Enterprise Solutions

• Improving Security

  Many businesses have a variety of security-related products in place to help protect their computers from spam, viruses, and hackers. Managing multiple applications, tracking updates, and helping to ensure that third-party updates are compatible with existing software are a large part of IT Professionals' lives today. An integrated security solution helps to protect the core infrastructure, the network, and the applications that run within the network. Additionally, when security patches and updates can be distributed from a central location and easily managed, IT managers can know that computers are running the latest updates. An integrated solution means that security fixes are part of everyday infrastructure management, versus a handwritten reminder on the day's to-do list.

• Reducing Costs

  Every extra task IT Professionals need to perform costs money. Every failed attempt of workers to access the tools and information they need costs money. Every minute a network is down because of a technology failure or a security breach costs money. Simplicity is the key to reducing such costs. Simplifying IT management helps IT administrators to manage desktops and servers from a central location, saving time spent traveling to remote offices and performing the tasks. Additionally, when IT Professionals update workstations and servers from a single location, they can be sure all systems are quickly up to date, thereby reducing vulnerabilities in the business.

• Enhancing Productivity

  Productivity gains are realized throughout the company when a well-managed and more secure infrastructure is in place. Whether it is the ability for workers to more securely access their e-mail, files, or applications from virtually any location, or an IT Professional who can now manage the infrastructure proactively from one location, or an executive who is editing a strategic proposal and needs to recover a lost file—productivity gains are made, and employee satisfaction is improved.

Increasing Security

• Identity and Access Management

  The backbone of any IT enterprise is identity management—ensuring the right person or application can access the data they need, while protecting it. Windows Server 2008 Identity and Access Management solutions provide further enhancements to the directory services core, as well as associated services, such as Rights Management and Certificates. Windows Server Identity and Management solutions have been evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of IDA from internal and external access, to the ever increasing boundaries of the enterprise supporting “anytime, anywhere, on any device" access.

• Security and Policy Enforcement

  Helping to ensure users and computers connecting to your network comply with your company's security policy requirements is a priority in today’s business. In addition to the standard policy enforcement that Windows Server has provided for some time, Windows Server 2008 enhances these core features while supporting new platforms, such as Network Access Protection (NAP). NAP helps ensure that you are in control when users and computers are trying to access your network. NAP can make certain that connections have all the latest critical updates, antivirus software, have a functional host firewall, and so on. If not, NAP is also designed to allow you to quarantine them and guarantee they are updated before being allowed on your corporate network. 

Reducing Costs

• Server Virtualization and Consolidation

  In a production environment, having a server which averages only 5-percent CPU utilization costs both time and money. Windows Server 2008 provides key virtualization functionality through Windows Server Hyper-V which enables you to consolidate multiple server roles as separate virtual machines running on a single physical machine. The approach lets you reduce server sprawl and maximize server utilization of your current hardware—and each server can run in its own isolated environment for greater security and easy management.

• Web and Application Platform

  Climbing higher is what Windows Server 2008 strives for in supporting Web applications (and applications in general). We have seen significant enhancements in security and patching, administration tools, configuration and deployment, and diagnostics and extensibility. Each of these areas ensures that both the Web and application platform provide a solid foundation for your business.

Increasing Productivity

• Branch and Global Office

  Today’s enterprises consist of corporate headquarters, subsidiaries, branch offices, remote offices, and satellite sites scattered all over the world. Many of these don’t have IT support locally, and people who have no expertise in IT maintenance usually have hands-on access to your remote servers. Maintaining control over security, management, and reliability is a must. Windows Server 2008 builds on previous global office platforms and introduces new technologies focused on branch and remote office environments, from Read-Only Domain Controllers to ensure secure identity management, and BitLocker Drive Encryption that prevents sensitive data from being stolen, to improvements in file replication and storage.

• High Availability and Clustering

  Ensuring your systems are up when you need them is core to any enterprise, and Windows Server 2008 helps ensure greater reliability and availability than ever before. Further enhancements in network load balancing and clustering will make certain that critical applications and services are always available when you need them to be.

• Server Management

  Windows Server 2008 contains a slate of new and improved tools for managing Windows Server environments within your enterprise. These include Server Manager, which has been enhanced as a single source to manage all your server roles and features (including a command-line version), and Windows PowerShell, a new technology providing a programmable command-line shell and scripting language to manage many features and functions of the server, to name only two.

• Storage and Print Solutions

  Although storage and printing solutions have been around for a very long time, Windows Server 2008 continues to make advances in both of these core technologies, extending easier printing to Terminal Server environments, creating new wizards for activities, such as provisions storage and managing volumes and shares, and introducing a new storage explore focused on creating easier management for Fibre Channel and Internet Small Computer System Interface Storage Area Networks (iSCSI SANs).