Windows Server 2008

Admin Tips that help you share files within Hyper-V, customize tasks in MDT 2010, find UUID of computers, update Windows Images and secure spooled print files.

DameWare NT Utilities was selected the winner in the Remote Control category of the WindowsNetworking.com Readers' Choice Awards. VNC Enterprise Edition and Radmin 3 Remote Control Software were runner-up and second runner-up respectively.

Hi, I’m Rob Williams, the Partner Ecosystem Program Manager for RemoteFX at Microsoft.  Today is a big day for Microsoft and our RemoteFX partners. Today’s release of RemoteFX with Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows 7 SP1 is the culmination of two years’ close collaboration between engineers at Microsoft and engineers in great companies across our industry. This work has allowed us to build a new graphics experience for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) customers.  The download for this release will enable millions of existing servers to run RDP 7.1 with RemoteFX and Remote Desktop Services.  Hundreds of millions of Windows 7 Client machines will be enabled to take advantage of the benefits associated with accessing RemoteFX-capable servers.

 

RemoteFX for Remote Desktop Services supports both Remote Desktop Session Hosts (RDSH) and Remote Desktop Virtualization Hosts (RDVH).  A new feature of RemoteFX for VDI that we are particularly excited about is the world’s first virtualized Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) platform for VDI. We have been working closely with Nvidia and AMD to build this feature, and both Nvidia and AMD are releasing their official RemoteFX GPU boards today.  These boards are being incorporated into servers from the world’s leading server OEMs. HP, Dell, IBM and NEC are all ready to release and support their customers’ RemoteFX deployments.

 

In addition to virtualized GPUs in servers, another really exciting part of RemoteFX technology is the move to support a wider range of thin clients, including zero clients.  HP, Wyse, iGEL, and DevonIT are all announcing RemoteFX thin clients today.  Two new companies are entering into the thin client market with zero clients to support RemoteFX: Cloudium is blogging about the release today and ThinLinX is posting videos of their client in action for both RDSH and RDVH.  It is great to see the excitement around these new small but fast devices.

 

In anticipation of today’s release HP has been designing RemoteFX capable servers and thin clients.  Today they are releasing a RemoteFX reference architecture along with announcing their support of RemoteFX on their thin client.  Check out HP's blog about RemoteFX.

 

Dell is publishing a RemoteFX solution brief and blogging about running RemoteFX on Dell PowerEdge R710 and PowerEdge M610x blade servers.

 

Wyse has been working closely with us since the very early days of RemoteFX.  I’ve been using my Wyse R class desktop and X class mobile thin client running early versions of RemoteFX to access my VMs for the last year.  Today Wyse is announcing that they are delivering RemoteFX on those platforms and their new Z class.

 

iGEL is announcing a line of Linux thin clients that will all support RemoteFX along with RemoteFX support in their Universal Desktop Converter Software.  If you are going to CeBIT, be sure to stop by their booth to see a live demo.

 

DevonIT is also announcing support for RemoteFX in their new TC5Xc thin client and announcing their upcoming support in DeTOS and a new DevonIT ARM client.

 

Because the new model of remoting in RemoteFX enables very thin and zero clients, we have been working closely with Texas Instruments to build the semiconductors that will power the next generation of RemoteFX zero client devices.  TI’s DM3730 is their first entry in a family of TI processors that will target the RemoteFX zero client market.  You will see clients based on that device coming out this year.

 

All of these great companies are joined by our software partners in announcements. These software partners have also been working closely with us to test and support RemoteFX.

 

Last year, Microsoft and Citrix signed a collaboration agreement for RemoteFX which will enable Citrix to integrate and leverage RemoteFX technologies within its XenDesktop suite of products and HDX. And  we have also been working with Quest who  announced support for RemoteFX and our SP1 release in Quest vWorkspace.  They are also blogging about today’s release.

 

Riverbed has been testing RemoteFX and showing what their technology can do for RemoteFX customers.  Today they are blogging about the release and have a great video showing Steelhead Appliances accelerating RemoteFX across the WAN.

 

It has been great to work so closely with industry leaders to bring this technology to market.  I can’t wait to hear the feedback from users when you finally get your hands on a virtualized desktop that delivers a true Windows 7 experience to the thinnest of clients.

 

Be sure to read, Tad Brockway, RemoteFX’s Product Unit Manager’s blog for a bit of history of the team and details on how RemoteFX will change the industry.

 

Now that RemoteFX is available I encourage you all to download the SP1 updates for your server and clients and take a look at the great RemoteFX products that are available today.

Shortly after the acquisition of Calista Technologies in early 2008, my family and I packed up our things and started the drive from the beautiful but rainy Northwest to sunny Silicon Valley. I was about to embark on the adventure of leading the integration of technology and people that ultimately resulted in RemoteFX version 1, which is included in Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.

 

The journey of shipping version 1 is coming to an end, and we are all very proud of what we are shipping. We believe that we are shipping technology that will change the way that the industry and our customers think about desktop virtualization, Hyper-V, and RDP. RemoteFX truly is a game changer. It is a fundamentally unique and novel approach to solving the problem of delivering the full, rich, modern Windows desktop experience to absolutely the broadest range of remote client devices.   

 

With RemoteFX, partners and customers can unlock new deployment scenarios for desktop virtualization that formerly required a full PC for the best user experience. Now, on a device that is nearly as simple as an LCD display, the Windows desktop experience will be as rich and complete as on a local PC. Users will be able to take advantage of solid state, low power, and inexpensive client devices without giving up the full richness of the Windows 7 platform and its seemingly infinite library of great applications.

 

Our server-side partners and IT pros will be able to implement these capabilities by letting end users share server-side hardware. This sharing is fundamental to the promise of virtualization. The RemoteFX virtual graphics processing unit (VGPU) enables individual Windows 7 Hyper-V guests to access a slice of a physical GPU while other guests on the same server are doing the same.

 

Take Empire CLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services, for example. It’s one of the largest chauffeured transportation companies in the world, and more than 75 percent of their work force use VDI. Empire CLS upgraded to Windows Server 2008 R2 SP 1 to take advantage of improvements in memory management and virtual desktop computing. The company found the reduction in power consumption and the rich graphical user experience with RemoteFX to bring significant advantages to their business.

We are proud to be moving Microsoft to the front of the innovation curve with RemoteFX. Microsoft is serious about Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), and RemoteFX makes our commitment clear.

 

I encourage you to give RemoteFX a try by installing SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. RemoteFX is supported for Remote Desktop Virtualization Host servers as well as for Remote Desktop Session Host servers.

 

I want to close by thanking our partners. They have worked closely with us to enable a rich ecosystem of RemoteFX-ready hardware and software solutions for our customers. I am also thankful to all the customers that acted as early adopters and provided us valuable feedback in the Beta and RC timeframe. For months now, we have been hearing positive buzz and excitement from future RemoteFX customers wanting to know when it will be ready to deploy. That time is now!

 

Thanks,

Tad Brockway

RemoteFX Product Unit Manager

 

As originally communicated in Michael Kleef’s blog post, today Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 is available for download.  You can experience the  new virtualization capabilities - Dynamic Memory in Hyper-V and RemoteFX - by downloading the service pack from the Microsoft Download Center if you are currently a Windows Server 2008 R2 customer.  Alternatively you can visit the TechNet Evaluation Center for an evaluation copy of Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1. Get it today!

 

 

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Hi I’m Michael Kleef, Senior Technical Product Manager with the Windows Server and Cloud division. Today, on behalf of the team, I’m pleased to announce the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) of Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1), along with Windows 7 SP1.

 

Two new features in Windows Server SP1, Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX, enable sophisticated desktop virtualization capabilities. These features build on the comprehensive virtualization functionality already included in the Windows Server operating system.

 

Our first new feature, Dynamic Memory, takes Windows Server’s Hyper-V feature to a whole new level.  Dynamic Memory lets you increase virtual machine density with the resources you already have—without sacrificing performance or scalability. In our lab testing, with Windows 7 SP1 as the guest operating system in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) scenario, we have seen a 40% increase in density from Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM to SP1. We achieved this increase simply by enabling Dynamic Memory.

 

This increased density does not come at the expense of security, as is the case with other offerings in the industry. Dynamic Memory preserves Windows 7 security without compromising density. My colleague Jeff Woolsey goes into detail in a recent post on this topic at the virtualization blog.

 

In addition, you get immediate benefit from the moment you turn on the virtual machine. There’s no waiting for memory management algorithms to work. Nor do you have to tweak the hypervisor with custom settings for specific workloads to maximize density. It’s an awesome out-of-box experience for all your virtualization workloads.

 

The second new feature, RemoteFX, is a first-to-market technology that we have demonstrated at multiple events. In fact, I was honored to be the first to show it publically at the Desktop Virtualization Hour last March.

 

RemoteFX is an exciting technology that lets you virtualize the Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) on the server side and deliver next-generation rich media and 3D user experiences for VDI. RemoteFX is also enabling new low cost ultra-thin client devices to enter the market. Together, these technologies will drive down the end-point cost and reduce endpoint power consumption to as little as a few watts.

Customers have already been successful with Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX, in early adopter deployments. Case studies, like the one we partnered with Sporton International on, show how using both RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory delivers real business value.

 

Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 SP1 will Release to Manufacturing (RTM) today.  On February 16, both will be available to current customers of the Windows Volume Licensing program, as well as subscribers to Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and TechNet. On February 22, both will be available to all customers through Windows Update and will also come preinstalled on new servers ordered.

 

I encourage you to check it out for yourself and see how it adds value to your business.

 

Thanks