* What's in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP1?
On the off chance that you’ve had your nose buried in a book, or you’ve been away on some desert isle with no contact with civilization, I want to tell you that last week was a big week for Windows server operating systems.
Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2003 was finally released (download from https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=22CFC239-337C-4D81-8354-72593B1C1F43) after a couple of delays and after a few pieces were removed.
It’s been almost two years since the latest server operating system shipped, and SP1 includes all of the updates, patches and fixes that have been released in the intervening time. This was originally supposed to ship late last year, then was delayed so that changes needed to support Intel’s and AMD’s 64-bit CPU chip sets could be included. These changes didn’t make it into the final package for SP1, though, and will be released separately – some think by the end of this month.
Windows Server 2003 SP1 will be primarily known for a variety of security enhancements, released as part of the Trusted Computing Initiative:
1. Tighter Internet Explorer controls.
2. Windows Firewall (the successor to Microsoft’s Internet Connection Firewall).
3. A new security-configuration wizard, designed to have all services and ports that aren’t specifically needed by applications turned off by default.
4. Greater authentication requirements for remote procedure call (RPC) and Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) services.
The service pack also adds support for “no execute” hardware from Intel and AMD, which is designed to prevent malicious attacks from areas of computer memory not designed to run code. This will slow down, if not completely remove, threats based on “buffer overflow” attacks (see https://www.nwfusion.com/details/746.html).
SP1 is specifically designed to bring Windows Server 2003 in line technologically with Windows XP SP2. This should be a good thing, but remember that when Windows XP SP2 was released (see “When is it safe to install Windows XP Service Pack 2?” https://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/nt/2004/0823nt1.html) Microsoft also released a list of more than 200 software applications (many games, lots of anti-virus and spam-filtering tools but also standard business software such as PageMaker, Arcserve – and Microsoft Office) whose default behavior was broken by the installation of the service pack. Microsoft’s engineers may have learned from that experience, but it’s probably safe to say that there will have to be updates and modifications to some services and applications before they’ll run on Windows Server 2003 SP1.
As long as you’ve been diligent in applying security fixes over the past two years you should be able to take your time and test SP2 thoroughly before unleashing it on your network. The improvements are all things you ought to have on your network, but to ensure that you don’t break what’s currently working a cautious approach is highly recommended.
