Tue 29 May 2007
Some weeks ago, I summarized an article from Paul Thurrott discussing the ten most important features of Windows Server 2008. Today, I found an article at BetaNews also listing the top 10 WS2K8 features. However, both lists only share two features. One is Server Core and the other is Windows PowerShell.
This confirms what I’ve said before. Windows Server 2008 doesn’t really have killer features. You could also say that everyone can create a personal top 10 list choosing among the myriads of new features. I personally prefer other features over the ones listed in the BetaNews article, but some of them are quite interesting.
#10: The self-healing NTFS file system
This term is certainly an exaggeration. We won’t see any self-healing computer systems in the near future even though the marketing guys keep telling that. “Self-healing NTFS files system” only means that low level file system repair operations can now run while the system is online. So you don’t have to run CHKDSK offline anymore.
#9: Parallel session creation
This is a new Terminal Server feature. If users logon at the same time, a Ws2K8 Terminal Server can distribute the creation of the corresponding sessions to different processors. So if you have four processors in your machine, Terminal Server can create four sessions in parallel. This reduces the logon time when users are connecting at the same time to the server in the morning.
#8: Clean service shutdown
In Windows XP/2003 the OS gives applications 20 seconds time to end if you initiated a shutdown. If the application doesn’t respond during this time period, you get a message allowing you to end the application manually. Windows 2008 waits for applications as long as they keep signaling that they still need time to shutdown properly.
#7: Kernel Transaction Manager
This new Transaction Resource Manager can make sure that certain file or registry operations are finished before another process is allowed to modify the same object. Like with database transactions this can prevent inconsistencies. Third-party plug-ins can use the Transaction Manager to initiate transactions for different managed resources.
#6: SMB2 network file system
SMB (Server Massage Block) is Microsoft’s network protocol that is mainly used for file and printer sharing. Microsoft says that SMB2 is thirty to forty times faster. Well, that remains to be seen. I suppose, this performance boost only applies to certain scenarios.
#5: Address Space Load Randomization (ASLR)
This feature has been widely discussed before Vista came out. In Vista and Windows 2008 a system service randomly occupies one of 256 locations. In WinXP/2003 services could be found at the same location which made it easy for malware programmers to manipulate them.
#4: Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA)
Microsoft has now standardized the way devices report errors. This will make it easier for third-party applications to identify problems.
#3: Windows Server Virtualization
I wouldn’t call this a WS2K8 feature as Microsoft plans to ship the hypervisor-based virtualization only six months after the release of Windows 2008. Since so many important features have been cut (live migration capabilities, hot-adding of storage, networking hardware, memory, and processors, and support for up to 32 processor cores), VMware probably doesn’t have to fear Microsoft’s new server OS.
#2: PowerShell
It is nice that Microsoft’s new scripting language and command interface eventually got the blessing for Windows 2008, too. However, it is a bit far-fetched to call this a WS2K8 feature since it is already available for Windows Vista/XP/2003.
#1: Server Core
Isn’t it a bit ironic that BetaNews’ top 1 feature is just a special edition of Windows 2008 lacking many features of the standard version? Anyway, Server Core is certainly an interesting product. However, I’ve some doubts that many Windows admins will give up the graphical interface just to improve security and patch management.
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I will find the take up level of server core very interesting. I’ve long held the belief that there is a fundamental difference between the way ageing geeks like myself (that is those who have been around long enough that their first instinct in a crisis is to fire up DOS prompt/command shell) run a network compared to those that came into the business during the GUI generation.
I often feel that the younger, GUI bound guys are missing something fundamental, because they just didn’t have to learn the grass roots of how a system works in the first place. Maybe the launch of server core will replace that missing link in the windows community.
Shan, I’m also one of these aging geeks. When I first saw Windows, I predicted that this product will be a complete failure. My argument was that humans are used to use language to communicate and not to pointing at things. Well, we all know how wrong my prediction was. I think it is a general misconception that working on the command prompt is more fundamental. If you use “dir? or the Windows Explorer to view the directory contents of a disk doesn’t make much difference. But if you really want to know some fundamental things about your disk you have to use a hex editor. And for this you better use a GUI tool.
I was also dragged kicking and screaming into Windows. I agree with you to a point, I guess I’m really harking back to earlier days when GUI’s were a bit less capable and/or reliable than they are now. It always frustrated me watching young(er) administrators search in vain for ages trying to find a graphic way of doing something that is straightforward from the command line. They just didn’t have that extra knowledge to fall back on. But back to the point: How many relatively inexperienced admins are going to fail to use the security/performance potential of server core because they are unwilling to give up the GUI?
[...] is pretty common these days, we get most of our Microsoft Updates from 4sysops, and in this post, he discusses some of the finer-points of Server 2008 (previously known as [...]
From the end-users point of view, is there any new feature for them? When we deploy the windows 2008 server, will it increase the productivity of the staff in a firm? I doubt for that. Most of the improvements focus on the technical interest but less focus with the end user point of view. May be the NTFS self healing file system can reduce the chance of down time as well as eliminate the down time ? But is it worth to upgrade to 2008 ?
Ivan, that depends on what you count as “end user”. If you include admins, then the productivity in your organization will certainly be increased. You can find plenty of other articles on my blog discussing the new features of Windows Server 2008. You can start here.