What's New in Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 R2 enhancements simplify branch server management, improve identity and access management, reduce storage management costs, provide a rich Web platform, and offer cost-effective server virtualization.

A central component of the Windows server operating systems, the Active Directory directory service provides the means to manage the identities and relationships that make up network environments.

Advances in Windows Server 2003 provide many benefits for developing applications, resulting in lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and better performance.

Windows Server 2003 R2 delivers enhancements that help reduce fundamental branch office integration limitations imposed by WANs and bandwidth-hungry file system protocols, while promoting centralized management which helps reduce costs.

Clustering technologies provide significant improvements in availability, scalability, and manageability. Installation is easier and more robust in Windows Server 2003, and enhanced network features provide greater failover capabilities and high system uptime.

Windows Server 2003 R2 delivers improved file serving capability by integrating collaboration capabilities in the platform and also improved print functionality by offering a remote print console, allowing organizations to reduce overall TCO and simplify management of printing recourse from remote location.

With Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, Microsoft has completely revised the IIS architecture in the Windows server operating systems to address the demanding needs of enterprise customers, Internet service providers (ISPs), and independent software vendors (ISVs).

Kerberos is an authentication mechanism used to verify user or host identity and is the preferred authentication method for services in Windows Server 2003.

Easier to deploy, configure, and use, Windows Server 2003 provides centralized, customizable management services to reduce TCO.

Networking improvements and new features in Windows Server 2003 extend the versatility, manageability, and dependability of network infrastructures, expanding on the foundation established in the Windows 2000 Server family.

Windows Server 2003 is a secure platform for doing business. It lets organizations take advantage of existing IT investments, and extend those advantages to partners, customers, and suppliers.

Windows Server 2003 introduces new and enhanced features for storage management, making it easier and more reliable to manage and maintain disks and volumes, backup and restore data, and connect to storage area networks (SANs).

The Terminal Server component of Windows Server 2003 provides organizations with a more reliable, more scalable, and more manageable server-based computing platform. It offers new options for application deployment, more efficient access to data over low bandwidth, and enhances the value of legacy and new, lighter-weight devices.

Microsoft Windows Media™ Services is the server component of Windows Media technologies used to distribute digital media content over corporate intranets and the Internet. Windows Media Services delivers the most reliable, scalable, manageable, and economical solutions for distributing streaming audio and video.

Enterprise Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) Services makes it easy to discover, share, and reuse XML Web services and other programmable resources. This article introduces core scenarios, benefits, and features for UDDI Services.