As you read this, Windows Server 2003 Release 2 (R2) will be about to hit the streets, if it hasn't already. Windows 2003 R2 isn't Microsoft's typical major release of an OS; it's actually more of an optional release for Windows 2003 users. R2 contains no changes to the core of the OS beyond what Windows 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) delivered, no updated device support, and no modifications to existing components. But R2 does offer significant new features, some of which were originally slated for Longhorn and a few that have already been released as downloads for Windows 2003. I'll guide you through the most impressive of the R2 features and explain how they could benefit your Windows environment.
Extra Features, Extra Cost
Because R2's new features are optional and the underlying OS is identical to Windows 2003, future Windows 2003 service packs will apply to both Windows 2003 and R2. Additionally, any certification exercises you've performed on your Windows 2003 environment—for example, application compatibility—apply equally to Windows 2003 R2.
What sets R2 apart from a normal outofband feature release, such as Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM), is that R2 is an upgrade; you must pay for it unless you're a Software Assurance (SA) or Microsoft Enterprise Agreement customer. If you don't need any of R2's new components, you won't benefit from upgrading a Windows 2003 server to R2. You should upgrade only servers that need to run one or more of the new R2 capabilities.
Upgrade Mechanics
If you upgrade from Windows 2003 SP1 to Windows 2003 R2, you need to insert only the second R2 CD-ROM, which, when executed, performs these tasks:
- Updates Add/Remove Windows Components to include the new R2 features
- Updates the WINS Manage Your Server and Configure Your Server wizards with new (Windows SharePoint Services) and updated (file and printer) server roles
- Updates Microsoft Management Console (MMC) from version 2.0 to 2.1/3.0 (Microsoft uses these MMC version numbers interchangeably)
- Creates a shortcut on the desktop to a document that describes the new R2 features
The most significant new features in R2 comprise four distinct areas: remote server and print management, Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) and Windows SharePoint Services, application platform, and operational infrastructure. I'll spend more time describing brand-new features, such as the new replication service and ADFS, and less time on features that were previously available via download, such as Windows SharePoint Services and ADAM.
Remote Server and Print Management
R2 includes a new DFS-specific replication service, known as Distributed File System Replication (DFSR). DFSR addresses many of the problems with NT File Replication System (NTFRS), which wasn't designed to handle very large files or a large number of files. DFSR uses a new compression algorithm called Remote Differential Compression (RDC), which detects changes within a file and replicates only the changed portions. If I changed one value in a 20MB Microsoft Access database, when using NTFRS the entire 20MB would be replicated, whereas with DFSR only the few changed bytes would be replicated.
The most important aspect of DFSR, though, is that it solves the problem of NTFRS failing in some situations, such as update sequence number (USN) journal wraps or losses that would cause NTFRS replication to stop and require a long process to reenable replication. DFSR is a true self-healing replication engine: Even when the NTFS journal wraps or replication partners haven't communicated in a long time, the DFSR engine can check differences between the replication partners and bring them up-to-date and in sync with each other.
Because DFSR is a new service, all servers-that are targets for DFS links and will use the new-style replication must be running Windows 2003 R2 and have DFSR installed. You need to make a small change to the Active Directory (AD) schema to enable support of new DFSR-required objects. To make the schema change, you run the R2 Adprep utility (adprep.exe), which is found in the \cmpnents\r2\adprep folder of your R2 media. Note that this change is compatible with Windows 2000 domain controllers (DCs) that have Windows 2000 SP2 installed (or SP1 with Quick Fix Engineering—QFE— 265089 installed).
Previously, when a link target went offline, the link failed over to an alternate link target (e.g., another copy of the file share ferent server). In R2, when the target returns online, clients fail back to it instead of staying on the potentially less-efficient failover link target, thereby reducing response time and minimizing traffic over slower, WAN links.
A new management console simplifies replication of DFS target data by merging the existing MMC DFS Management snapin with the Replication Management snap-in. A new Print Management Console (PMC) lets you manage all remote or local and remote printers from a centralized console. PMC eases installation of new printers by enabling full management, monitoring, and configuration of all Windows 2003 and Windows 2000 print servers. PMC also lets you define actions according to certain scenarios. For example, to deal with a print server that becomes unavailable, you could configure PMC to execute a script or send an email message notifying administrators of the outage.
For each visible print server, PMC shows the installed print drivers, configured forms, ports in use and printers using them, and which printers the server is handling. You can use PMC to access Web-based management options for printers that use them and, when used in tandem with Group Policy, to automatically push out printer connections according to organizational unit (OU) or domain location.
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