Thoughts from the field on Windows Server 2008 – Setup

Larry Doyle, a local IT Pro, works for Netforce in Dublin (one of our local Certified Partners).  Larry has been attending my Longhorn Academy (deep-dive technical training on Windows Server 2008) for the last six months or so and has been actively testing and evaluating Windows Server 2008.  He has this to share with you:

“I have been testing Windows Server 2008 for a while now and I do actually like it - it's fast & quick to setup. I particularly like the roles element as I would normally spend a considerable amount of time "trimming" un-required services from a production server that are auto installed or auto started in Windows 2003 Server installs (saying that I don't usually use the manage server wizards in 2003 which might save a bit of effort).  I haven’t timed it, but it seems like 2008 will save me hours for each install I perform (and I’ll be happy that the end result is what I actually wanted).

I haven't been using PowerShell on our Windows 2008 test servers that much (yet), but I know from using PowerShell on Exchange 2007 that it is powerful stuff and am looking forward to downloading some scripts to play with.

I will be installing Windows 2008 for a couple of clients as soon as it is released.  Our clients who opted for Software Assurance on their Windows 2003 Server licensing will be taking advantage of the free upgrade and upgrading to 2008 in order to take advantage of new features such as increased security, faster IIS, improved management features, faster deployment time, improved performance, etc.”

As you can tell, Larry has a lot of positive things to say about Windows Server 2008, and by the sounds of it, he is telling all of his customers.

Dave.