Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta Available
Ned here. You can grab the beta:
Download Windows Server 2008 R2
Remember that unless you are part of TAP, TechBeta, or OEM Beta, there is no support for this product. It is only for evaluation purposes, and should be used in non-production, non-critical environments. Feel free to ask questions here, or visit our Windows Server 2008 R2 forums. The download is in ISO format, and has the following hardware requirements:
System requirements
The following are estimated system requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2. If your computer has less than the "minimum" requirements, you will not be able to install this product correctly. Actual requirements will vary based on your system configuration and the applications and features you install.
Processor
Processor performance depends not only on the clock frequency of the processor, but also on the number of processor cores and the size of the processor cache. The following are the processor requirements for this product:
Minimum: 1.4 GHz x64 processor
Recommended: 2 GHz or faster
RAM
The following are the estimated RAM requirements for this product:
- Minimum: 512 MB
- Recommended: 2 GB or more
- Maximum (64-bit systems): 32 GB (for Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard) or 2 TB (for Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter, or Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems).
Disk space requirements
The following are the approximate estimated disk space requirements for the system partition. Itanium-based and x64-based operating systems will vary from these estimates. Additional disk space may be required if you install the system over a network.
Minimum: 10 GB
Recommended: 40 GB or more
Note Computers with more than 16 GB of RAM will require more disk space for paging, hibernation, and dump files.
Other requirements
- DVD-ROM drive
- Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution monitor
- Keyboard and Microsoft® mouse (or other compatible pointing device)
Important information for x64-based operating systems
Ensure that you have updated and digitally signed kernel-mode drivers for x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008. (These include the 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2008 except for Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems.)
If you install a Plug and Play device, you may receive a warning if the driver is not digitally signed. If you install an application that contains a driver that is not digitally signed, you will not receive an error during Setup. In both cases, Windows Server 2008 R2 will not load the unsigned driver.
If you are not sure whether the driver is digitally signed, or if you are unable to boot into your computer after the installation, use the following procedure to disable the driver signature requirement. This procedure enables your computer to start correctly, and the unsigned driver will load successfully.
To disable the signature requirement for the current boot process:
- Restart the computer and during startup, press F8.
- Select Advanced Boot Options.
- Select Disable Driver Signature Enforcement.
- Boot into Windows® and uninstall the unsigned driver.