Windows Server 2008 Editions

Microsoft has released following editions of Windows Server 2008.

• Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Web Edition
• Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based systems
• Windows Storage Server 2008

Server 2008 editions with Hyper-V

Hyper-V is the virtual machine technology that allows multiple operating systems to run concurrently on the same system. Virtualization can be used for server consolidation where multiple servers can be combined onto a single server or to consolidate testing or development environments. Three server editions include virtualization capabilities using the Hyper-V virtualization technology. The most significant differences between these editions are related to how many virtual servers each edition can host. The editions that include Hyper-V are as follows.

Windows Server 2008 Standard with Hyper-V

Support single virtual server suitable for small sized businesses.

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with Hyper-V

Support up to four virtual servers suitable for medium organizations.

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter with Hyper-V

Support An unlimited number of virtual servers suitable for large organization those require to run high-end applications and large-scale virtualization. It adds to the features of the Enterprise edition.

Server 2008 editions with Hot-add capabilities

The Enterprise and Datacenter editions both support hot-add capabilities. Hot-add means you can add physical processors or physical memory without shutting down the system. The system hardware must also support this capability.

Window server 2008 with 32-bit and 64-bit varieties

WS08 is Microsoft's last 32-bit server OS. With the release of WS08 R2 in 2009, Microsoft will no longer offer 32-bit server operating systems, except for down-level versions of Windows.

• WS08 R2 will be available in 64-bit versions only.
• Hyper-V will work only on 64-bit systems.

Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition:

Designed for small businesses, this version supports file and print sharing, works with up to four processors, and accommodates up to 4GB RAM. This edition is available in both 32 and 64 bit.

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition:

Designed for infrastructures that demand greater security and reliability features, supportive of up to 64 processors and 512GB for high-availability, high-demand processing applications and processes. This edition is available in both 32 and 64 bit.

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition:

Designed for medium- to large-size businesses as a fully-functional server platform capable of operating eight processors and 64GB RAM. This edition is available in both 32 and 64 bit.

Window Server 2008 editions designed for specific work

Windows Web Server 2008

This edition is designed to be a dedicated web server and hosts Internet Information Services (IIS) server platform to build and host Web applications and pages and provide eXtensible Markup Language (XML) services including Active Server Pages (ASP) and the .NET framework

Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based systems

This is designed to work on systems using the high-end 64-bit Itanium processors. It is optimized for large databases. 64-bit Intel Itanium based computers require a special version of Windows Server 2008 . This edition is only available in 64 bit.

Windows Storage Server 2008

Designed as a specialized platform for network attached storage (NAS) implementations and optimized for use with file- and print-sharing services in storage area network (SAN) scenarios. This edition is only available in 64 bit.