Several enhancements have been made to the Active Directory offerings within Windows Server 2008. The improvements increase the support and security of an Active Directory-based network. Active Directory support has been enhanced and extended to include:
Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
Active Directory Certificate Services
Active Directory Federation Services
Active Directory Rights Management Services
To learn more, please visit the Windows Server 2008 Identity and Access Management page.
Internet Information Services 7 (IIS 7.0) enhances the application support that was found in IIS 6.0 by providing a security-enhanced, easy-to-manage platform for developing and reliably hosting Web sites, applications, and services. Improvements include:
More efficient management of server and Web applications and services
Quicker deployment/configuration of Web applications and services across server farms
A more secure, streamlined, and customized Web platform
Greater performance and scalability of Web applications and services
Fine control and visibility into how and when applications and services utilize key operating system resources
To learn more, please visit the Internet Information Services page.
Network Load Balancing (NLB)
In Windows Server 2008, the improvements to Network Load Balancing (NLB) include support for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) and Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) 6.0, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) enhancements, and improved functionality with Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server. Enhancements include:
Failover Clustering
Providing high availability to mission-critical applications, services, and data is a primary objective of successful IT departments. When services are down or fail, business continuity is interrupted, which can result in significant losses. Failover clustering in Windows Server 2008 helps ensure that your mission-critical applications and services, such as e-mail and line-of-business applications, are available when you need them.
Failover clustering in Windows Server 2008 can help you build redundancy into your network and eliminate single points of failure. The improvements to failover clusters (formerly known as server clusters) in Windows Server 2008 are aimed at simplifying clusters, making them more secure, and enhancing cluster stability. All of which helps reduce downtime, guard against data loss, and reduce your total cost of ownership.
Because they are included in the enhanced-capability editions of Windows Server 2008, such as Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Windows Server 2008 Datacenter, Windows Server 2008 failover clusters are much less expensive than comparable systems, which can cost thousands of dollars. Ease of deployment and affordability make Windows Server 2008 an ideal high-availability solution for organizations of all sizes.
To learn more, please visit the Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering page.
Windows Server Backup provides a basic backup and recovery solution for the server it is installed on. You can also use this feature to manage backups on remote servers. The new version of Windows Server Backup in Windows Server 2008 includes several enhancements over previous versions:
Faster backups
Simplified restores
Simplified recovery of operating systems
Ability to recover applications
Improved scheduling
Easy removal of backups offsite for disaster protection
Remote administration
Automatic disk usage management
Extensive command-line support
Support for DVD media
To learn more, please visit the Windows Server 2008 Storage and Print Solutions page.
Device Management and Installation is a group of technologies that support the installation of hardware devices and the device driver software that enables them to communicate with Windows. Features in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 give administrators the ability to control the devices that can be installed on the computers they manage.
To learn more, please visit the Device Management and Installation TechCenter.
By using a fax server, you can manage shared fax resources. This topic discusses what you can do with a fax server, the required and optional features of a fax server, and hardware and software used for running fax servers. It also explains how to install the Fax Server role and how to open Fax Service Manager to work with fax servers.
You can use a fax server to configure fax devices to enable the users in your network to send and receive faxes. On a computer running the Windows Server 2008 operating system, you must install the Fax Server role, which is available from Server Manager, to create a fax server and install the Fax service and Fax Service Manager.
Once you have created a fax server, you can use the server to do the following:
Configure fax devices
Manage users
Set up routing policies for incoming faxes
Set up rules for outbound faxes to specific device groups
Set up archiving of faxes that have been previously sent or received
Configure logging to track the use of fax resources
Fax users can then send, receive, and manage faxes by using a network fax device that is managed by the fax server. To learn more visit the Fax Server Technology Center.
File and print services have been enhanced in Windows Server 2008 to allow better file management and improved print support. The new TCP/IP stack increases that transfer speed between Windows Server 2008 and client systems running Windows Vista and Windows XP Service Pack 2. Distributed File System for Replication (DFS-R) is included to optimize the network load when working with branch office and remote locations.
Windows Server 2008 includes the Print Management Console (PMC) Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that enables you to install, view, and manage all of the printers in your organization from any computer running Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008 operating systems. The printer subsystem includes a new printer architecture that provides users with better printer and print server performance, and provides a new foundation for future applications.
To learn more, please visit the Windows Server 2008 Storage and Print Solutions page.
Group Policy is an infrastructure used to deliver and apply one or more desired configurations or policy settings to a set of targeted users and computers within an Active Directory environment. This infrastructure consists of a Group Policy engine and multiple client-side extensions (CSEs) responsible for writing specific policy settings on target client computers.
Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is a scriptable Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in, providing a single administrative tool for managing Group Policy across the enterprise. GPMC is the standard tool for managing Group Policy. Download the GPMC.
You can use the Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) snap-in to create detailed reports about applied policy settings in two modes: logging mode and planning mode. Logging mode displays policy settings that are applied to computers or users that have logged on. Planning mode simulates policy settings that will be applied to a computer or user, or you can use planning mode to check assigned policy settings for a computer that is not currently available or a user that is not currently logged on. For more information about the RSoP snap-in, see Use the RSoP Snap-in.
The Local Group Policy Editor is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that provides a single user interface through which all the settings of Local Group Policy objects can be managed. Learn more about the Local Group Policy Editor.
For more information see the Group Policy Technology Center.
