New and Updated Features in Windows Server 2008
In the table below is a summarized version of all new and updated features for Windows Server 2008 and which edition they are supported on. For a detailed overview of these features, please visit the Why Upgrade page.
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= Available| New/Updated Features | Enterprise | Datacenter | Standard | Foundation | Web | Itanium | HPC | License Requirements |
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| NEW: AD Rights Management Services (RMS) |
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| Covered by server license, but incremental RMS CALs required, similar to Terminal Services. |
| NEW: Cryptography Next Generation (CNG) |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| NEW: Group Policy Preferences |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| NEW: Hyper-V |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements.* |
| NEW: Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| NEW: Network Access Protection (NAP) |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| NEW: Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC) |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| NEW: Server Core |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| NEW: Server Manager |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| NEW: Terminal Services Gateway and RemoteApp |
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| Covered by server license, but incremental TS CALs required, similar to AD Rights Management Services. |
| NEW: Windows Deployment Services (WDS) |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
*Windows Server 2008 Datacenter allows for running an unlimited number of virtual instances per server license. Windows Server 2008 Enterprise allows four simultaneous virtual instances per server license.
| Enhancements | Enterprise | Datacenter | Standard | Web | Itanium | HPC | License Requirements |
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| Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| Active Directory Federation Services enhancements |
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| Covered by server license, but may require additional licensing based on use. |
| DNS Server enhancements |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| Failover Clustering enhancements |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| Network Load Balancing enhancements |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| Windows Server Backup enhancements |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor enhancements |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| TCP/IP Stack enhancements |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| Windows Firewall with Advanced Security enhancements |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| Terminal Services enhancements |
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| Covered by server license, but incremental TS CALs required, similar to AD Rights Management Services. |
| Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) enhancements |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
| Windows Media Services enhancements |
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| Covered by server license. No incremental licensing requirements. |
