Since the time Microsoft released Windows NT back in 1993, the company has made huge improvements and added literally hundreds, if not thousands, of new features and capabilities to the OS. Back in 1993, Windows NT initially competed with OS/2 as a native 32-bit desktop OS. Since that time, Windows Server has evolved into the 64-bit server standard that’s used by almost all businesses. Let’s check the top innovations in the evolution of Windows Server. Although this column is titled Top Ten, in recognition of Windows IT Pro's 15 years of publication, this month you'll get a full five extra points as I present the top 15 innovations in Windows Server over the past 15 years.
Michael Otey discusses top Windows Server innovations.
1. Active Directory (AD)—First released as a part of Windows 2000 Server, AD remains one of Windows' core systems management features. AD is now used in all but the smallest of Windows networks for user and group management as well as central desktop management.
2. Group Policy—Group Policy was another core Windows innovation that was part of Windows 2000. Group Policy is a set of rules used in AD that manage users, groups, and computer accounts. Group Policy provides the centralized management and configuration of OSs, applications, and user settings.
3. Resultant Set of Policy (RSOP)—After AD and Group Policy had been available for a while, it became clear that IT pros needed a way to diagnose the order in which policies are applied. With Windows Server 2003, Microsoft released RSOP, which let IT administrators troubleshoot how Group Policy settings are applied across the network.
4. Volume Shadow Copy Services (VSS)—Another vital innovation with the Windows 2003 release was the introduction of VSS, which enables Windows to take live snapshots of data from running applications such as Microsoft SQL Server, Exchange Server, and Hyper-V.
5. Windows SharePoint Services—Windows 2003 R2 marked the first time that Microsoft began their major/minor release cycle. Probably the most significant feature in the Windows 2003 R2 release was the inclusion of Windows SharePoint Services. Since that time, SharePoint has become incredibly popular, and Microsoft has pulled it into its own product line with SharePoint 2010.
6. Server Manager—Windows Server 2008 marked a huge change for Windows Server management. The new Server Manager enables the administrator to easily change a server's configuration. It also surfaces important system events and lets the administrator drill down into the event details.
7. Server roles and features—Closely related to the new Server Manager interface, Server 2008 also introduced a new set of server roles and features that made it far easier to configure a Windows Server system to act as one or more roles. Example roles include File Services, Hyper-V, and Web Services. Example features include Failover Clustering and Windows PowerShell. One really great feature is that all of the required binaries are installed on the system. As a result, there's no need for switching media in and out to install the new features and roles.