Types Of Windows 2008 Server
Before trying to install a windows 2008 server, it is important to understand the different types of windows 2008 server available and their hardware requirements. You must also understand the upgrade editions available for each of the editions. This article is therefore dedicated to help you understand the different types of windows 2008 server and their corresponding hardware requirements.
Standard Edition
This is the most basic of all types of windows 2008 server and is equally the least expensive of all types. But only the 64 bit edition is available with a supports 4 processors and about 32 GB of RAM. The standard edition is intended for small and medium size business organizations and is suitable for providing DNS, print, remote access, web, application, and domain services. Clustering support is not present in these types of windows 2008 server. For those using the 200 and 2003 server application, a windows upgrade to the standard 2008 edition is available.
Enterprise Edition
This one has more scalability and greater functionality the 2008 version. It equally has only the 64 bit version but supports up to 2TB of RAM and up to 8 processors. These types of windows 2008 server also have additional features, including Directory Federated Services and clusters of about 8 nodes. The windows 2003 enterprise server, windows 2003 standard version, windows 200 advanced edition, and the windows 2000 server version can all be upgraded to the 2008 versions.
2008 Datacenter Edition
These types of windows 2008 server are for enterprises that are in need of high end servers with high uptime levels and high stability. With this version, the implementation of Abstraction layers was done to synchronize this version with its hardware requirements. This means that these types of windows 2008 server come with their customized hardware packages. You can’t obtain the database edition separately without purchasing the hardware for the server. Only the 64 bit version is available and its supports a maximum of 64 processors and a minimum of 8. Its RAM is 2TB, same as the enterprise edition. You can upgrade to this edition from the 2003 and 2000 datacenter versions.
Web Server 2008 version
These types of windows 2008 server are designed just like the windows 2008 version but with additional features to aid web services. It has a limited RAM of 32 GB and supports about 4 processors. Only the 64 bit version is available. There several features present in other types of windows 2008 server that are not present in the web server edition. These services include SAN management, removable storage management, Windows naming services, multipath I/O, BitLocker drive encryption, and clustering.
Before deciding to purchase one of the windows 2008 editions, it is important that you get yourself acquainted with the software requirements that are needed for the proper operation of the system. It is always ideal to go for the recommended hardware requirements rather than the minimum requirements. This will help you avoid any unplanned upgrades as you increase the usability of the system. Also, if you want a high performance level with your system you have to go for higher values instead of the minimum values.
