Windows 7’s big brother

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WS08-R2_h_rgb

I have got Windows 7 RC  running my games rig at home and all is well with Flight Simulator X, GRiD etc but what interests me at work is Windows Server 2008 r2.  This is also at RC  and is available to download with your TechNet subscription here.

Like Windows 7 it’s evolution not revolution and my favourite things are..

  • R2 core (minimal install of the operating system) now supports .Net and can urn asp .Net websites.  It can run the SQL Server 2008 database engine but this won’t be supported until the next release of SQL Server.
  • DirectAccess, which I have mentioned before provides a seamless VPN experience to Windows 7 end users and only uses standard secure ports that are open on most firewalls.  DirectAccess client PCs can then be centrally managed as though the PCs were on the corporate LAN.
  • Branch Cache is commercial bit torrent to enable secure file sharing at branches thus reducing the need to repeatedly get the sane information form head office and so makes better use of the WAN.
  • Active Directory gets a recycle bin, a friendly UI for occasional users and Powershell support
  • Hyper-V Live migration allows virtual machines to be moved across nodes in a cluster without loss of service, which is similar to v-motion except that this is built in to Windows Server 2008 r2 rather than being an option
  • Windows Server 2008 r2 can support 256 cores so SQL can use these directly or take advantage 32 virtual processors available in Hyper-V in the new release.
  • AppLocker extends group policy to give the IT Pro back control of the PC, by mandating what can and can’t be run on a desktop, and doing it in such a way that if a new version or sp comes out you don’t have to change the policy.

That’s far from the complete list, and you can see that what makes Windows 7 significant for business is how it uses these features on the new server version.  If you want to find out more stay by your PC on June 19th.

Technorati Tags: Winodws Server 2008 r2,DirectAccess,AppLocker,Hyper-V,Branch Cache,Active Directory