WindowsServer2008StandardEdition

WindowsServer2008StandardisoneofMicrosoft'sentrylevelserverofferings(alongsideWindowsWebServer
2008)andisoneoftheleastexpensiveofthevariouseditionsavailable.Onlya64bitversionsareavailable,and
intermsofhardwareStandardEditionsupportsupto32GBofRAMand4processors.
WindowsServer2008isprimarilytargetedandsmallandmidsizedbusinesses(SMBs)andisidealforproviding
domain,web,DNS,remoteaccess,print,fileandapplicationservices.Supportforclustering,however,isnotably
absentfromthisedition.
AnupgradepathtoWindowsServer2008StandardisavailablefromWindows2000ServerandWindowsServer
2003StandardEdition.

WindowsServer2008EnterpriseEdition
<google>ADSDAQBOX_FLOW</google>WindowsServer2008EnterpriseEditionprovidesgreaterfunctionality
andscalabilitythantheStandardEdition.AswithStandardEdition,onlya64bitversionisavailable.
Enhancementsincludesupportforasmanyas8processorsandupto2TBofRAM.
AdditionalfeaturesoftheEnterpriseeditionincludesupportforclustersofupto8nodesandActiveDirectory
FederatedServices(ADFS).
WindowsServer2000,Windows2000AdvancedServer,WindowsServer2003StandardEditionandWindows
Server2003EnterpriseEditionmayallbeupgradedtoWindowsServer2008EnterpriseEdition.

WindowsServer2008DatacenterEdition
TheDatacentereditionrepresentsthetopendoftheWindowsServer2008productrangeandistargetedat
missioncriticalenterprisesrequiringstabilityandhighuptimelevels.WindowsServer2008Datacentereditionis
tiedcloselytotheunderlyinghardwarethroughtheimplementationofcustomHardwareAbstractionLayers(HAL).
Assuch,itiscurrentlyonlypossibletoobtainDatacentereditionaspartofahardwarepurchase.
Aswithotherversions,theDatacentereditionisavailableonlyina64bitversionandsupportsupto2TBofRAM.
Inaddition,thiseditionsupportsaminimumof8processorsuptoamaximumof64.
UpgradepathstoWindowsServer2008DatacenterEditionareavailablefromtheDatacentereditionsofWindows
2000and2003.

WindowsWebServer2008
WindowsWebServer2008isessentiallyaversionofWindowsServer2008designedprimarilyforthepurposeof
providingwebservices.ItincludesInternetInformationServices(IIS)7.0alongwithassociatedservicessuchas

SimpleMailTransferProtocol(SMTP)andTelnet.Itisavailableina64bitversiononlyandsupportsupto4
processors.RAMislimitedto32GB.
WindowsWebServer2008lacksmanyofthefeaturespresentinothereditionssuchasclustering,BitLockerdrive
encryption,multipathI/O,WindowsInternetNamingService(WINS),RemovableStorageManagementandSAN
Management.

WindowsServer2008FeaturesMatrix
<google>WIN28BOX</google>Nowthatwehavecoveredingeneraltermsthevariousdifferenteditionsof
WindowsServer2008wecannowlookinalittlemoredetailatafeaturebyfeaturecomparisonofthefour
differenteditions.Thisisoutlinedinthefollowingfeaturematrix:
Feature

Enterprise Datacenter Standard Web Itanium

ADFSWebAgent

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

DirectoryuIDM

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

DesktopExperience

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

WindowsClustering

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

WindowsServerBackup

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

WindowsNetworkLoadBalancing(WNLB)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

SimpleTCP/IPServices

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

SMTP

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

SubsystemforUnixBasedApplications(SUA)

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

TelnetClient

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

TelnetServer

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

MicrosoftMessageQueuing(MSMQ)

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

RPCOverHTTPProxy

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

WindowsInternetNamingService(WINS)

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

WirelessClient

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

WindowsSystemResourceManager(WSRM)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

SimpleSANManagement

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

LPRPortMonitor

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

TheWindowsFoundationComponentsforWinFX Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

BITSServerExtensions

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

iSNSServerService

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

BitLockerDriveEncryption

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

MultipathIO

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

RemovableStorageManagement

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

TFTP

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

SNMP

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

ServerAdminPack

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

RDC

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

PeertoPeerNameResolutionProtocol

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

RecoveryDisk

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

WindowsPowerShell

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

WindowsServer2008HardwareRequirements
BeforeinvestingtimeandresourcesintodownloadingandinstallingWindowsServer2008,thefirststepistogain
anappreciationofthehardwarerequirementsnecessarytoeffectivelyruntheoperatingsystem.Thefollowing
tableprovidesanoverviewofMicrosoft'srecommendedminimumhardware:
Category

Minimum/RecommendedRequirements

Processor

Minimum:1GHz(x86processor)or1.4GHz(x64processor)
Recommended:2GHzorfaster
Note:ForItaniumbasedsystemsanIntelItanium2processorisrequired.

Memory

Minimum:512MBRAM
Recommended:2GBRAMorgreater
Maximum:32GB(Standard)or2TB(Enterprise,Datacenter)

AvailableDisk

Minimum:10GB

Space

Recommended:40GBorgreater
Note:SystemswithRAMinexcessof16GBwillrequiregreateramountsofdiskspaceto
accommodatepaging,hibernation,anddumpfiles

Drive

DVDROMdrive

Displayand

SuperVGAorgreaterresolutionmonitor(800x600)

Peripherals

Keyboard
MicrosoftMouseorcompatiblepointingdevice

AswiththespecifiedsystemrequirementsforallWindowssystemsitisbesttoaimfortheRecommendedvalues
ratherthantheMinimumvaluestoensureacceptablelevelsofperformance.Forexample,whilstitispossibleto
runWindowsServer2008in512MbofRAMitisunlikelythatperformancelevelswillbeoptimalwithsucha
configuration.