Robust Features for Optimum Flexibility

Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 is a platform server that includes a robust set of features. Whether you want to consolidate servers, build a Microsoft private cloud, or offer Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, the features of Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 offer you the flexibility to deliver advanced capabilities to your business for increased IT efficiency and agility.

Key Features

Virtualization with Hyper-V

Hyper-V, a platform technology improved in Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 virtualizes the system resources of a physical computer, allowing you to provide a virtualized environment for operating systems and applications. You can optimize your server hardware investments by consolidating multiple server roles as separate virtual machines running on a single physical machine. This allows you to run multiple different operating systems in parallel, on a single server. Or can you use Hyper-V to build out a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) which enables a rich Windows experience for virtual desktops while enhancing security, regulatory compliance and manageability of your desktop environment. Learn More

Remote Desktop Services and RemoteFX

Remote Desktop Services (RDS) is a centralized desktop and application platform that uses session virtualization and VDI technologies to deliver and manage corporate desktops while offering a rich end user experience. RDS accelerates and extends desktop and application deployments to any device, improving remote worker efficiency, while helping keep critical intellectual property secure and radically simplify regulatory compliance. With Microsoft RemoteFX, Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 introduces a new set of remote user-experience capabilities that enable a media-rich user environment for virtual and session-based desktops. RemoteFX can be deployed to a range of thick and thin client devices, enabling cost-effective, local-like access to a media-rich desktop environment. RemoteFX also supports a broad array of USB peripherals to improve the productivity of users of virtual desktops. Learn More

Power Management
Microsoft conducted a series of tests to compare the power consumption of Windows Server 2008 R2. The tests revealed that Windows Server 2008 R2 out of the box (OOB)

achieved power savings of up to 18 percent over Windows Server 2003 OOB at comparable levels of throughput. Windows Server 2008 R2 has been designed with energy efficiency in mind, to provide you with ready and convenient access to a number of new power-saving features.

Server Management
Ongoing management of servers in the data center is one of the most time-consuming tasks facing IT professionals today. Inefficient servers can drive up energy usage and costs. Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 delivers features in Server Manager to reduce your administrative effort for common day-to-day operational tasks. Learn More

Data Management
Storage requirements today are growing at exponential rates with companies digitizing their content and having to store more unstructured data. Organizations need to manage their data more effectively as well as more efficiently. Only by gaining insight into their data can companies reduce the cost of storing, maintaining, and managing data. Windows Server 2008 R2 File Classification Infrastructure (FCI) provides insight into your data by automating classification processes so that you can manage your data more effectively and economically. FCI does this by enabling to automatically classify files based on properties defined by administrators (such as whether or not a file contains personally identifiable information) and performing administrator-specified actions based on that classification (backing up files containing personal information to an encrypted store, for example). These mechanisms are included in the box as well as provided by extensible interfaces that allow IT organizations and partners to build rich end to end solutions for classifying and applying policy based on classification. FCI helps customers save money and reduce risk by managing files based on their business value and business impact. Learn More

Web Application Platform

Windows Server 2008 R2 includes many enhancements that enable you to more easily deploy and manage web applications. It offers an updated Web server role, Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5, and greater support for .NET on Server Core. Additionally, IIS 7.5 provides a security-enhanced, easy-to-manage platform for developing and reliably hosting Web applications and services. By providing more control, more choice, more reliability, and more security, organizations can ensure their Web platforms are available whenever and wherever they are needed. Learn More

Scalability & Reliability

Windows Server 2008 R2 is capable of unprecedented workload size, dynamic scalability, and across-the-board availability, and reliability. A host of new and updated features are available, including leveraging sophisticated CPU architectures, increased operating system componentization, and improved performance and scalability for applications and services. Learn More

Integrated Experience with Windows 7

Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 has many features that are designed specifically to work with client computers running Windows 7, Microsofts most current version of the Windows client operating system.

BranchCache

The BranchCache feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 reduces WAN utilization and improves the responsiveness of network applications. BranchCache in the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems can help increase network responsiveness of centralized applications when accessed from remote offices, giving users in those offices the experience of working on your local area network. BranchCache also helps reduce wide area network (WAN) utilization.

DirectAccess

DirectAccess is a feature in the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems that gives users the experience of being seamlessly connected to their corporate network any time they have Internet access. With DirectAccess, users are able to access corporate resources, such as e-mail servers, shared folders, or intranet Web sites, securely without connecting to a virtual private network (VPN). Learn More

Application Compatibility

Application compatibility is a key factor in the experience you enjoy on Windows Server 2008 R2, and many of the leading industry line-of business and mission-critical applications have been certified to run on Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft offers free, downloadable test tools that help enterprise IT professionals, custom application developers and independent software vendors test third-party and custom in-house applications for compatibility with Windows Server 2008 R2 You can identify both software and hardware that has been certified to run on Windows Server 2008 R2 by visiting the Windows Server Catalog .