Windows Server 2008 R2 Goodness for IT Pros

One of the changes to Active Directory in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the Active Directory Web Service. This is the Web Service that operations performed against AD using, amongst other things, the Active Directory PowerShell module actually makes calls to. It is enabled by default on a Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain Controller. More information on this can be found here.

What is not so obvious is that there is an installable Web Service for Windows Server 2003 and 2008 domain controllers called the Active Directory Management Gateway Service. This means that calls made to Active Directory in an environment where there are no 2008 R2 domain controllers can still be made. To put this into context for IT operational people who want to either manage or automate the management of Active Directory using PowerShell they do not need a Server 2008 R2 domain controller, they simply need a PowerShell v2 client with the AD Management module.

And for those that do not like PowerShell the new Active Directory Administration Center also makes calls to the Web Service, so it can also be targeted at Server 2003 or 2008 as well.

Thanks to Troy Kirkland for the heads up on this goodness!