Planning the Migration to Windows Server 2008
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It’s been five years since Windows Server 2003 was rolled out, so it feels right that a new server operating system is out, and probably necessary. However, upgrading to a newer server OS tends to be a trickier process that may cause frustration. This is the first part of an article series dedicated to the migration to Windows Server 2008. In this segment we’ll cover the preliminary basics that you need to know.
There are very critical business considerations prior to launching a migration process. As with everything involving software, there are important factors to consider. The costs must be analyzed, compared with the ROI, and see whether the investment is worth it. This article strongly suggests that these steps be taken and completed by a professional in the field. Our focus lies, rather, on the technical side.
First of all, the IT manager needs to know what's new in Windows Server 2008. The foundation is built on the same architecture and core as Windows Vista. This also means that it brings with it the new features, improvements, and security upgrades as Vista. Aside from these, currently there's a SP2 rolled out for Windows Server 2008. It's great because it fixes most of the incompatibilities and bugs that its ancestor brought.
Here let's mention a few of these new and major features: Server Core, PowerShell scripting, self-healing NTFS, BitLocker drive encryption, expanded AD roles, new protocol to the Terminal Services (RDP 6.0), Hyper-V virtualization, IIS 7.0, NAP, WSRM (Windows System Resource Manager), and a fully functional Server Manager tool that brings a GUI to most server roles -- not to mention lots of security improvements.
Windows Server 2008 comes in the following versions: Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Datacenter Edition, Web Server, Storage Server, HPC Server, Small Business Server, Essential Business Server, and Server for Itanium-based systems. Each of these, excluding the latter three, come in both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) variations. And the first three should be considered if all we want is to get the most out of Windows Server 2008 and really benefit from its functionalities.
As a final step before moving on, please check the system requirements for Windows Server 2008 directly from the official sourceby Microsoft. As far as whether that list really applies, you should definitely think about it. They aren't being misleading. Surely, 2GB of RAM might seem to be enough, and that's how it appears on the list, but to put it simply, chances are that you will struggle with the bare minimum. I recommend that 2-4GB be taken to mean 2+.
On the next page we are going to discuss migration considerations.
Next: Importance of Migration >>
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