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Windows Server 2003 vs. Windows Server 2008

Microsoft has published a Windows Server 2008 white paper today (DOCX format) that might be of interest:

In Windows Server 2008, Microsoft is introducing new features and technologies, some of which were not available in Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1), that will help to reduce the power consumption of server and client operating systems, minimize environmental byproducts, and increase server efficiency. This document describes some of these features and technologies.

Executive Summary

Energy-efficient computing is becoming a priority for businesses and organizations seeking to control costs and reduce their impact on the environment. One way for an organization to reduce power usage is to implement an energy-efficient server infrastructure that facilitates management and allocation of power to computing resources as needed.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 has been designed with energy efficiency in mind, to provide customers with ready and convenient access to a number of new power-saving features. It includes updated support for Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) processor power management (PPM) features, including support for processor performance states (P-states) and processor idle sleep states on multiprocessor systems. These features simplify power management in Windows Server 2008 (WS08) and can be managed easily across servers and clients using Group Policies. Even more significant power savings are made possible by Hyper-V, the hypervisor-based virtualization technology included as a server role in Windows Server 2008. Hyper-V makes it possible to consolidate servers onto a much smaller number of physical machines, significantly reducing power consumption without unduly sacrificing performance.

Update: The download link above has changed somewhat thanks to a slightly revised version of the document. Make sure you've got the latest copy!

Comments

 

Waethorn said:

Really?  No comments yet?

Not even a pingback!

Anyway, here's my take on Server 2003 vs. 2008:

You can do a lot with 03, and certainly much of the platform functionality has been backported or just not updated in 08 (WDS, WSUS, Sharepoint 3, Microsoft Deployment, Exchange 2007, etc.) but 08 just has a much slicker interface, and several of those components integrate nicely into the new management console.  It's a hard sell to get someone to upgrade at the present time if most of their workstation fleet is XP, but purchasers of new hardware shouldn't get 2003 anymore.  Overall, it's easier to deploy, manage, and maintain 2008.  Hyper-V is one of the most unique features (even though it's not RTM - YET!), and I can see a lot of merit to it.

That said, I can see this as some people see Vista:  It's not something that many people will upgrade on current hardware - they'll likely just get it on new OEM hardware and reap the benefits that way.

When Vista becomes very mainstream in the corporate world (the way XP is now), Server 08 will also become the norm.

June 12, 2008 2:19 PM
 

Waethorn said:

Also, I'd like to point out that the new Windows Essential Server Solutions (SBS and WEBS) also have high system requirements, making migration the most likely path where upgrades are infeasible.

June 12, 2008 4:59 PM

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