By Dominic Joseph, Business Development Manager

Windows Server 2008 R2 is the newest Windows Server operating system from Microsoft. Designed to help organizations reduce operating costs and increase efficiencies, Windows Server 2008 R2 provides enhanced management control over resources across the enterprise. It is designed to provide better energy efficiency and performance by reducing power consumption and lowering overhead costs. It also helps provide improved branch office capabilities, exciting new remote access experiences, streamlined server management, and expands the Microsoft virtualization strategy for both client and server computers.

Powerful Hardware and Scaling Features

Windows Server 2008 R2 was designed to perform as well or better for the same hardware base as Windows Server 2008. In addition, R2 is the first Windows Server operating system to move solely to a 64-bit architecture.

Windows Server 2008 R2 also has several CPU-specific enhancements. First, this version expands CPU support to enable customers to run with up to 256 logical processors. R2 also supports Second Level Translation (SLAT), which enables R2 to take advantage of the Enhanced Page Tables feature found in the latest AMD CPUs as well as the similar Nested Page Tables feature found in Intel's latest processors. The combination enables R2 servers to run with much improved memory management.

Components of Windows Server 2008 R2 have received hardware boosts as well. Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 can now access up to 32 logical CPUs on host computers-twice Hyper-V's initial number of supported CPUs. This capability not only takes advantage of new multicore systems, it also means greater virtual machine consolidation ratios per physical host.

Reduced Power Consumption

Windows Server 2008 introduced a 'balanced' power policy, which monitors the utilization level of the processors on the server and dynamically adjusts the processor performance states to limit power to the needs of the workload. Windows Server 2008 R2 enhances this power saving feature by adding Core Parking and expanding on power-oriented Group Policy settings.

Core Parking is an exciting development that allows Windows Server 2008 R2 to constantly track the relative workloads of every logical core in a server relative to all the others. Cores that aren't being fully utilized can be put into sleep mode until their silicon muscle is required. This capability means a 16-way server with a light workload can turn itself into a 4-way server until workloads suddenly increase and then spin up reserve CPU power in milliseconds.

Active Directory® Domain Services Group Policy in Windows Server 2008 already gave administrators a certain amount of control over power management on client PCs. These capabilities are enhanced in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows® 7 to provide even more precise control in more deployment scenarios for even greater potential savings.

Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2008 R2 also holds the much-anticipated update to Microsoft's virtualization technology, Hyper-V. The new Hyper-V was designed to augment both existing virtual machine management as well as to address specific IT challenges, especially around server migration.

Hyper-V is an enabling technology for one of Windows Server 2008 R2's marquee features, Live Migration. With Hyper-V version 1.0, Windows Server 2008 was capable of Quick Migration, which could move VMs between physical hosts with only a few seconds of down-time. Still, those few seconds were enough to cause difficulties in certain scenarios, especially those including client connections to VM-hosted servers. With Live Migration, moves between physical targets happen in milliseconds, which means migration operations become invisible to connected users.

Customers employing System Center Virtual Machine Manager for Hyper-V will also enjoy additional management and orchestration scenarios, including a new VM-oriented Performance and Resource Optimization feature and updated support for managing failover clusters.

The new Hyper-V also has core performance enhancements, including the previously mentioned ability to take advantage of 32 logical processors on the host and to beef up that CPU performance with host support for Second Level Translation (SLAT). Finally, VMs can also add and remove VHD disks without requiring a reboot and also boot from VHD as well.

Increased Desktop Management Efficiencies

Much of the interest in virtualization solutions is in the server world. However, equally exciting advances are being made in presentation virtualization, where processing happens on a server optimized for capacity and availability while graphics, keyboard, mouse, and other user I/O functions are handled at the user's desktop.

Windows Server 2008 R2 contains enhanced Virtual Desktop Integration (VDI) technology, which extends the functionality of Terminal Services to deliver certain business programs to their employee's remote desktops. With VDI, programs that Remote Desktop Services sends to a computer are now available on the Start menu right alongside programs that are locally installed. This approach provides improved desktop virtualization and better application virtualization.

Desktop virtualization will benefit from features including improved personalization management, a near-invisible integration of virtualized desktops and applications in Windows 7, better audio and graphics performance, a seriously cool Web access update and more. VDI provides more efficient use of virtualized resources and better integration with local peripheral hardware as well as powerful new virtual management features.

Easier and More Efficient Server Management

Although increasing the capabilities of your server operating system is always a good thing, the perceived downside has always been additional complexity and workload for day-to-day server managers. Windows Server 2008 R2 specifically addresses this problem with lots of work evident across all of its management-oriented consoles. Features in these tools include:

* Improved data center power consumption and management, as evidenced earlier

* Improved remote administration, including a remotely-installable Server Manager

* Improved identity management features via the updated and simplified Active Directory Domain

* Services and Active Directory Federated Services

* PowerShell 2.0

PowerShell 2.0

Windows Server 2008 introduced PowerShell, a powerful command-line-based feature that enables administrators to automate repetitive administration tasks by using command-let (cmdlet) scripts. A series of core cmdlets were pre-installed with Windows Server 2008 along with the basic tools required for administrators to create their own cmdlets.

Windows Server 2008 R2 introduces PowerShell 2.0, which significantly enhances the earlier version with the inclusion of more than 240 new pre-built cmdlets as well as a new graphical user interface (GUI) that adds professional-level development features for creating new cmdlets. The new GUI includes colored syntaxing, new production script debugging capabilities, and new testing tools.

Ubiquitous Remote Access

Today's mobile workforce is increasing the demand on IT to provide remote access to corporate resources. However, managing remote computers is an ongoing challenge, with low wide area network (WAN) bandwidth and sporadic connection and re-connection processes interfering with lengthier desktop management tasks such as Group Policy changes and up-to-date patching.

Tel 760 707 1100 |  Cell 858 531 7224  |  Fax 760 707 1118
 Tech Team 
www.techteam.com