If you're a large shop struggling to manage hundreds of Windows servers, Windows Server 8 should ease the job. If you're a small shop trying to squeeze high-end capability from a low-end budget, Windows Server 8 has plenty for you, too. With Windows Server 8, everything from server deployment to high availability becomes smoother and more automated.
[ Read all about the desktop side in "Windows 8: What it's really all about." | Plus, InfoWorld's Galen Gruman goes wild! See: "Watch out, Apple: Windows 8 could trump the iPad." ]
In fact, there's so much of note in the new OS, it's almost a crime to stop at the top 10, listed below in no particular order. Believe it or not, data deduplication for production file servers, native PowerShell support in Hyper-V, and virtual Active Directory didn't even make the list. Look at it this way: There will be even more surprises in store when you finally get your hands on a Windows Server 8 beta.
Multiserver management. Server Manager not only gets a face-lift in Windows Server 8, donning the superclean Metro look, but opens the management horizon to the entire server environment. Pull in new servers (physical or virtual) to manage through Active Directory or DNS lookup, and Server Manager will inventory the server and add a new tile to the dashboard displaying its state. Other tiles roll up aggregates of information across multiple servers by server role and various attributes.
Views are search driven, so it's easy to pull up matching values across all rows. Search filters can be saved, so it's easy to create personalized dashboards or standard views for selected sets of machines. Instead of reaching across the screen to ye olde Task pane (RIP), you perform all actions directly on specific elements, by right-clicking and choosing from a contextual menu. Naturally, all of this remote, multiserver management goodness is built on PowerShell and WMI (Windows Management Interface). Considering Microsoft's boasts of 2,300 new PowerShell cmdlets, wizards should become more commonplace throughout the Windows Server ecosystem.
Friction-free server deployment. Windows Server 8 inherits Windows Server 2008's wizards for installing roles and features, but combines them in what Microsoft calls "scenario-based deployment." Installs can target local machines, remote machines, or virtual hard disks, with deployment to multiple machines automated through PowerShell cmdlets, WMI APIs, and "workflows" that handle suspending and resuming batch operations. Plus, you no longer have to second-guess that Server Core install. Instead of starting over from scratch, Windows Server 8 lets you move between Server Core and a full server simply by installing or removing components. You can even install the full server without the graphical shell because real servers don't have GUIs.
Description : Windows 8 Server due in 2012 | Windows 8 Beta
Description : Windows 8 build 7959 x64 server edition leaked | Windows 8 Beta
Source :
http://www.infoworld.com/d/microsoft-windows/10-best-new-features-windows-server-8-173124
