Windows Server 2008: The Definitive Guide

The Last Word

Windows Server 2008 presents an interesting set of features that result in tangible benefits for many administrators. The Server Core version of the product is perhaps the most useful new installation option of Windows on the server in quite a while, and it's appropriate for use in many situations where rock-solid servers are required. If your server farm hosts network-intensive applications, you'll find the changes to the TCP/IP stack and other network performance improvements tantalizing, and hardware assistance now makes network scaling much more cost effective by requiring fewer physical servers than before. Security is of course of paramount importance, and NAP alone is worth investing in Windows Server 2008. Management capabilities are improved as well.

Two general camps of people and their organizations will find compelling reasons to immediately upgrade to Windows Server 2008:

Those still running a version of Windows NT or Windows 2000 Server

NT Server 4.0 reached the end of its supportable life on December 31, 2004. Windows 2000 Server's mainstream support ended June 30, 2005, and while extended support will be available until July 13, 2010, it's smart to consider a move. Windows Server 2008, a fundamentally major release, provides a good jump up to new features, although it will likely require a hardware refresh if you are still running Windows NT or Windows 2000 in production.

Those with current Microsoft Select, Software Assurance, or Open License agreements that allow them to upgrade to the latest release at no additional cost

If there's no fee or additional monetary outlay for your upgrade, you can get the benefit of Windows Server 2008 for little overall monetary cost.

If you are not a member of either group, the value of upgrading to Windows Server 2008 is less clear, though a strong case could be made for moving up. If you're happily chugging away with Windows Server 2003 or R2, have read this chapter and don't see any features you absolutely must have now, and don't have an update agreement with Microsoft, you might want to skip this release and wait for Windows Server 2009 (or whatever the appropriate year might be).

For most corporations, it's a question of timing. Consider that the next radically different revision of Windows is about three years away on the desktop and four to five years away on the server. You'll have plenty of time to move to Windows Server 2008 in that window. For others, it's a question of finances: if you can't afford to upgrade to Windows Server 2008, then it's a dead end. If you are satisfied with Windows Server 2003, or the R2 edition, and have secured it properly, nothing in Windows Server 2008 is absolutely mandatory. The same goes with those running the original release of Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 without a complimentary upgrade route to R2.