Windows Server 2008

This session, presented by the co-author of Windows Internals (Microsoft Press), goes beneath the surface to explore the new features and enhancements in the Windows Server 2008 operating system to improve security, scalability and reliability. Learn about cycle-based scheduling, hot-plug CPU and memory support, self-healing NTFS, I/O priorities, kernel transaction manager, service security improvements, Address Space Load Randomization, and more.

Microsoft released the new desktop, Windows Vista, in November 2006... but that's just the start. A new version of Server's right on its heels -- formerly code-named "Longhorn Server". Windows Server 2008 will pack a ton of new stuff, from some really good news in Active Directory to some nifty new deployment tools, a quarantine system that'll help you keep the worm-ridden systems off of your network, a revamped Web server, and a few truly long-awaited changes in group policy. How to find out about all of this? Well, you could download a few terabytes' worth of white papers and start sifting through them to separate the wheat from the chaff, or you could attend this short talk by Mark Minasi, the guy who's been explaining new operating systems since Windows 1.0. Come to this talk and find out why Server Core may be your favorite new piece of software!

Active Directory Domain Services in Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Domain Services in Windows Server 2008 includes new features and enhancements that are focused around the fundamentals: improved security, reliability, performance, reduced operational complexity, and increased deployment flexibility. This session presents the Windows Server 2008 features in Active Directory.

In the spirit of keeping you updating on Windows Storage Solutions, this week members of our team are off to Orlando, Florida for the bi-annual Storage Networking World (SNW) conference.  You may recall that last October at SNW, we announced the RTM of Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2007 as part of Microsoft’s Universal Distributed Storage commitment to deliver storage solutions with high-end storage functionality via a multitude of partners. 

 

Reinforcing that commitment to storage solutions, I’d like to highlight progress and announcements that our partners are making at SNW:

 

·         Cisco introduced the WAAS WAE 674 Appliance that provides local application hosting and acceleration of centralized data center applications.  The Cisco WAAS WAE-674 can be upgraded with embedded virtualization software to support “virtual blades” for hosting off-the-shelf applications, beginning with Windows Server 2008. 

 

·         AMD announced availability of the industry’s first Reference Design Kit (RDK) for the Storage Bridge Bay (SBB) 2.0 Specification.  The RDK supports Network Attached Storage (NAS), Storage Area Networks (SANs), Unified Storage systems, as well as all major interface connectivity options including GigE, 10GigE, Fibre Channel, and Infiniband.  SBB 2.0 and the Windows Storage Server platform will help promote affordable enterprise class storage functionality to customers of all sizes.

 

·         Fujitsu debuted an easy-to-install network attached storage (NAS) appliance for small to medium businesses called F-NAS.  Based on Windows, F-NAS features Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003 (WUDSS) and allows both file and block-level data to be transferred over Ethernet networks.  F-NAS also consolidates storage under a single Microsoft Management Console (MMC), simplifying the management of storage resources.

 

·         emBoot delivered winBoot/i v2.5, an important update to its iSCSI boot solution for Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, that utilizes Microsoft's iSCSI architecture to allow the booting of any Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 devices using existing low-cost Ethernet adapters versus substantially more expensive host bus adapters (HBAs).

 

More information on SNW can be found here.

 

Tina Couch