WinServer 2003 SP2 Comes Alive!

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So.  Yes.  Okay.  I'm a Peter Frampton fan.  And, when I learned that our planned release of Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) had, well, released today, it made me think of Frampton's "Frampton Comes Alive!" album from 1976. 

Why? 

I don't know. 

Seriously.

I did happen to go to Plattsburgh State University (of New York) where several of the tracks were recorded (well before my tenure there).  Maybe that's it.

Moving on to the business at hand. 

WS03SP2 includes a bunch of stuff related to networking, including the following features:

  • Scalable Networking Pack (TCP Chimney Offload, Receive-side Scaling and NetDMA)
  • IPsec Simple Policy Update (aka Improved IPsec filter management) for making Server and Domain Isolation deployments easier with WS03 and XP
  • Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) support for XP x64 and WS03
  • Enabling ‘Firewall Per Port’ Authentication which means "Firewall per port authentication secures traffic between the Extranet environment and internal assets that are protected via IPsec Domain Isolation. "

And, there's a whole lot more that makes Server Pack 2 worth a good look and eventual deployment.

"So, how do I get it?"

It's already available off of Windows Update/Microsoft Update.  At first (as pictured below) it was placed under the High-priority updates, but it is now a "Software, Optional". 

Nevertheless, we'll be making this an automatic update in the a few months, much like we did with Windows Server 2003 SP1 and XP SP2. 

You can also visit the official SP2 site on TechNet and find all different versions of the SP for WS03 and XP x64 Edition:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sp2.mspx

The above link includes links the downloads (regular and ISO flavors), overview docs, like the overview and what's new in SP2, and deployment guidance.  There's also a great "Top 10 Reasons to Install" which happens to feature two of my favorites as #3 and #4:

Download SP2 and start evaluating.  Especially since the WDS features will help you get Windows Vista deployed and, well, heck, it's got a lot of networking goodness to keep you happy while we finish up Windows Server "Longhorn".