In just 90 days, Windows Server 2008 will be officially released along with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. As you might have heard, this is a big deal since it is the first major release of the server operating system in almost 5 years.
Windows Server 2008 is a network operating system and server that is successor to the Windows Server 2003. The client version of Windows Server 2008 is Windows Vista, which Windows Server 2008 is partially based on. Since it shares the same architecture of Windows Vista, it also has a new improved rewritten network stack (native IPv6, native wireless, improved performance and improved security), improved diagnostics and monitoring, improved security including BitLocker and improved Windows Firewall, .NET Framework 3.0, memory and file system improvements, Windows Internet Explorer 7, and Vista Aero Themes. In addition, Windows Server 2008 includes an improved Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0, Service Core, greatly improved Windows Terminal Services, Windows Server Virtualization, self healing NTFS, a Windows Server 2008 Server Manager and Windows PowerShell.
So let’s highlight about some of these features. First, Windows Server 2008 will offer an installation called Server Core, which is a cut-down version of Windows without the Windows Explorer shell. Since you don’t have the Windows Explorer to provide the GUI interface that you are used to, you configuration everything through the command line interface or you connect remotely using a Microsoft Management Console (MMC). The Server Core can be used for dedicated machines with basic roles such as Domain controller/Active Directory Domain Services, DNS Server, DHCP Server, file server, print server, Windows Media Server, IIS 7 web server and Windows Server Virtualization virtual server.
Along with the Server Core, Windows 2008, will ship with with Windows PowerShell, a new extensible command line shell and task-based scripting technology. That allows you to control just about everything within the Windows environment including the Register.
When you start digging into the Windows Server 2008, you will see that it will offers quite a bit. If you would like to find out more about Windows Server 2008, you can visit these two websites:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/2008/default.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/default.mspx
Similar to Windows Server 2003, most editions of Windows Server 2008 will be available in both x64 and x86 versions. However, it should be noted that Windows Server 2008 will be the last 32-bit Windows server operating system.
So what will Windows Server 2008 do to the certification program? As I have already written in an earlier blog, Windows Server 2008 will have its own certification program that will replace the MCSE program. While the Windows Server 2003 MCSE program will be around for a couple more years, the release of the Windows Server 2008 certification track means that they will retire the Windows 2000 certification track. Therefore, for those who are only Windows 2000 certified, you will have to upgrade to either Windows Server 2003 or 2008 certifications.
Of course, Que publishing offer many books to help you prepare for these certifications including my favorite, the CramExam series.
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Patrick Regan has been a PC technician, network administrator/engineer, design architect and security analyst for the past 16 years after graduating with a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Akron. He is currently a senior network engineer at Pacific Coast Companies, supporting a large enterprise network. He holds many certifications including the Microsoft MCSE, MCSA, MCT; CompTIA's A+, Network+, Server+, Linux+, Security+ and CTT+; Cisco CCNA; and Novell's CNE and CWNP Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA).
Over the last several years, he has written several textbooks, including Troubleshooting the PC, Networking with Windows 2000 and 2003, Linux, Local Area Networks, Wide Area Networks and the Acing Series (Acing the A+, Acing the Network+, Acing the Security+ and Acing theLinux+). He has also co-authored the ExamCram 70-290 MCSA/MCSE Managing Linux+ and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment, 2nd Edition and authored the ExamCram 70-620 Microsoft Windows Vista, Configuration. He is currently writing the study guides for the A+ certification exams for Cisco Press and the ExamCram 70-643 Windows Server 2008 Applications Platform Configuration.
The opinions expressed in this Weblog are those of the writer and may not represent the opinions of Network World.
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