sites runs on Linux, now think if they start advertising

Oh I see, these popular sites runs on Apache n Linux !

1 - winvistaclub.com (Anand)

2 - askvg.com (Vishal)

They didn't see any ads before taking the decision I guess I mean they know which is better.

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

Originally Posted by din

They didn't see any ads before taking the decision I guess I mean they know which is better.

Or which is Cheaper

[din]

LOL, may be, I am not sure.

My friend whos running a reputed hosting firm (not like the members who are resellers here) that own 11 servers in US - he offer 10 Mb Lin for space for Rs.200 and 10 MB Win for Rs.225

May be Anand n Vishal look only for cheap servers. I do not know !! Like saving that Rs.25

[Charan]

Originally Posted by din

LOL, may be, I am not sure.

My friend whos running a reputed hosting firm (not like the members who are resellers here) that own 11 servers in US - he offer 10 Mb Lin for space for Rs.200 and 10 MB Win for Rs.225

May be Anand n Vishal look only for cheap servers. I do not know !! Like saving that Rs.25

10mb? well what can one do with 10MB? maybe just a static site without pics... also consider that one doesnot require the knowledge of linux to work on websites. he just has to know how to move files and how to work with CMS.

[din]

Originally Posted by Charan

10mb? well what can one do with 10MB? maybe just a static site without pics... also consider that one doesnot require the knowledge of linux to work on websites. he just has to know how to move files and how to work with CMS.

Ohhh, no, I am not into fights lol.

I just gave a very simple example, never meant to say 10 MB is enough for a big website. Most of the small sites (not like thinkdigit or something) will have five or six pages and 10 MB is quite ok for those. Yes, the person who own the site or work with it does not need to know how Linux server works or how Win server works, agree with you 100%.

And he need not know how to work with CMS as a website need not be a CMS always ! Basic knowledge of FTP is quite adequate.

I just wanted to tell my opnion - as we can see majority of sites runs on Linux or similar opensource servers, it is not just money, it is about reliability. As majority will not compromise on that. That is what I felt, I may be wrong too !

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

Dunno bout you , but i think that small Hosting Companies use Linux because of Cost .

And for the most part , It Doesn't Matter whether you're running Linux or Win Server as both of them support the Dominant Scripting Technologies(PHP,Python,etc) .

[kumarmohit]

Wat abt the exams, they retired MCSE i think

[MetalheadGautham]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Windows Server 2008 is better. Those other server OS don't have technologies like hypervisor etc & it will take them 1 or 2 more release to catch up to Windows Server 2008.

Charan, these are the licensing costs as given by eWeek, that's all that I know right now.

hypervisor came only now in windows. Virtualisation technologies existed ages ago in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Its supposed to be much faster, and has deep emulation tools.

M$ Just named their services to something cool sounding to make people buy it.

Not intending to degrade windows server but I think windows server is starting to become one of the worst options to run a Server. For high end servers, there is z/OS (don't say me you don't know z/OS. Its the king of all OSes, and costs a hell lot of cash), and for anything below it, you have *NIXes like Linux, HP-UX, Solaris, BSD, etc.

I hope that this version atleast comes built in with M$ Dot Net Framework related web programming kits, so that atleast lazybones can buy this OS.

[din]

Originally Posted by Zeeshan Quireshi

It Doesn't Matter whether you're running Linux or Win Server as both of them support the Dominant Scripting Technologies(PHP,Python,etc) .

1. It matters (yes, does not matter for small site )for medium / big sites as reliability is a major deciding factor for them.

2. Not all win hosts / plans support php, python etc.

3. Win had to support php, python etc as more and more people code in those and a lot of major / big sites use em. (remember the perl story ? goin lil offtopic though)

Also, have a look at these links to see the Win n Lin rates

1 and 1 Lin Rates

1 and 1 Win Rates

Now, sure people go for Lin coz its cheap ?

LOL, no this is not an ad and I am not using their service either. As they are one main hosting provider, thought I will give it as an example.

[MetalheadGautham]

linux cheap ? if you go and see the customisation option for dell servers, you will see that linux can be much much more costlier than windows. Only, the free ones are used because there are admins qualified enough to run them.