Windows Server 2008 R2 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft. It was released
to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and launched on October 22, 2009. According to the Windows
Server Team blog, the retail availability was September 14, 2009. It is built on Windows
NT 6.1, the same kernel used with the client-oriented Windows 7. It is the first 64-bit-only operating
system released from Microsoft. Version enhancements include new functionality for Active Directory,
new virtualization and management features, version 7.5 of Microsoft IIS Web Server and
support for up to 256 logical processors. There are seven editions: Foundation, Standard,
Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, HPC Server, Itanium and Windows Storage Server 2008 R2.
History Microsoft introduced Windows Server 2008 R2
at the 2008 Professional Developers Conference as the server variant of Windows 7.
On January 7, 2009, a beta release of Windows Server 2008 R2 was made available to subscribers
of Microsoft's TechNet and MSDN programs, as well as those participating in the Microsoft
Connect program for Windows 7. Two days later, the beta was released to the public via the
Microsoft Download Center. On April 30, 2009, the release candidate was
made available to subscribers of Microsoft's TechNet and MSDN. On May 5, 2009, the release
candidate was made available to the general public via the Microsoft download center.
According to Windows Server Division WebLog, the following are the dates of the year 2009
when Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 has been made available to various distribution
channels: OEMs received Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM in
English and all Language Packs on July 29. The remaining languages were available around
August 11. ISV and IHV partners have been able to download
Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM from MSDN starting on August 14.
IT Professionals with TechNet Subscriptions were able to download Windows Server 2008
R2 RTM and obtain product keys for in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish beginning
August 14 and all remaining languages beginning August 21.
Developers with MSDN Subscriptions have been able to download and obtain product keys for
Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish starting August
14 and all remaining languages starting August 21.
Microsoft Partner Program Gold/Certified Members were able to download Windows Server 2008
R2 RTM through the Microsoft Partner Program Portal on August 19.
Volume License customers with an existing Software Assurance license were able to download
Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM on August 19 via the Volume License Service Center.
Volume License customers without a Software Assurance license were able to purchase Windows
Server 2008 R2 through Volume Licensing by September 1.
Additionally, qualifying students have been able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM
Standard Edition in 15 languages from DreamSpark. Microsoft has announced that Server 2008 R2
will be the last version of Windows supporting the Itanium architecture.
New features
A reviewer guide published by the company describes several areas of improvement in
version R2. These include new virtualization capabilities, reduced power consumption, a
new set of management tools and new Active Directory capabilities such as a "recycle
bin" for deleted AD objects. IIS 7.5 has been added to this release which also includes
updated FTP server services. Security enhancements include the addition of DNSSEC support for
DNS Server Service. Since many zones use a different algorithm - including the root zone
- this means that in reality Windows still can't serve as a recursive resolver) and encrypted
clientless authenticated VPN services through DirectAccess for clients using Windows 7.
The DHCP server supports a large number of enhancements such as MAC address-based control
filtering, converting active leases into reservations or Link Layer based filters, IPv4 address
exhaustion at scope level, DHCP Name protection for non-Windows machines to prevent name squatting,
better performance through aggressive lease database caching, DHCP activity logging, auto-population
of certain network interface fields, a wizard for split-scope configuration, DHCP Server
role migration using WSMT, support for DHCPv6 Option 15 and Option 32. The DHCP server runs
in the context of the Network Service account which has fewer privileges to reduce potential
damage if compromised. Windows Server 2008 R2 supports up to 64 physical
processors or up to 256 logical processors per system. When deployed in a file server
role, new File Classification Infrastructure services allow files to be stored on designated
servers in the enterprise based on business naming conventions, relevance to business
processes and overall corporate policies. Server Core includes a subset of the .NET
Framework, so that some applications can be used.
Performance improvement was a major area of focus for this release; Microsoft has stated
that work was done to decrease boot time, improve the efficiency of I/O operations while
using less processing power, and generally improve the speed of storage devices, especially
iSCSI. Active Directory has several new features
when raising the forest and domain functional levels to Windows Server 2008 R2. When raising
the domain function level, two added features are Authentication Mechanism Assurance and
Automatic SPN Management. When raising the forest functional level, the Active Directory
recycle bin feature is available and can be enabled using the Active Directory Module
for Powershell. Service Packs
Service Pack 1 On February 9, 2011, Microsoft officially
released the final release of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 to OEM
partners. Apart from bug fixes, it introduces two new major functions, RemoteFX and Dynamic
Memory. RemoteFX enables the use of graphics hardware in order to include support for 3D
graphics in a Hyper-V based VM. Dynamic Memory makes it possible for a VM to only allocate
as much physical RAM as is needed temporarily for its execution. On February 16 Windows
7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 became available for MSDN and TechNet Subscribers as well as
Volume License customers. As of February 22, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 is
generally available for download via the Microsoft Download Center and available on Windows Update.
It has a version number of "6.1.7601.17514.101119-1850".
System requirements System requirements for Windows Server 2008
R2 are as follows: Processor
1.4 GHz x86-64 or Itanium 2 processor Memory
Minimum: 512 MB RAM Recommended: 2 GB RAM
Maximum: 8 GB RAM, 32 GB RAM, or 2 TB RAM Display
Super VGA or higher Disk Space Requirements
Minimum: 32 GB or more Minimum 10 GB or more.
Computers with more than 16 GB of RAM require more disk space for paging and dump files.
Other DVD drive, keyboard and mouse, Internet access
Editions See also
Comparison of Microsoft Windows versions History of Microsoft Windows
References
External links Windows Server 2008 R2 on Microsoft TechNet
winsupersite.com - Windows Server 2008 R2 Preview
Convert Windows Server 2008 R2 to Workstation