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The successor to Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 is a step in the evolution of Microsoft's server operating systems.
It is essentially Windows XP with server features added, but with many features turned off (sound, 3D acceleration, themes) for stability purposes. It also includes enhancements to various services such as the IIS web server.
Initially, the product was to be called "Windows .NET Server 2003," to promote the integrated enterprise framework .NET (dot-net). In this improved Microsoft server, performance of ASP.NET (the successor of Active Server Pages) has improved and integration is tighter.
However, over fears of confusing the market about what ".NET" represents and responding to criticism, Microsoft removed .NET from the name. This allowed the name .NET to exclusively apply to the .NET framework, as previously it appeared .NET was just a tag for a generation of Microsoft products.
Microsoft launched the new product on April 24, 2003.
There are a number of improvements from Windows 2000 server, notably:
Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition is aimed towards small to medium sized businesses. Flexible yet versatile, Standard Edition supports file and printer sharing, offers secure Internet connectivity, and allows centralized desktop application deployment.
Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition is aimed towards medium to large businesses. It is a full-function server operating system that supports up to eight processors and provides enterprise-class features such as eight-node clustering and support for up to 32 GB of memory. Enterprise Edition also comes in 64-bit edition for Intel Itanium-based computers capable of supporting 8 processors and 64 GB of RAM.
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition is the flagship of the Windows Server line and designed for immense infrastructures demanding high security and reliability. Datacenter supports up to 32-way SMP and 64 GB of RAM with the 32-bit version and up to 128-way machines with individual partitions of up to 64 processors and 512 GB of RAM with the 64-bit version. Datacenter provides both eight-node clustering and load balancing services as standard features and includes Windows System Resource Manager facilitating consolidation and system management.
Licensing for Standard Windows 2003 Server is $999US, although licences may be purchased for less from a reseller. For more than 5 Active Directory remote-connected users (users of Exchange, for example,) additional costs are incurred.
The Web Server runs for about $397US. Client access licenses are not required for the Web Server.
The average cost for the Small Business Server is $599US. The retail/final full packaged product is purchased through a brick-and-mortar retailer, while an open new license must be purchased through a volume license reseller.
A Datacenter server must be obtained through an OEM, and therefore costs are unknown.
Microsoft commissioned a firm to determine the TCO for enterprise applications on Windows 2000, such as security and other infrastructure tasks, and Web Serving. Windows 2000 had a lower TCO for the four infrastructure items (according to the report), but Linux had a lower TCO for web serving. There has been a lot of controversy over this claim, inluding
| History of Microsoft Windows |
| Windows: 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.x | NT | 95 | 98 | Me | 2000 | XP | Server 2003 | CE | PPC | WM | Longhorn | Blackcomb |
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