Enterprises are under many challenges from growing business needs, ensuring business operations are available 24x7, and an increasing requirement for greater security and compliance. All while trying to control ever-increasing server sprawl, resources, and budgets.
Windows Server 2008 provides powerful features that help businesses maximize the flexibility, availability, and control of their servers while reducing costs and enhancing IT performance.
- High Availability
The high-end editions of Windows Server 2008 support several advanced strategies to help keep vital server workloads available to customers, partners, and employees around the world and around the clock. These range from built-in failover clustering in the event of a node failure to the ability to change memory and processors without rebooting the server.
- Virtualization
Server virtualization technology can help your business optimize resources, and realize significant infrastructure and management cost savings, by consolidating underutilized physical servers onto virtual servers running on fewer physical hosts. With Windows Server 2008, virtualization becomes a unique, high-availability strategy for businesses.
- Scalability
Scalability is a central concern to IT organizations seeking to meet spikes in demand on essential applications or planning headroom for the future—essentially providing insurance for growth needs. Windows Server 2008 provides numerous avenues for scaling, including support for tremendous memory and processor loads.
- Migrating to Windows
Historically, the primary line-of-business applications were run on mainframe, midrange, and UNIX/RISC platforms. With Windows Server 2003, the deployment of mission-critical workloads to Windows Server accelerated. Now, with the release of Windows Server 2008, the largest, most complex tasks are now handled with improved reliability, scalability, and manageability.
- Identity and Access Management
In addition to the identity management features and improvements to security features available in all editions of Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Windows Server 2008 Datacenter provide unique functionalities, like Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) and Advanced Certificate Services, that maintain employee productivity while enhancing the security features of IT operations.
- Better Together - Application Scenarios
Microsoft SQL Server is used for database applications, where scalability and high availability are important.
Microsoft Exchange Server e-mail is considered a mission-critical application, as any downtime affects productivity. Implementing high-availability solutions for messaging is important. Scalability is an important benefit, enabling you to provide more mailboxes or increase mailbox size with a smaller server footprint.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server provides a platform for collaboration—a key enabler for better response and speed to market. The AD FS-based identity management features are critical for making collaboration highly secure across employees, vendors, and partners. The high-availability of SharePoint Server, supported by the high-end editions of Windows Server, makes cross-team collaboration effective and productive.
