What's new in Windows Server 2008

Solid Foundation

• Windows PowerShell, a new optional command-line shell and scripting language, enables administrators to automate routine system administration tasks across multiple servers.
• Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor provides powerful diagnostic tools to give you ongoing visibility into your server environment, both physical and virtual, to pinpoint and resolve issues quickly.
• Componentized Server Core installation option allows minimal installations where only the server roles and features you need are installed, reducing maintenance needs and decreasing the available attack surface of the server.
• Windows Deployment Services (WDS) provides a simplified, highly secure means of rapidly deploying Windows operating systems to computers by using network-based installation.
• Failover clustering wizards make it easy for even IT generalists to implement high-availability solutions, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is now fully integrated, and geographically dispersed cluster nodes no longer need to be on the same IP subnet or configured with complicated Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs).
• Network Load Balancing (NLB) now supports IPv6 and includes multiple dedicated IP address support which allows multiple applications to be hosted on the same NLB cluster.

Virtualisation

• Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, the next-generation hypervisor-based server virtualization technology, allows you to consolidate servers and use hardware more efficiently.
• Several enhancements to Terminal Services (TS) improve presentation virtualization.
• Simpler licensing terms makes using these technologies more straightforward.
• Support for the latest hardware-assisted virtualization technologies allows virtualization of very demanding workloads.
• New storage features, such as pass-through disk access and dynamic storage addition, allow VMs more access to data, and give external programs and services more access to data stored on VMs.
• Clustering of Windows Server virtualization (WSv) hosts or VMs running on WSv hosts and backup of VMs while they are running keep your virtualized servers highly available.
• Terminal Services (TS) RemoteApp and TS Web Access allow programs that are accessed remotely to be opened with just one click and appear as if they are running seamlessly on the end user's local computer.
• TS Gateway helps provide secure remote access to Windows-based programs through firewalls – without the need for a virtual private network (VPN).
• TS Licensing Manager adds the ability to track the issuance of TS per User Client Access Licenses (CALs). Built into Windows Server 2008, TS Licensing is a low-impact service the enables centralized administration, tracking, reporting, and efficient purchasing of TS per User CALs.