The acronym stands for Release to
Manufacturing, and it means this latest release of Windows Server 2008
R2 is now blessed by engineering as ready for the manufacturing
process. We’re talking final code. Sun shining, birds singing, children
dancing in the streets.
With evaluation software available for download in the first half of
August and the full product available to customers with Software
Assurance in the second half of August, RTM is more than just an
engineering milestone. Occurring in lock-step with the release of the
Windows 7 RTM, these two platforms are now ready for our partners to
start testing and installing on their hardware. And that lock-step
isn’t a coincidence, it’s a design goal.
Customers using Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 in their
enterprises has been Microsoft’s intent from the first day programmers
touched fingers to keyboards. Let’s look at the highlights:
HAPPY ADMINISTRATORS
It’s Christmas for server and desktop administrators with Windows Server 2008 R2’s updated management tools, including:
- Hyper-V and Live Migration – still the big stars.
R2’s Hyper-V enables a complete server virtualization solution
available out-of-the-box. Live Migration allows server administrators
to migrate VMs between physical machines with no perceived downtime for
current server connections and work streams. That means a more dynamic
datacenter and more agility in meeting new business needs For more
information on Hyper-V in R2, check out today’s in-depth post on the Virtualization Team blog.
- File Classification Infrastructure – FCI lets you
manage your data based on its characteristics, including things like
file type, user credentials and even content. Based on this kind of
criteria, FCI can assign data different access restrictions, store it
in different locations or simply push it into an entirely customized
lifecycle scheme – all done automatically via policy. For me, this is
one of the most exciting new features in R2.
- Active Directory and Pervasive PowerShell – 240
new PowerShell cmdlets and several management consoles (including a new
Active Directory interface) have been built on top of PowerShell.
Active Directory has also been enhanced with the Active Directory
Recycle Bin as well as AD Group Policy objects that give desktop
administrators deeper capabilities when it comes to managing Windows 7
clients.
- IIS 7.5 – The latest edition of Internet
Information Server also sports updated management tools as well as
application serving capabilities that now including support for PHP and
.NET on Server Core installations.
- Server Scalability – Not only is R2 Microsoft’s
first 64-bit-only operating system, it also supports up to 256 logical
processors in a single server as well as all the latest CPU
technologies. And, R2 has support for advanced storage technologies,
including SAN management and solid state hardware.
HAPPY USERS
I’ll leave it to the Windows 7 team to evangelize the many
advantages that Windows 7 has as a standalone operating system (click
here for the Windows 7 RTM announcement).
But we server guys love it because combined with Windows Server 2008 R2
we can provide features I’ve never seen before in another client-server
platform.
- DirectAccess, for example, provides secure,
always-on access to corporate networks no matter from what network a
client might be connecting. Better yet, it provides a two-way
relationship allowing desktop admins to manage clients the same way
whether they’re local or remote.
- BranchCache allows users in remote offices to
cache corpnet data locally, providing a better work experience for
remote workers while simultaneously lowering expensive WAN bandwidth
costs.
- Remote Desktop and Applications – Windows Server
2008’s Terminal Services has now evolved into R2’s Remote Desktop
Services, and it integrates so tightly with Windows 7 that
administrators will be able to roll out virtualized applications and
even entire desktop environments without users being able to tell that
these tools aren’t running locally. It’s fast and can even be managed
via policy. Very cool stuff.
LOWER BUDGETS
Power efficiency and power management were priorities for R2. The
power efficiency improvements help you save power automatically –
without additional steps or configuration. An improved processor power
management engine, storage power management improvements, tick
skipping, core parking, and timer coalescing all contribute to improved
power efficiency.
While licensing topics are a bit arcane, those of you already
running Windows Server 2008 should know that you don’t need new Client
Access Licenses (CALs) when updating to Windows Server 2008 R2, which
helps make for a cost-effective upgrade.
I’m out of space and have only scratched the surface of what you’ll
find in R2. You can follow the buzz about R2 and Windows 7 on Twitter
via the #Windows hashtag.
For those evaluating the software for near-term deployment, make sure to visit the Windows Server 2008 R2 Resource Center, our TechNet Resource Center as well and also our Application Compatibility page. And as always, send us your feedback when you’re testing the software. Happy testing,
–Oliver Rist
Technical Product Manager
Windows Server Marketing
http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/archive/2009/07/22/windows-server-2008-r2-rtm.aspx