Windows Server 2008 delivers new functionality with powerful improvements to the core Windows Server operating system to help organizations of all sizes increase control, availability, and flexibility business needs. New Web tools, virtualization technologies, security enhancements, and management utilities help save time, reduce costs, and provide a solid foundation for information technology (IT) infrastructure.

Virtualization

Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, the next-generation hypervisor-based server virtualization technology, allows you to consolidate servers and use hardware more efficiently. Several enhancements to Terminal Services (TS) improve presentation virtualization. And simpler licensing terms makes using these technologies more straightforward.

Web

Windows Server 2008 includes improved Web administration, diagnostics, development, and application tools with Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS 7.0), a major upgrade from IIS 6.0. Windows Server 2008 unifies the Microsoft Web publishing platform, including IIS 7.0, ASP.NET, Windows Communication Foundation, and Windows SharePoint Services

Security

The Windows Server 2008 operating system is hardened, integrates several identity and access technologies, and includes multiple security innovations to more easily deploy a policy-driven network that helps protect your server infrastructure, your data, and your business. The operating system has been hardened to help protect against failure and several new technologies help prevent unauthorized connections to your networks, servers, data, and user accounts.  Network Access Protection (NAP) helps ensure that computers that try to connect to your network comply with your organization's security policy. Technology integration and several enhancements make Active Directory services a potent unified and integrated Identity and Access (IDA) solution. And Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) and BitLocker Drive Encryption allow you to more securely deploy your AD database at branch office locations.

High Performance Computing

The benefits and cost savings of Windows Server 2008 extend to Windows HPC Server 2008 for your high performance computing (HPC) environment. Windows HPC Server 2008 is built on Windows Server 2008, x64-bit technology and can efficiently scale. Windows HPC Server 2008 enables broader adoption by providing a rich and integrated experience that scales from the application to clusters, and includes a comprehensive set of deployment, administration, and monitoring tools that are easy to deploy, manage, and integrate with your existing infrastructure.

Features of Server 2008

= Not Available   = Partial/Limited  = Full

New/Updated Features	Enterprise	Datacenter	Standard	Web	Itanium	License Requirements
NEW: AD Rights Management Services (RMS)						Covered by server license, but incremental RMS CALs required, similar to Terminal Services.
NEW: Cryptography Next Generation (CNG)						Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements.
NEW: Group Policy Preferences						Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements.
NEW: Hyper-V						Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements.*
NEW: Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0						Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements.
NEW: Network Access Protection (NAP)						Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements.
NEW: Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC)						Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements.
NEW: Server Core						Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements.
NEW: Server Manager						Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements.
NEW: Terminal Services Gateway and RemoteApp						Covered by server license, but incremental TS CALs required, similar to AD Rights Management Services.
NEW: Windows Deployment Services (WDS)						Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements.

= Not Available   = Partial/Limited  = Full

Server Role	Enterprise	Datacenter	Standard	Web	Itanium
Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
DHCP Server
DNS Server
File Services
Hyper-V
Print Services
Web Services (IIS)*