The
acronym stands for Release to Manufacturing, and it means this latest release
of Windows Server 2008 R2 is now blessed by engineering as ready for the
manufacturing process. We're talking final code. Sun shining, birds singing,
children dancing in the streets.
With
evaluation software available for download in the first half of August and the
full product available to customers with Software Assurance in the second half
of August, RTM is more than just an engineering milestone. Occurring in
lock-step with the release of the Windows 7 RTM, these two platforms are now
ready for our partners to start testing and installing on their hardware. And
that lock-step isn't a coincidence, it's a design goal.
Customers
using Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 in their enterprises has been
Microsoft's intent from the first day programmers touched fingers to keyboards.
Let's look at the highlights:
HAPPY ADMINISTRATORS
It's
Christmas for server and desktop administrators with Windows Server 2008 R2's
updated management tools, including:
·
Hyper-V
and Live Migration - still the big
stars. R2's Hyper-V enables a complete server virtualization solution available
out-of-the-box. Live Migration allows server administrators to migrate VMs between
physical machines with no perceived downtime for current server connections and
work streams. That means a more dynamic datacenter and more agility in meeting
new business needs For more information on Hyper-V in R2, check out today's
in-depth post on theVirtualization
Team blog.
·
File
Classification Infrastructure - FCI lets you manage your data based on its
characteristics, including things like file type, user credentials and even
content. Based on this kind of criteria, FCI can assign data different access
restrictions, store it in different locations or simply push it into an
entirely customized lifecycle scheme - all done automatically via policy. For
me, this is one of the most exciting new features in R2.
·
Active
Directory and Pervasive PowerShell - 240 new PowerShell cmdlets and several management
consoles (including a new Active Directory interface) have been built on top of
PowerShell. Active Directory has also been enhanced with the Active Directory
Recycle Bin as well as AD Group Policy objects that give desktop administrators
deeper capabilities when it comes to managing Windows 7 clients.
·
IIS
7.5 - The latest
edition of Internet Information Server also sports updated management tools as
well as application serving capabilities that now including support for PHP and
.NET on Server Core installations.
·
Server
Scalability - Not only is R2
Microsoft's first 64-bit-only operating system, it also supports up to 256
logical processors in a single server as well as all the latest CPU
technologies. And, R2 has support for advanced storage technologies, including
SAN management and solid state hardware.
HAPPY USERS
I'll
leave it to the Windows 7 team to evangelize the many advantages that Windows 7
has as a standalone operating system (click here for the Windows 7
RTM announcement). But we server guys love it because combined with
Windows Server 2008 R2 we can provide features I've never seen before in
another client-server platform.
·
DirectAccess, for example, provides secure, always-on
access to corporate networks no matter from what network a client might be
connecting. Better yet, it provides a two-way relationship allowing desktop
admins to manage clients the same way whether they're local or remote.
·
BranchCache allows users in remote offices to cache
corpnet data locally, providing a better work experience for remote workers
while simultaneously lowering expensive WAN bandwidth costs.
·
Remote
Desktop and Applications -
Windows Server 2008's Terminal Services has now evolved into R2's Remote
Desktop Services, and it integrates so tightly with Windows 7 that
administrators will be able to roll out virtualized applications and even
entire desktop environments without users being able to tell that these tools
aren't running locally. It's fast and can even be managed via policy. Very cool
stuff.
LOWER BUDGETS
Power
efficiency and power management were priorities for R2. The power
efficiency improvements help you save power automatically - without additional
steps or configuration. An improved processor power management engine,
storage power management improvements, tick skipping, core parking, and timer
coalescing all contribute to improved power efficiency.
While
licensing topics are a bit arcane, those of you already running Windows Server
2008 should know that you don't need new Client Access Licenses (CALs) when
updating to Windows Server 2008 R2, which helps make for a cost-effective
upgrade.
I'm
out of space and have only scratched the surface of what you'll find in R2. You
can follow the buzz about R2 and Windows 7 on Twitter via the #Windows hashtag.
For
those evaluating the software for near-term deployment, make sure to visit the Windows Server
2008 R2 Resource Center, our TechNet Resource Center as
well and also our Application
Compatibility page. And as always, send us your feedback when
you're testing the software. Happy testing,
No comments:
Post a Comment