Feature Comparison
Windows Server 2008 R2,
Windows Server 2012, and
Windows Server 2012 R2
Published: March 24th, 2014
Feature Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2
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Contents Introduction .............................................................................. 3
General Features Overview ................................................... 4
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This document is provided "as-is." Information and views expressed in this
document, including URL and other Internet Web site references, may change without notice. You bear the risk of using it.
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Introduction This feature comparison guide compares the selected features of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2,
Microsoft Windows Server 2012, and Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2. The “General Features Overview”
section compares a wider range of features across all three releases. The comparison table in this section
includes comments in regard to each release, as well as notation about how well each feature is
supported. The legend for this notation is given in the table below.
Level of Feature Support
Feature is supported
Feature is only partially supported
Feature is not supported
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General Features Overview This section compares the major features of Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and
Windows Server 2012 R2.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Identity and Access
DirectAccess
Unified server role that combines three networking services—DirectAccess, routing,
and remote access—into one unified server role with remote access.1
Single point of configuration and management for remote access server deployment
with a new unified server role for DirectAccess, and Routing and Remote Access
service (RRAS).
Dynamic
Access Control
Centralized control and auditing access to file servers with claims-based access and
File Classification.2
Ability to restrict access to sensitive files regardless of user actions through file
security policy at the domain level, which is enforced across virtually all file servers in
Windows Server 2012 R2 with File Classification, access control policies, and audit
policies.
Windows Store
app network
isolation
Ability to set and enforce network boundaries to prevent compromised applications
from accessing restricted networks. TEST
Customizable firewall rules for Windows Store apps in addition to firewall rules that
can be created for programs and services.3
Windows
PowerShell
cmdlets for
Windows
Firewall
Extensive cmdlets for configuring and managing Windows Firewall.
Fully configurable and manageable Windows Firewall, Internet Protocol security
(IPsec), and related features with a more powerful and scriptable Windows
PowerShell.3
Network
Access
Protection
(NAP)
A client health policy creation, enforcement, and remediation technology to help
system administrators establish and automatically enforce health policies, which can
include software requirements, security update requirements, and other settings .4
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Domain Name
System
Security
Extensions
(DNSSEC)
Support for online signing and automated key management as part of the update
process for DNSSEC support in the authoritative functions of Domain Name System
(DNS) servers.5
Extensible
Authentication
Protocol (EAP)
Architectural framework that provides extensibility for the authentication methods
of commonly-used protected network access technologies, such as Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.1X-based wireless access, IEEE 802.1X-
based wired access, and Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connections such as VPN.6
802.1X
Authenticated
Wired Access
Updated
IEEE 802.1X Authenticated Wired Service for IEEE 802.3 Ethernet network clients.
EAP-Tunneled Transport Layer Security (EAP-TTLS) added to the list of network
authentication methods included by default.7
Enable users with non-domain joined computers and devices running Windows 8.1
and Windows Server 2012 R2 to bring their own devices to their organization and
enjoy the advantages of password-based credential reuse. This means that users
need to provide their credentials the first time they connect to their organization’s
network, and then they can connect to the resources they want to without being
prompted repeatedly for their credentials because the credentials are stored on the
local computer for reuse.
For security reasons, when the user’s computer or device disconnects from the
network, the stored credentials are discarded.8
Read-only
domain
controller
(RODC)
Domain controller that hosts read-only partitions of a database in Active Directory.
Ability to deploy RODC via Windows PowerShell and to virtual machines.9
Kerberos
constrained
delegation
across domains
Administrative permission needed only for the back-end service account.
Back-end permitted to authorize which front-end service accounts can impersonate
users against their resources.10
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Flexible
Authentication
Secure
Tunneling
(FAST)
Protected channel between domain-joined client and domain controller with FAST.10
Access controls
in Active
Directory
Lightweight
Directory
Services
(AD LDS)
Authentication of users requesting access to the directory.
Use of security descriptors, called access control lists (ACLs), on directory objects to
determine which objects an authenticated user has access to.11
Identity
component
updates
Updated
Updated identity components include:12
Service Principal Name (SPN) and User Principal Name (UPN) uniqueness
Winlogon Automatic Restart Sign-On (ARSO)
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Key Attestation
Certification authority (CA) Backup and Restore Windows PowerShell cmdlets
Command line process auditing
Credential Protection and Domain Authentication Controls
Directory Services
Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
Virtualized
domain
controller
cloning
Ability to create replicas of virtualized domain controllers through cloning of
existing ones.
Virtualization-safe technologies and rapid deployment of virtual domain controllers
through cloning.13
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Virtualization
supported
Virtual domain controllers hosted on hypervisor platforms that expose an identifier
called VM-Generation ID (hypervisor-agnostic mechanism). The identifier can detect
and employ necessary safety measures to protect the sanctity of the AD DS
environment if a virtual machine is rolled back in time by an unsupported
mechanism (such as the application of a virtual machine snapshot).13
Active
Directory
Domain
Services claims
in Active
Directory
Federation
Services (AD
FS)
Ability to populate Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) tokens with user-
and device-claims taken directly from the Kerberos ticket through AD FS (v2.1).14
Off-premises
domain join
Domain-join computers over the Internet for domains enabled for Direct Access.15
Fine-grained
password
policy
Simplified management of password-setting objects (PSOs) through Active Directory
Administrative Center.15
Database
mounting tool
Improved recovery processes with the ability to compare data as it exists in the
snapshots or backups that are taken at different times, enabling better decision-
making about what data to restore after data loss .16
Active
Directory-
Based
Activation
(AD BA)
Simplified configuring of the distribution and management of volume software
licenses, with the Volume Activation Services server role, Key Management Service
(KMS), and activation based in Active Directory.15
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Windows
PowerShell
History Viewer
Ability to view Windows PowerShell cmdlets as they run.
Ability to display the equivalent Windows PowerShell cmdlets in the History Viewer
of Windows PowerShell with Active Directory Administrative Center .15
Active
Directory
Recycle Bin
Recovery of accidentally deleted objects from backups of AD DS taken by
Windows Server Backup with Active Directory domains.15 Active Directory object not
physically removed from the database immediately.
Active
Directory
Domain
Services
integration
Ability to create cluster computer objects in targeted organizational units or by
default in the same organizational unit as the cluster nodes.17
Domain and
Forest
Functional
Levels
New
Provides two new functional levels—Forest Functional Level (FFL) and Domain
Functional Level (DFL). DFL enables support for protected users, authentication
policies, and authentication isolation. FFL and DFL levels are set by default on new
domain and new forest creation but can be lowered using Windows PowerShell .18
Lightweight
Directory
Access Protocol
(LDAP) query
optimizer
changes
Updated
The LDAP query optimizer algorithm was reevaluated and further optimized. The
result is the performance improvement in LDAP search efficiency and LDAP search
time of complex queries.18
Active
Directory
Replication
throughput
improvement
Updated
For Active Directory replication, the remote procedure calls (RPC) transmit buffer has
been increased to a maximum throughput of around 600 Mbps by changing the
RPC send buffer size from 8 KB to 256 KB. This change allows the TCP window size
to grow beyond 8 KB, reducing the number of network round trips.18
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS)
Server Core
installations for
Active
Directory
Lightweight
Directory
Services
Role support for Server Core installations.19
Backup and
restore for
Active
Directory
Lightweight
Directory
Services
Ability to back up and restore databases to an existing AD LDS instance.20
Multiple
directory
service
instances on a
single server
Ability to concurrently run multiple instances of AD LDS on a single computer with
an independently managed schema for each AD LDS instance.21 22
Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS)
Active
Directory
Rights
Management
Services as a
server role
Available as a server role with several new features not available in previous
versions.23
Persistent
protection
Protection of content on the go with AD RMS.
Ability to specify who can open, modify, print, or manage content.
Rights stay with content—even when it is transferred outside the organization.
Usage policy
templates
Ability to create a usage policy template and apply it to content, eliminating the
need to recreate usage rights settings for comprehensive file protection.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Software
development
kit for Active
Directory
Rights
Management
Services
Compatible with rights-enabled applications.
Self-enrollment
of the Active
Directory
Rights
Management
Services cluster
Enrollment via local computer to help eliminate the need to connect to Microsoft
Enrollment Service through a server self-enrollment certificate.24
Integration
with Active
Directory
Federation
Services (AD
FS)
Integration of AD RMS and AD FS to enable the leveraging of existing federated
relationships for collaboration with external partners .2423
Windows
PowerShell for
deploying
Active
Directory
Rights
Management
Services
Support for more secure and flexible remote server deployment of AD RMS using
PowerShell.25 26
Enhancements
in Active
Directory
Rights
Management
Services and
SQL Server
requirements
Improved support for remote deployment of AD RMS and Microsoft SQL Server .2725
AD RMS installer account must have system administration permissions in the SQL
Server installation.
SQL Server Browser service must be running to locate available SQL instances.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)
Single Sign-On
(SSO) and
seamless
second factor
authentication
across
company
applications
New
With Workplace Join, information workers can join their personal devices with their
company to access company resources and services.28
Provides seamless second factor authentication and SSO to workplace resources and
applications.
The Device Registration Service (DRS), included with the Active Directory Federation
Role in Windows Server 2012 R2, provisions a device object in Active Directory and
sets a certificate on the consumer device to represent device identity.
Web
Application
Proxy
New
Provides the reverse proxy functionality for web applications inside the corporate
network so that users on virtually any device can access them from outside the
corporate network.
Pre-authenticates access to web applications using AD FS, and also functions as an
AD FS proxy.
Multi-factor
access control
New
Access control in AD FS is implemented with authorization claim rules. Issues permit
or deny claims that will determine whether or not a user or a group of users will be
allowed to access resources secured with AD FS.
Enhances user, device, location, and authentication data using a greater variety of
authorization claim types or rules.
Multi-factor
authentication
New
Requires users to provide more than one form of authentication when connecting to
published applications and services. For example, using one-time passwords or
smart cards.
Integration
with Microsoft
Office
SharePoint
Server
AD FS can be used to facilitate an out-of-the-box SSO solution for Microsoft
SharePoint.29
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Integration
with Active
Directory
Rights
Management
Services
AD FS can integrate with AD RMS to support the sharing of rights-protected content
between organizations, helping eliminate the need for AD RMS to be deployed in
both organizations.
Integration
with Dynamic
Access Control
scenarios
AD FS can be used with user and device claims that are issued using Active Directory
Domain Services (AD DS) for various DAC scenarios.14
Ability of AD FS to consume AD DS claims included in Kerberos tickets as a result of
domain authentication.
Improved
installation
experience
with Server
Manager
Installation of AD FS server role with Server Manager.24
Automatic listing and installing of virtually all services that AD FS depends on during
the AD FS server role installation with Server Manager and its configuration wizard
when AD FS server role is installed.
Windows
PowerShell
cmdlet tools
New cmdlets for installing the AD FS server role and for initial configuration of the
federation server and federation server proxy in addition to the management
capabilities based in PowerShell that are provided in AD FS 2.0.24
Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS)
Certification
authorities
(CAs)
Management of CAs, certificate revocation, and certificate enrollment30; root and
subordinate CAs; and enterprise and stand-alone CAs.
Web
enrollment
Enrollment mechanism for organizations that need to issue and renew certificates
for users and computers that are not joined to the domain or not connected directly
to the network, and for users of non-Microsoft operating systems.31 32
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Microsoft
Online
Responder
Service
Ability to configure and manage Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) validation
and revocation checking in networks based on Microsoft Windows.33
Network
Device
Enrollment
Service (NDES)
Microsoft implementation of the Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP), a
communication protocol that makes it possible for the software running on network
devices such as routers and switches, which cannot otherwise be authenticated on
the network to enroll for X.509 certificates from a certification authority.34
Certificate
Enrollment
Policy Web
Service
AD CS role service for obtaining certificate enrollment policy information for
humans and computers.35
Certificate
Enrollment
Web Service
Certificate enrollment with HTTPS protocol for users and computers .35
Integration
with Server
Manager
Integration of AD CS server role and its role services into Server Manager .36
Deployment
and
management
capabilities of
Windows
PowerShell
Ability to configure or remove configurations for virtually all AD CS role services with
the AD CS Deployment PowerShell cmdlets.37
Active
Directory
Certificate
Services role
services on
Server Core
Ability to install and run virtually all AD CS role services on Server Core installations
of Windows Server 2012 or the Minimal Server Interface installation options .36
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Automatic
renewal of
certificates for
non-domain
joined
computers
Builds on Certificate Enrollment Web Services by adding the ability to automatically
renew certificates for computers that are part of untrusted Active Directory Domain
Services (AD DS) domains or not joined to a domain.36
Enforcement of
certificate
renewal with
same key
Increased security with AD CS that requires certificate renewal with the same key,
enabling the same assurance level of the original key to be maintained throughout
its life cycle.36
Support for
international-
ized domain
names (IDNs)
Support for IDNs that contain characters that cannot be represented in ASCII with
AD CS.36
Increased
security with
default on
certification
authorities role
service
Enforcement of enhanced security by CA role service in the requests sent to it.
Encryption required for packets requesting a certificate.36
Policy module
support for the
Network
Device
Enrollment
Service
New
Using a policy module with the Network Device Enrollment Service provides
enhanced security so that users and devices can request certificates from the
Internet.38
Trusted
Platform
Module (TPM)
key attestation
New
Allows the CA to verify that the private key is protected by a hardware-based TPM.38
Windows
PowerShell for
Certificate
Services New
New Windows PowerShell cmdlets are available for backup and restore.38
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Virtualization and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Shared virtual
hard disk New
Enables clustering of virtual machines by using shared virtual hard disk (VHDX)
files.39
Ability to host on Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) or on Server Message Block (SMB)-
based Scale-Out File Server file shares.
Resize virtual
hard disk
Updated
Ability to expand or shrink the size of a virtual hard disk while the virtual machine is
still running.39
Ability to perform maintenance on the virtual hard disk without temporarily shutting
down the virtual machine.
Only available for VHDX files that are attached to a SCSI controller .
Storage Quality
of Service
New
Ability to manage storage throughput for virtual hard disks that are accessed by
virtual machines.39
Ability to specify the maximum and minimum I/O loads in terms of I/O operations
per second (IOPS) for each virtual hard disk in a virtual machine.
Ability to ensure that the storage throughput of one virtual hard disk does not
impact the performance of another virtual hard disk on the same host.
Hyper-V Live
Migration over
SMB New
Ability to perform a live migration of virtual machines by using SMB 3.0 as a
transport. This enables taking advantage of key SMB features, such as SMB Direct
and SMB Multichannel, by providing high speed migration with low CPU
utilization.46
Live Migration
with
compression
Updated
Ability to first compress the memory content of the virtual machine that is being
migrated and then copy it to the destination server over a TCP/IP connection. This is
the default setting in Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 R2.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Live Migration
Remote Direct
Memory Access
(RDMA)
Updated
Ability to perform faster live migration between Hyper-V hosts by establishing an
efficient memory-to-memory transfer of data using RDMA.
Server Message Block Direct (SMB Direct) over RDMA is a technology that, given the
hardware (NICs) supporting it, can establish an efficient memory-to-memory
transfer of data.
In Windows Server 2012, the main advantage of this approach was faster file
services but in Windows Server 2012 R2, it is used to send live migration data
between the Hyper-V hosts.
Cross-version
live migration
Updated
Ability to support migrating Hyper-V virtual machines in Windows Server 2012 to
Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 R2.39
Moving a virtual machine to a down-level server running Hyper-V is not supported.
Virtual
machine
generation
New
Ability to determine the virtual hardware and functionality that is presented to the
virtual machine.
Two supported virtual machine generations include:39
Generation 1: Provides the same virtual hardware to the virtual machine as in
the previous versions of Hyper-V.
Generation 2: Provides the following new functionality on a virtual machine:
– Secure Boot (enabled by default)
– Boot from a SCSI virtual hard disk
– Boot from a SCSI virtual DVD
– Pre-Boot Execution Environment (PXE) boot by using a standard network
adapter
– Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware support
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Integration
services Updated
Ability to copy files to the virtual machine while the virtual machine is running
without using a network connection.39
Export
Updated
Ability to export a virtual machine or a virtual machine checkpoint while the virtual
machine is running without any downtime.39
Failover
Clustering and
Hyper-V
Updated
Helps protect the virtual network adapter and virtual machine storage.39
Ability to detect physical storage failures on storage devices that are not managed
by Windows Failover Clustering (SMB 3.0 file shares).
Enhanced
session mode New
Ability to redirect local resources in a Virtual Machine Connection session.39
Enhances the interactive session experience by providing a functionality that is
similar to a remote desktop connection while interacting with a virtual machine.
Management
Updated
Ability to manage Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 from a computer running
Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows 8.1.39
Linux support
Updated
Enables backup support for Linux virtual machine.39
Enables dynamic memory support for Linux guest operating systems.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Automatic
Virtual
Machine
Activation
New
Ability to install virtual machines on a computer where Windows Server 2012 R2 is
properly activated without having to manage product keys for each individual virtual
machine, even in disconnected environments.39
Ability to bind the virtual machine activation to the licensed virtualization server and
activate the virtual machine when it starts.
Enables real-time reporting on usage and historical data on the license state of the
virtual machine.
Shared virtual
hard disk (for
guest clusters) New
Ability to use .vhdx files as shared storage in a guest cluster .40
Virtual
machine drain
on shutdown
New
Enables a Hyper-V host to automatically live migrate running virtual machines if the
computer is shut down.40
Virtual
machine
network health
detection New
Enables a Hyper-V host to automatically live migrate virtual machines if a network
disconnection occurs on a protected virtual network.40
Optimized CSV
placement
policies
Updated
Ability to distribute CSV ownership evenly across the failover cluster nodes.40
Increased CSV
resiliency
Updated
Enables multiple Server service instances per cluster node.40
Enables CSV monitoring of the Server service that provides greater resiliency.
CSV cache
allocation Updated
Ability to increase the amount of RAM that can be allocated as CSV cache.40
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
CSV
diagnosibility Updated
Ability to view the state of a CSV on a per node basis and the reason for I/O
redirection.40
Enables optimizing cluster configuration by easily determining the state of a CSV.
CSV
interoperability Updated
Adds CSV support for the following Windows Server 2012 R2 features:40
Resilient File System (ReFS)
Deduplication
Parity storage spaces
Tiered storage spaces
Storage Spaces write-back caching
Deploy an
Active
Directory-
detached
cluster
New
Ability to deploy a failover cluster with less dependency on Active Directory Domain
Services.40
Uses Kerberos authentication for intra-cluster communication.
Dynamic
witness New
Dynamically adjusts the witness vote based on the number of voting nodes in the
current cluster membership.40
Quorum user
interface
improvements Updated
Ability to easily view the assigned quorum vote and the current quorum vote for
each node in Failover Cluster Manager.40
Force quorum
resiliency
New
Enables automatic recovery in the case of a partitioned failover cluster.40
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Tie breaker for
50% node split New
Enables one side of a cluster to continue to run in the case of a cluster split where
neither side would normally have quorum.40
Configure the
Global Update
Manager mode New
Helps the cluster to continue to function if there is a delay with one or more
nodes.40
Cluster node
health
detection
Updated
Increases the resiliency to temporary network failures for virtual machines that are
running on a Hyper-V cluster.40
Turn off IPsec
encryption for
inter-node
cluster
communication
New
Helps prevent a cluster from being affected by the high latency Group Policy
updates.40
Ability to turn off Internet Protocol security (IPsec) encryption for inter-node cluster
communication such as the cluster heartbeat.
Cluster
dashboard
New
Provides a convenient way to check the health of all managed failover clusters in
Failover Cluster Manager.40
Shared-nothing
live migration
Ability to migrate virtual machines among Hyper-V hosts on different clusters or
servers with no storage sharing using Ethernet connection only—with virtually no
downtime.41
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Live storage
migration
Ability to move virtual hard disks that are attached to a running virtual machine42.
Ability to transfer virtual hard disks to a new location for upgrading or migrating
storage, performing back-end storage maintenance, or redistributing the storage
load.
Ability to add storage to either a stand-alone computer or to a Hyper-V cluster, and
then move virtual machines to the new storage while the virtual machines continue
to run.
A new wizard in Hyper-V Manager or new Hyper-V cmdlets for Windows PowerShell
can be used to perform this task.
Live Snapshot
Merging
Ability to merge snapshots back into the virtual machine while it continues to run
Hyper-V Live Merge.42
Non-Uniform
Memory Access
(NUMA)
support
NUMA support inside virtual machines.42
Ability to project NUMA topology onto virtual machines, guest operating systems,
and applications that can make intelligent NUMA decisions .
Dynamic
Memory Run-
time
Configuration
Ability to make configuration changes to dynamic memory (increasing maximum
memory or decreasing minimum memory) when a virtual machine is running.43
Reduces downtime and increases agility to respond to requirement changes.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
VHDX
Support for VHDX file format with Hyper-V.42
VHDX support for up to 64 terabytes of storage.
Protection from corruption due to power failures by logging updates to the VHDX
metadata structures.
Prevention of performance degradation on large-sector physical disks through
optimizing structure alignment.
Hyper-V
Resource
Metering
Tracks and reports amount of data transferred per IP address or virtual machine.42
Allows customers to create cost-effective and usage-based billing solutions.
Virtual Fibre
Channel
Fibre Channel ports within the guest operating system.42
Ability to connect to Fibre Channel directly from within virtual machines .
Hyper-V
Replica
Updated
Ability to replicate virtual machines among storage systems, clusters, and
datacenters between two sites to provide business continuity and failure recovery.
Ability to configure extended replication in Windows Server 2012 R2. In this case,
the Replica server forwards information about the changes that occur on the
primary virtual machines to a third server (the extended Replica server) . The
frequency of replication, which previously was a fixed value, is now configurable for
30 seconds, 5 minutes, and 15 minutes.
Access to recovery points in Windows Server 2012 R2 has changed from 15 hours to
24 hours.44
Simultaneous
live migrations
Ability to migrate several virtual machines with support for simultaneous live
migrations at the same time.42
Live migrations not limited to a cluster.
Virtual machines can be migrated across cluster boundaries and between stand-
alone servers that are not part of a cluster.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Hyper-V host
and workload
support
Ability to configure up to 320 logical processors on hardware, 4 terabytes of physical
memory, 64 virtual processors, and up to 1 terabyte of memory on a virtual
machine.42
Support for up to 64 nodes and 8,000 virtual machines in a cluster.
Dynamic
memory,
startup
memory, and
minimum
memory
Hyper-V can reclaim the unused memory from virtual machines with a minimum
memory value lower than their startup value.42
Hyper-V Smart
Paging
Bridges the gap between the minimum and startup memory if a virtual machine is
configured with a lower minimum memory than its startup memory (Hyper-V needs
additional memory to restart it.).42
Quality of
Service (QoS)
minimum
bandwidth
Hyper-V uses minimum bandwidth to assign specific bandwidth for each type of
traffic and to ensure fair sharing during congestion.42
Incremental
backup
Hyper-V supports incremental backup (backing up only the differences) of virtual
hard disks while the virtual machine is running.
Windows Server 2008 R2 provides support for full backups only.42
Clustering
New support for guest clustering via Fibre Channel, new live migration
enhancements, massive scale, encrypted cluster volumes, CSV 2.0 CSV, Hyper-V
application monitoring, virtual machine failover prioritization, inbox live migration
queuing, affinity (and anti-affinity) virtual machine rules, and File Server transparent
failover.42
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25
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Application
monitoring
Ability to monitor health of key services provided by virtual machines .
Higher availability for workloads not supporting clustering with automatic correction
(like restarting a virtual machine or moving it to a different server). 42
Storage
Work Folders New
Provides a consistent way for users to access their work files from their PCs and
devices.
Ability to maintain control over corporate data by storing files on centrally managed
file servers, and optionally specifying user device policies such as encryption and
lock-screen passwords.
Ability to deploy Work Folders with the existing deployments of Folder Redirection,
Offline Files, and home folders. Work Folders stores user files in a folder on the
server called a sync share.45
Automatic
rebalancing of
Scale-Out File
Server clients
New
Improves scalability and manageability for Scale-Out File Servers. Server message
block (SMB) client connections are tracked per file share (instead of per server), and
clients are then redirected to the cluster node with the best access to the volume
used by the file share. This improves efficiency by reducing redirection traffic
between file server nodes. Clients are redirected following an initial connection and
when cluster storage is reconfigured.46
Improved
performance of
SMB Direct
(SMB over
RDMA)
Updated
Improves performance for small I/O workloads by increasing efficiency when hosting
workloads with small I/Os, such as an online transaction processing (OLTP) database
in a virtual machine. These improvements are evident when using higher speed
network interfaces, such as 40 Gbps Ethernet and 56 Gbps InfiniBand.46
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26
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Improved SMB
event messages Updated
SMB events now contain more detailed and helpful information. This makes
troubleshooting easier and reduces the need to capture network traces or enable
more detailed diagnostic event logging. By default, the most relevant event
channels are turned on, so as to instantly capture all of the essential information. In
addition, some events now include details on configuration and troubleshooting
solutions.46
Improved SMB
bandwidth
management New
Ability to configure SMB bandwidth limits to control different SMB traffic types.
There are three SMB traffic types: default, live migration, and virtual machine.46
Support for
multiple SMB
instances on a
Scale-Out File
Server
New
Provides an additional instance on each cluster node in Scale-Out File Servers
specifically for Clustered Shared Volume (CSV) traffic. A default instance can handle
incoming traffic from SMB clients that are accessing regular file shares, while
another instance only handles inter-node CSV traffic. This feature improves the
scalability and reliability of the traffic between CSV nodes.46
Storage Spaces
Ability to leverage commodity storage into virtual storage pools, which can then be
provisioned as Storage Spaces.
Virtualized drives that can be formatted and accessed just like a physical drive,
which can also be dynamically resized with the addition of more physical drives to
the storage pool.47
New features in Storage Spaces include storage tiers, write-back cache, parity space
support for failover clusters, dual parity, and the ability to automatically rebuild
storage spaces from storage pool free space.
Storage tiers
New
Automatically moves frequently accessed data to faster (solid-state drive) storage
and infrequently accessed data to slower (hard disk) storage.48
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Write-back
cache New
Buffers small random writes to solid-state drives, reducing the latency of writes.48
Parity space
support for
failover
clusters
New
Ability to create parity spaces on failover clusters.48
Dual parity
New
Stores two copies of the parity information on a parity space, which helps protect
against two simultaneous physical disk failures and optimizes storage efficiency.48
Automatically
rebuild storage
spaces from
storage pool
free space
New
Decreases the time to rebuild a storage space after a physical disk failure by using
the spare capacity in the pool instead of a single hot spare.48
Resilient File
System (ReFS)
Updated
Maximizes data availability and online operations despite errors that would
historically cause data loss or downtime.
In Windows Server 2012 R2, ReFS49 automatically corrects the corruption on parity
spaces. When corruption of ReFS metadata occurs, subfolders and their associated
files are automatically recovered. ReFS is now available to use on Windows 8.1. ReFS
includes a new registry entry, RefsDisableLastAccessUpdate, which is the equivalent
of the previous NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate registry entry. New storage cmdlets,
Get-FileIntegr ity and Set-FileIntegrity, are available to manage integrity and disk
scrubbing policies.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Data
deduplication Updated
Involves finding and removing duplication within data without compromising its
fidelity or integrity. The goal is to store more data in less space by segmenting files
into small variable-sized chunks (32–128 KB), identifying duplicate chunks, and
maintaining a single copy of each chunk.
In Windows Server 2012 R2, data deduplication can be installed on a scale-out file
share and used to optimize live virtual hard disks for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
(VDI) workloads.50
Use the new Expand-DedupFile cmdlet in Windows PowerShell to expand optimized
files on a specified path on the original path if needed for compatibility with
applications, performance, or other requirements.
Distributed File
System (DFS)
Replication Updated
A role service in the File and Storage Services role that enables efficient replication
of folders (including those referred to by a DFS namespace path) across multiple
servers and sites.
Uses a compression algorithm known as remote differential compression (RDC).
RDC detects changes to the data in a file and enables DFS Replication to replicate
only the changed file blocks instead of the entire file.
DFS includes many new functionalities:51
DFS Replication using Windows PowerShell module and methods based on
Windows Management Infrastructure (WMI)
Database cloning for initial sync
Rebuilding of corrupt databases
Disabling of cross-file RDC between servers
File staging tuning and preserved file restoration
DFS Replication also includes updated functionalities such as unexpected shutdown
database recovery improvements, and membership disabling.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
iSCSI virtual
disk
enhancements
New
Includes a redesigned data persistence layer that is based on a new version of the
virtual hard disk format called VHDX (VHD 2.0).52
Provides data corruption protection during power failures and optimizes structural
alignments of dynamic and differencing disks to prevent performance degradation
on new, large-sector physical disks.
iSCSI
manageability
enhancements
Updated
Uses the SMI-S provider in Windows Server 2012 R2 with System Center Virtual
Machine Manager (VMM) to manage iSCSI Target Server in a hosted or private
cloud.52
The new Windows PowerShell cmdlets for iSCSI Target Server enable the exporting
and importing of configuration files, and provide the ability to disable remote
management when iSCSI Target Server is deployed in a dedicated Windows-based
appliance scenario (for example, Windows Storage Server).
iSCSI improved
optimization to
allow disk-level
caching Updated
Ability to set the disk cache bypass flag on a hosting disk I/O, through Force Unit
Access (FUA), only when the issuing initiator explicitly requests it. This change can
potentially improve performance.52
iSCSI scalability
limits
Updated
Increases the maximum number of sessions per target server to 544, and increases
the maximum number of logical units per target server to 256.52
iSCSI local
mount
functionality
Updated
Deprecates the local mount functionality for snapshots. As a workaround, it enables
use of the local iSCSI initiator on the target server computer (this is also called the
loopback initiator) to access the exported snapshots .52
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Other File
System
improvements:
thin
provisioning,
trim, and
Chkdsk
Thin Provisioning: Offers just-in-time allocations (also known as thin provisioning).
Identification of thinly provisioned virtual disks.53
Trim: Ability to reclaim storage that is no longer needed (also known as trim).
Chkdsk: Ability to run in seconds to fix corrupted data. No offline time when used
with CSV. Disk scanning process separated from repair process. Online scanning
with volumes and offline repairs.54
Clustered Share
Volume
Updated
Storage system for scale-out file servers, which can provide optimized availability
and scalable file-based (such as SMB) server application storage.
In Windows Server 2012 R2, a disk or storage space for a CSV volume must be a
basic disk that is partitioned with NTFS or ReFS. Offers distributed CSV ownership,
increased resiliency through availability of the Server service, greater flexibility in the
amount of physical memory that you can allocate to CSV cache, better
diagnosibility, and enhanced interoperability that includes support for ReFS and
deduplication.55
SMB Direct
(RDMA) and
SMB
Multichannel
Load balanced failover connections to remote file servers that not only fail over
when connections are lost, but also evaluate the condition of available connections
to route traffic away from congested links.
Support for network adapters that have Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) and
can function at full speed with low latency, while using very little CPU.56
Offloaded Data
Transfer (ODX)
Used with offload-capable SAN storage hardware to enable a storage device to
perform a file copy operation without the main processor of the host actually
reading the content from one storage place and writing it to another.57
SMB for
workloads
Ability of remote file server shares to be used as storage for workloads such as
Hyper-V and SQL Server 2012.56
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31
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Network File
System (NFS)
support
File-sharing solution for enterprises with a mixed Windows and UNIX environment.
Ability to reliably store and run VMware ESX virtual infrastructures with file system
support on Windows Server 2012, while using the advanced high availability of
Windows.58
Management
(Server
Manager and
PowerShell)
Single point of access to management snap-ins for virtually all the installed roles.
Snap-in for managing Storage Spaces along with storage that can be managed
through PowerShell.
Web and App Plat
Internet Information Services (IIS) enhancements
Multitenant
high-density
websites
Hosting-friendly web server platform with FTP Logon Attempt Restriction and
improved site density, centralized SSL certificate support, and server name
indication.
Increased Internet Information Services (IIS) scalability with SSL scalability,
centralized SSL certificate support, and NUMA-aware scalability.
Server Name
Indicator (SNI)
Binding a more secure site required a unique network endpoint using an IP address
and a port in the previous versions of Windows Server, which often meant having a
dedicated IP address for each secure site because site owners wanted their secure
sites to be running on a standard SSL port.
Support for increased density of secure sites for greater scalability of sites.
Feature Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2
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32
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Centralized SSL
certificate
management
Central storage of SSL certificates on a file share to simplify certificate management
and lower the total cost of ownership.
Rapid addition of servers to the web farm to help eliminate the need to individually
configure SSL.
NUMA-aware
scalability
Ability to scale up web servers beyond 32 processors and use next-generation
hardware.
IIS CPU
Throttling
Ability to set maximum CPU consumption for individual IIS 8.0 application pools,
helping every application get ample processor time.
Ability to create sandbox for each tenant and ensure that no single tenant consumes
virtually all of a web server’s processing power .
FTP Service
FTP publishing on a web server.
FTP Logon
Attempt
Restrictions
Protection against brute force attacks with automatic detection of attacks in-
progress and blocking of future requests from the same address .
Ability to modify the number of times FTP will allow users to attempt unsuccessfully
to log in within a specified time period before denying access to the IP address.
Feature Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2
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33
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Application
initialization
Ability to proactively start ASP.NET applications with IIS 8.0.
Applications available virtually all of the time.
Initialization of ASP.NET applications before users need it.
Returns static pages to users instead of making users wait on a blank browser page.
Dynamic IP
restrictions
Dynamic filters to automatically block potentially harmful IP addresses with IIS 8.0.
WebSocket
Protocol
Encrypted, real-time, bidirectional communications between client and server .
ASP.NET
Support (2.0,
3.0, 3.5, and
4.5)
Multiple ASP.NET applications with different .NET Framework versions to run
simultaneously with Windows Server 2012 R2 with IIS 8.0.
ASP.NET 3.5
and 4.5
Application
Management
Graphical and command-line management tools to manage both ASP.NET 3.5 and
ASP.NET 4.5 applications with IIS 8.0 in Windows Server 2012 R2.
Multiple
language
support
Support for programming languages, such as .NET, PHP, Node.js, and Python.
Enhanced support for PHP and MySQL through IIS extensions .
ASP.NET 4.5 integration and support for latest HTML5 standards .
Hybrid applications platform (on-premises and cloud)
Cross-premises
application
platform
Integration of applications between on-premises environments and the cloud
(including Windows Azure).
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Application
and
programming
symmetry
Shared development model with Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Azure.
Common
development
platform and
tools
Common development environment for .NET developers to build cloud and on-
premises applications.
Application-
layer
connectivity
and messaging
Access to on-premises applications through a cloud-based application.
Networking
Windows
Server Gateway
New
A virtual machine-based software router that allows cloud service providers (CSPs)
and enterprises to enable datacenter and cloud network traffic routing between
virtual and physical networks, including the Internet.59
Routes network traffic between the physical network and virtual machine network
resources, regardless of where the resources are located.
Virtual
Receive-side
scaling
New
Enables network adapter to distribute its network processing load across multiple
virtual processors in multicore virtual machines.60
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35
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Multitenant
site-to-site
VPN gateway
New
Enables hosters to deploy multitenant site-to-site gateways to provide cross-
premises connectivity from networks at tenant sites to virtual networks dedicated
per tenant in the hoster’s network.61
A single gateway instance is capable of serving multiple tenants with overlapping IP
address spaces, maximizing efficiency for the hoster as compared to deploying a
separate gateway instance per tenant.
Multitenant
Remote Access
VPN Gateway New
Enables hosters to allow transparent VPN access to virtual machines replicated in
the cloud even after a failure when the entire site of the tenant goes down.61
Border
Gateway
Protocol (BGP)
New
Enables dynamic distribution and learning of routes by site-to-site (S2S) interfaces
of Routing and Remote Access (RRAS).61
Role-based
access control New
Ability to customize the types of operations and access permissions for users and
groups of users on specific objects.62
Virtual address
space
management New
IP Address Management (IPAM) streamlines the management of physical and virtual
IP address space in System Center Virtual Machine Manager .62
Enhanced
Dynamic Host
Configuration
Protocol
(DHCP) server
management
Updated
DHCP server management with IPAM is greatly enhanced in Windows Server 2012
R2, including multiple new operations for DHCP scope and DHCP servers, and views
for the following objects:62 DHCP failover, DHCP policies, DHCP superscopes, DHCP
filters, and DHCP reservations.
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36
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
External
database
support
New
In addition to Windows Internal Database (WID), IPAM also optionally supports the
use of a Microsoft SQL database that enables additional scalability, disaster
recovery, and reporting scenarios.62
Upgrade and
migration
support New
If IPAM is installed on Windows Server 2012, then data can be maintained and
migrated when one needs to upgrade to Windows Server 2012 R2.62
Enhanced
Windows
PowerShell
support for
IPAM
Updated
Windows PowerShell support for IPAM is greatly enhanced to provide extensibility,
integration, and automation support.62
Hyper-V Virtual
Switch
Extended Port
Access Control
Lists (ACLs) Updated
Allows enterprises and CSPs to configure the Hyper-V Virtual Switch Extended Port
ACLs to provide firewall protection and enforce security policies for the tenant
virtual machines in their datacenters.63
ACLs now include the socket port number.
Ability to configure stateful rules that are unidirectional and provide a timeout
parameter.
Dynamic Load
Balancing of
Network
Traffic
New
Ability to continuously and automatically move traffic streams from network adapter
to network adapter within the NIC team to share the traffic load as equitably as
possible.63
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Hyper-V
Network
Virtualization
(HNV) coexists
with third-
party
forwarding
extensions for
the Hyper-V
Virtual Switch New
Ability to forward packets for either the virtual machine customer address space or
the physical address space because switch extensions now coexist seamlessly with
Network Virtualization, which uses Network Virtualization Generic Routing
Encapsulation (NVGRE).
Ability to perform hybrid forwarding where the network traffic, which is NVGRE
encapsulated, is forwarded by the HNV module within the switch, while all non-
NVGRE network traffic is forwarded by the third-party forwarding extensions that
the user has installed.63
Traffic
bottlenecks to
virtual
machines are
reduced with
vRSS
New
Virtual RSS (vRSS) is supported on the virtual machine network path that allows
virtual machines to sustain a greater networking traffic load by distributing the
processing across multiple cores on the host and multiple cores on the virtual
machine.63
Network
tracing is
streamlined
and provides
more detail
Updated
Network traces contains switch and port configuration information that tracks
packets through the Hyper-V Virtual Switch, and any forwarding extensions the user
has installed are easier to use and read.63
Inbox HNV
Gateway
New
A multitenant gateway that performs site-to-site (VPN), NAT, and forwarding
functions.64
System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager can be used to fully manage the
HNV gateway.
Supports guest clustering for high availability.
Includes BGP for dynamic routes update.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
HNV
interoperability
with Hyper-V
Virtual Switch
Extensions
Updated
The HNV module was moved inside the virtual switch so that extensions can see
both the provider (physical address) and virtual (customer address) IP address
spaces.64
Implements hybrid forwarding.
HNV VM
Network
Diagnostics
Updated
Enhanced ping.exe (ping –p) to allow pinging to and from provider addresses .64
Two new Windows PowerShell cmdlets (Test-VMNetworkAdapter and Select-
NetVirtualizationNextHop) that enable diagnostics of HNV policy and the Customer
Address space.
Added the ability for Message Analyzer to decode NVGRE packets.
HNV
Architecture Updated
Improved interoperability with switch extensions.64
The HNV filter moved from being an NDIS lightweight filter (LWF) to being part of
the Hyper-V virtual switch.
Dynamic IP
Address
Learning
New
Enables high availability scenarios for both virtual machines on a virtual machine
network and the HNV gateway.64
Ability to run DHCP, DNS, and Active Directory in virtual machine networks.
HNV and
Windows NIC
Teaming
Updated
Integrates HNV and Windows NIC Teaming to allow multiple network adapters to be
placed into a team for the purposes of bandwidth aggregation and/or traffic failover
to maintain connectivity in the event of a network component failure.64
NVGRE
Encapsulated
Task Offload Updated
Ability to offload tasks to a network adapter that has the appropriate task offload
capabilities.64
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Enhanced zone
level statistics Updated
Zone level statistics are available for different resource record types, zone transfers,
and dynamic updates.65
Enhanced
DNSSEC
support Updated
DNSSSEC key management and support for signed file-backed zones is improved.65
Enhanced
Windows
PowerShell
support for
DNS
Updated
New Windows PowerShell parameters are available for DNS Server .65
DNS
registration
enhancements New
Ability to use DHCP policies to configure conditions based on the fully qualified
domain name (FQDN) of DHCP clients, and to register workgroup computers using a
guest DNS suffix.66
DNS PTR
registration
options New
Enables DNS registration of address (A) and pointer (PTR) records, or just enables
registration of A records.66
Windows
PowerShell for
DHCP server
Updated
New Windows PowerShell cmdlets are available to perform tasks such as creating
DHCP security groups, setting DNS credentials, managing superscopes, and
managing multicast scopes.66
DHCP server
failover
New
Ability to deploy two DHCP servers for the high availability of DHCP services to
clients, including replicating lease information between them.
DHCP servers can be deployed in a non-clustered failover configuration that
includes multi-subnet support.67
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Dynamic
Virtual
Machine Queue
(VMQ)
Enables a host’s network adapter to pass Direct Memory Access (DMA) packets
directly into individual virtual machine memory stacks.
VMQ assigned to each virtual machine device buffer to avoid needless packet copies
and route lookups in the virtual switch.68
Quality of
Service (QoS)
QoS for Hyper-V and other enhancements.
Hyper-V uses the minimum bandwidth to assign specific bandwidth for each type of
traffic and to help ensure fair sharing during congestion.
Support for hardware compatible with Data Center Bridging (DCB), which makes it
possible to use a single ultra-high bandwidth NIC, and provides QoS and isolation
services to support multitenant workloads expected on private cloud deployments .69
BranchCache
Improved performance, availability, and scalability.
New features include:
Support for offices of nearly any size
Single Group Policy object (GPO) object for nearly all offices
Automatic configuration of client computers through Group Policy
Integration with Windows file server
Use of highly optimized file chunking system for intelligent splitting of files so
that users can download only the changed part of the content
Cache encryption
Cache preloading
PowerShell support
New Group Policies70
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41
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Internet
Protocol
version 6 (IPv6)
Improved management of IPv6 addresses, better connectivity to Internet using IPv6
addresses, and NAT64/DNS64 protocol translation for DirectAccess clients .71
Low latency
workload
technologies
New capabilities and features for managing latency, such as NIC Teaming.72
Network Load
Balancing
Distributes traffic across several servers by using the TCP/IP networking protocol.
Additional features for failover clustering in comparison to Windows Server 2008 R2,
including support for scale-out file servers, CAU, virtual machine application
monitoring, and iSCSI Software Target integration.73
Multitenant
security and
isolation
Fully isolated network layer of the datacenter with server virtualization through
programmatically managed and extensible capabilities that help users connect
virtual machines to physical networks with policy enforcement for enhanced security
and isolation.74
Private virtual
local area
network
(PVLAN)
Ability to isolate virtual machines from each other—for example, virtual machines
cannot contact other virtual machines over the network—while still maintaining
external network connectivity for nearly all virtual machines.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Management and Automation
Graphic User
Interface as
Server Role
Ability to deploy the GUI as a role in Windows Server 2012 using PowerShell 3.0.
Enables servers to easily remove the full GUI and more to either Server Core or
Minimal Installation Shell (PowerShell, Server Manager, and MMC support).
Servers can move among Server Core, Minimal Installation Shell, and full GUI using
PowerShell commands when required.
Server
Manager
Single point of access to manage snap-ins for virtually all installed roles.
Ability to manage a server's identity and system information, display server status,
identify problems with server role configuration, and manage virtually all roles
installed on the server.
Multi-server
management
Management of multiple servers via roles, services, or customized management
groups.
Single view for administrators to view events, roles, services, and other important
information for virtually all managed servers.75
Role and
feature
deployment to
remote servers
and offline
hard disks
The Server Manager console and Windows PowerShell cmdlets for Server Manager
allow the installation of roles and features to local or remote servers, or offline
virtual hard disks.
Ability to install multiple roles and features on a single remote server or offline VHD
in a single Add Roles and Features Wizard or Windows PowerShell session.
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43
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Integrated
console
Integrated console for IT departments to manage multiple server platforms—
whether physical or virtual—more effectively, helping lower IT operational costs
(such as file storage management, Remote Desktop Services, and IP address
management).
Windows
PowerShell 4.0 New
Windows PowerShell 4.0 includes several significant features that extend its use,
improve its usability, and enable easier and more comprehensive control and
management of Windows-based environments.
Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) enables the deployment and
management of configuration data for software services and the environment in
which these services run.
Windows PowerShell 4.0 features include:
Backward-compatible
Includes simplified, consistent syntax across all cmdlets
Simplified scripting through Windows PowerShell ISE
Comprehensive management with more than 3000 cmdlets in over 100
modules
Windows
PowerShell
Disconnected
Sessions
Ability to create a session on a remote computer, start a command or job,
disconnect from the session, shut down a computer, and then reconnect to the
session from a different computer later to check job status or get results.76
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Windows
PowerShell
Workflow
Updated
Support has been added for a new PipelineVariable common parameter in the
context of iterative pipelines.76
Parameter binding has been significantly enhanced to work outside of tab
completion scenarios, such as with commands that do not exist in the current
runspace.
Support for custom container activities has been added to Windows PowerShell
Workflow.
After a crash, Windows PowerShell Workflow automatically reconnects to managed
nodes.
Ability to throttle Foreach -Parallel activity statements by using the ThrottleLimit
property.
The ErrorAction common parameter has a new valid value, Suspend, which is
exclusively for workflows.
A workflow endpoint now automatically closes if there are no active sessions, no in-
progress jobs, and no pending jobs.
Windows
PowerShell
Web Access Updated
Ability to disconnect from and reconnect to existing sessions in the web-based
Windows PowerShell Web Access console.76
Default parameters can be displayed on the sign-in page.
Ability to remotely manage authorization rules for Windows PowerShell Web Access .
Ability to have multiple Windows PowerShell Web Access sessions in a single
browser session by using a new browser tab for each session.
Windows
PowerShell
Web Services
(Management
OData IIS
Extension)
Updated
Easily exposes Windows PowerShell cmdlets through an OData-based web service
that is running in Web Server (IIS).76
Ability to define the API version in an endpoint, as well as enforce the usage of a
specific API version.
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45
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Windows
PowerShell
Integrated
Scripting
Environment
(ISE) Updated
Supports both Windows PowerShell Workflow debugging and remote script
debugging.76
IntelliSense support has been added for Windows PowerShell Desired State
Configuration providers and configurations.
Windows
PowerShell
Script Sharing
Access to a community-generated library of PowerShell code snippets called
Integrated Script Snippets within PowerShell ISE for IT pros with PowerShell 3.0.
Windows
PowerShell
Scheduled Jobs
Enables administrators to schedule run jobs via Windows Task Scheduler.
Windows
PowerShell
Syntax
Simplification
Simplified, consistent syntax across virtually all cmdlets with PowerShell 3.0.
Support for intuitive command structure more closely modeled on natural language.
Windows
PowerShell
cmdlet
discovery and
module auto
loading
Get-Command cmdlet gets nearly all cmdlets and functions from virtually all
modules installed on a computer, even if the module is not imported into the
current session.
Cmdlets ready for immediate use to help eliminate the need to import modules.
Windows PowerShell modules are imported automatically when any cmdlet in the
module is used; no longer need to search for the module and import it to use its
cmdlets.
Device
Management
and Installation
(DMI)
Central management and configuration of hardware and device driver
configurations for computers on networks.
Feature Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Initial
Configuration
Tasks
Helps administrators to configure a server and shorten the amount of time between
operating system installation and deployment of the server in an enterprise .
Best Practices
Analyzer (BPA)
for Server Role
Core set of guidance to configure roles and features for Windows Server, including
configuration, management, and security.
BPA now fully integrated into Server Manager.77
Group Policy
Ability to specify managed configurations for users and computers through Group
Policy settings and Group Policy preferences.78
Remote Group
Policy Update
Ability to schedule remote Group Policy updates (gpupdate.exe) for one or many
computers.
Windows Azure
Online Backup
(cloud-based
backup service)
Offsite protection against data loss from failure with a cloud-based backup solution,
which allows files and folders to be backed up and recovered from the cloud .79
Group Policy
Infrastructure
Status
Ability to display the status of Active Directory and SYSVOL replication as it relates
to Group Policy.
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47
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Server Roles
Active
Directory
Certificate
Services (AD
CS)
Updated
Provides customizable services for issuing and managing public key infrastructure
(PKI) certificates used in software security systems that employ public key
technologies. New functionalities in AD CS for Windows Server 2012 R2 include the
following:
Policy Module support for the Network Device Enrollment Service :
Provides enhanced security to users and devices for requesting certificates
from the Internet.
TPM key attestation: Enables the certification authority (CA) to verify that the
private key is protected by a hardware-based TPM.
Windows PowerShell for Certificate Services: New Windows PowerShell
cmdlets are available for backup and restore.
Active
Directory
Domain
Services (AD
DS)
Enhancements in Windows Server 2012 include:
Virtualized domain controller cloning
Virtualization-safe technology
AD DS integration with Server Manager
Relative ID (RID) improvements
Deferred index creation
Off-premises domain join
Recycle Bin UI
DAC
AD DS claims in Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)
History Viewer in PowerShell
Fine-grained password policy UI
AD Replication and Topology Windows PowerShell cmdlets
Active Directory-Based Activation (AD BA)
Kerberos enhancements
Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA)80
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48
Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Active
Directory
Federation
Services
Updated
Enables users to access resources on their personal devices from virtually anywhere
using Workplace Join.
Enhanced access control risk management tools include flexible controls and
policies, AD FS Extranet Lockout, and access revocation. Simplified deployment
experience.
Enhanced sign-in with AD FS experience. Enable developers to build modern
applications.
Other improvements include reduction of SSO cookie size with dynamic group SID
hydration, access to claims that are encoded within user certificates when using
certificate authentication, easier troubleshooting, and password expiry notification.
Active
Directory
Lightweight
Directory
Service (AD
LDS)
Inclusion of AD LDS as a new server role.
Integration of AD LDS with AD DS.81
Active
Directory
Rights
Management
Services (AD
RMS)
Simple delegation and strong cryptography (also made in Windows Server 2008 R2
through recent updates).
Changed requirements for installation and deployment:
System administrator account permissions instead of local administrator
accounts in SQL Server installation
SQL Server Browser service must be running
Firewall exceptions for port numbers used by AD RMS
Remote deployment
Use of Server Manager and Windows PowerShell to deploy AD RMS25
Application
Server
Updated to support .Net Framework 4.5.82
Feature Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
DHCP Server
Updated
New enhancements in DHCP include DNS registration enhancements, DNS PTR
registration options, and Windows PowerShell for DHCP Server.
DNS Server Updated
New enhancements in Domain Name System Server include enhanced zone-level
statistics, enhanced DNSSEC support, and enhanced windows PowerShell support.
Fax Server Updated
Print and fax service logging now includes user name and computer name logging
in addition to IP address logging.
File and
Storage
Services Updated
The File and Storage Services server role in Windows Server 2012 R2 includes the
following new and updated features:
Work Folders: Provides a consistent way for users to access their work files
from their personal computers and devices.
Server Message Block: Enhancements include automatic rebalancing of
Scale-Out File Server clients, improved performance of SMB Direct, and
improved SMB event messages.
Storage Spaces: Enhancements include SSD and HDD storage tiers, an SSD-
based write-back cache, parity space support for failover clusters, dual parity
support, and greatly decreased storage space rebuild times.
DFS Replication: Enhancements include database cloning for large
performance gains during initial sync, a Windows PowerShell module for DFS
Replication, a new DFS Replication WMI provider, faster replication on high
bandwidth connections, conflict and preexisting data recovery, and support for
rebuilding corrupt databases without unexpected data loss.
iSCSI Target Server: Updates include virtual disk enhancements,
manageability enhancements in a hosted or private cloud, and improved
optimization to allow disk-level caching.
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Hyper-V
Updated
The Hyper-V role enables you to create and manage a virtualized computing
environment by using virtualization technology that is built into Windows Server
2012 R2.
New and updated features include:
Shared virtual hard disk
Resize virtual hard disk
Storage Quality of Service
Live migrations
Virtual machine generation
Integration services
Export
Failover Clustering and Hyper-V
Enhanced session mode
Hyper-V Replica
Linux support
Management
Automatic Virtual Machine Activation
Hyper-V Networking
Network Policy
and Access
Services
Includes Print and Document Services role; Type 4 drivers; Branch Office Direct
Printing; Print Management Windows PowerShell module; WSD Secure printing; and
High Availability Printing.
Feature Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Print and
Document
Services
Updated
Enables centralization of print server and network printer management tasks. Ability
to receive scanned documents from network scanners and route the documents to a
shared network resource, Windows SharePoint Services site, or email addresses.
New and updated features include Event Logging for Branch Office Direct Printing
and Printer Migration for Web Services for Devices (WSD) print devices
Roaming Settings include Printer Connections; Easier Printing in Windows RT; Near
Field Communication (NFC) Connections to Printers; and a Common framework for
PIN-protected printing support by IHVs.
Print and Fax services now include user access logging.
Remote Access
Updated
The new server features in Windows Server 2012 R2 include:
Multitenant site-to-site VPN gateway
Multitenant remote access VPN gateway
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
Web Application Proxy
Remote
Desktop
Services
Updated
In Windows Server 2012 R2, Remote Desktop Services offers enhanced support in
the following areas:
Session Shadowing
Online Storage Deduplication
Improved RemoteApp behavior
Quick reconnect for remote desktop clients
RestrictedAdmin Mode Remote Desktop
Improved compression and bandwidth usage
Dynamic display handling
RemoteFX virtualized GPU supports DX11.1
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Volume
Activation
Services
Additional volume activation technologies not available in the previous versions of
Windows Server are Volume Activation Services server role, in-built support for KMS,
Active Directory-based Activation, and the Volume Activation Tools console.83
Web Server
(IIS)
IIS 8.0 with a unified web platform that integrates IIS, ASP.NET, FTP services, PHP,
and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF).
New features include Centralized Certificates, Dynamic IP Restrictions, FTP Logon
Attempt Restrictions, Server Name Indication (SNI), Application Initialization, and
NUMA-aware scalability.84
Windows
Deployment
Services
Updated
Server role that enables user to remotely (network based) deploy Windows
operating systems.
The .vhdx format supports a sparse, dynamic representation of a disk, which
produces a relatively small disk image file (compared to directly storing the full
contents of the disk). The .vhdx format is supported for VDH boot scenarios in
addition to direct application to system volumes (similar to .wim deployments).
Windows PowerShell cmdlets added in Windows Server 2012 R2.
Provides support for TFTP and multicasting over IPv6 and DHCPv6. Improved
multicast deployment by eliminating the need for making a local copy of the
install.wim file.
Feature Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Windows
Server Update
Services
(WSUS)
Windows Server Update Services is a built-in server role that includes the following
enhancements:85
Can be added and removed by using the Server Manager
Includes Windows PowerShell cmdlets to manage the ten most important
administrative tasks in WSUS
Adds SHA256 hash capability for additional security
Provides client and server separation
Versions of the Windows Update Agent (WUA) can ship independently of
WSUS
Windows
Server
Essentials
Experience
New
Available in Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard and Windows Server 2012 R2
Datacenter.86
Protects server and client data by backing up the server and all the client computers
within a network.
Manages users and groups through the simplified server Dashboard.
Stores company’s data in a centralized location.
Integrates with Microsoft online services, such as Office 365, Exchange Online,
SharePoint Online, and Windows Intune.
Ability to use Anywhere Access and Remote Web Access functionalities on server.
Manages mobile devices that access company email by using Office 365 through
Active Sync from the Dashboard.
Monitors network health and obtains customized health reports.
Windows
System
Resource
Manager
Ability to manage server processor and memory usage with standard or custom
resource policies.87
Manages resources and helps ensure that all the services provided by a single server
are available on an equal basis or that resources will always be available to high-
priority applications, services, or users.
Feature Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2
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Features Windows Server
2008 R2
Windows Server
2012
Windows Server
2012 R2
Windows
Server Backup
Provides a set of wizards and other tools to perform basic backup and recovery
tasks for the server it is installed on.
Windows Server Backup role in Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2
has the following enhanced features:88
Ability to backup and restore individual virtual machines from a Hyper-V host
server
Improvements to managing backup versions and backup retention
Ability to backup volumes greater than 2 terabytes and with 4-KB sector sizes
Support for backup of Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs)
Ability to report system state components
Feature Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2
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55
1 Remote Access Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831416
2 Dynamic Access Control Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn408191.aspx
3 What's New in Security Auditing: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh849638
4 Network Policy and Access Services Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh831683
5 Step-by-Step: Demonstrate DNSSEC in a Test Lab: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/hh831411.aspx
6 Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) for Network Access Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/hh945105
7 802.1X Authenticated Wired Access Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831831
8 What's New in 802.1X Authenticated Wired Access in Windows Server 2012 R2:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn452432.aspx
9 Active Directory Domain Services Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc731053%28WS.10%29.aspx
10 What's New in Kerberos Authentication: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831747
11 Working with Authentication and Access Control: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc732857.aspx
12 Identity component updates: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn535780.aspx
13 Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Virtualization: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/hh831734.aspx
14 Active Directory Federation Services Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831502
15 What's New in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS): http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/hh831477.aspx
16 AD DS: Database Mounting Tool (Snapshot Viewer or Snapshot Browser) :
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753246(v=ws.10).aspx
17 What's New in Failover Clustering: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831414
18 Directory Services Component Updates: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn535775.aspx#BKMK_FL
19 Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/bb897400.aspx
20 Backing Up and Restoring Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM): http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc757294%28v=ws.10%29.aspx
21 Active Directory Application Mode: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc736765%28v=ws.10%29.aspx
22 Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc754361%28v=ws.10%29.aspx
23 Active Directory Rights Management Services Role: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc771307%28v=ws.10%29.aspx
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56
24 Active Directory Rights Management Services Role: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc771307%28v=ws.10%29.aspx
25 What's New in Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS)?:
http://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh831554
26 AD RMS Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee617271.aspx
27 What's New in Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS)?:
http://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh831554
28 What's New in Active Directory in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn268294.aspx
29 Windows Server 2008 R2 Active Directory Features: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-
cloud/windows-server/active-directory-features.aspx
30 Active Directory Certificate Services Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc755071
31 Set Up Certification Authority Web Enrollment Support: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc732895.aspx
32 AD CS: Web Enrollment: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732517(v=WS.10).aspx
33 Set Up an Online Responder: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725937.aspx
34 AD CS: Network Device Enrollment Service: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc753784%28v=ws.10%29.aspx
35 Setting Up Certificate Enrollment Web Services: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dd759243.aspx
36 What's New in Certificate Services in Windows Server 2012:
http://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh831373.aspx
37 Installing ADCS via PowerShell: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-
US/winserversecurity/thread/9ce2901b-4fe6-4294-87f8-638594e1b1a8
38 What's New in Certificate Services in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn473011.aspx
39 What’s New in Hyper-V for Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn282278.aspx
40 What's New in Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn265972.aspx
41 Why Hyper-V? Competitive Advantages of Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate Hyper-V over
VMware vSphere 5.0: http://computertrainingcenters.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Competitive-
Advantages-of-Windows-Server-2012-RC-Hyper-V-over-VMware-vSphere-5-0-V1-0.pdf
42 Features Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate
Hyper-V: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/C/A/2CA38362-37ED-4112-86A8-
FDF14D5D4C9B/WS%202012%20Feature%20Comparison_Hyper-V.pdf
43 Hyper-V Dynamic Memory Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831766.aspx
44 Hyper-V Replica Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj134172.aspx
45 Work Folders Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn265974.aspx
Feature Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2
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46 What's New in SMB in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/hh831474.aspx
47 Windows Server 2012 Storage Data Sheet: http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/8/F/38F07CCB-
B752-45DE-9747-247BAE5E2974/WS%202012%20Data%20Sheet_Storage.pdf
48 What's New in Storage Spaces in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn387076.aspx
49 Resilient File System Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831724.aspx
50 Data Deduplication Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831602.aspx
51 What's New in DFS Replication in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn281957.aspx
52 What's New in iSCSI Target Server in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn305893.aspx
53 Thin Provisioning and Trim Storage Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/hh831391.aspx
54 File and Storage Services Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831487
55 Use Cluster Shared Volumes in a Failover Cluster : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/jj612868.aspx
56 Server Message Block overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831795.aspx
57 Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX) with Intelligent Storage Arrays :
http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/7/D/A7D44657-70AE-46AE-883B-E6BD686E6481/windows-
offloaded-data-transfer.docx
58 Windows Server 8 Developer Preview Release Product Overview:
https://www.techdays.fi/portals/0/liitetiedostot/15..docx
59 Windows Server Gateway: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn313101.aspx
60 Virtual Receive-side Scaling in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn383582.aspx
61 What's New in Remote Access in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn383589.aspx
62 What's New in IPAM in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn268500.aspx#DB
63 What's New in Hyper-V Virtual Switch in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn343757.aspx
64 What's New in Hyper-V Network Virtualization in Windows Server 2012 R2 :
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn383586.aspx
65 What's New in DNS Server in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn305898.aspx
66 What's New in DHCP in Windows Server 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn305900.aspx
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67 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Overview:
http://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh831825.aspx
68 Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate: Networking:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/E/6/7E63DE77-EBA9-4F2E-81D3-
9FC328CD93C4/WS%202012%20White%20Paper_Networking.pdf
69 Quality of Service (QoS) Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831679
70 Enable the Modern Workstyle with Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate BranchCache:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=enable%20the%20modern%20workstyle%20with%20windows
%20server%202012%20release%20candidate%20branchcache%20&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CF8QFjAA
&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.microsoft.com%2Fdownload%2FF%2F5%2FA%2FF5A51866-0A19-40B5-
99E9-11D78C5E5133%2FWS%25202012%2520Data%2520Sheet_BranchCache.pdf&ei=_jnjT5-
VHIfL2QWz5_2oCw&usg=AFQjCNHmMmNFe2S9rrS6R0gicuThR-A2Nw
71 IPv6 - Technology Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831730
72 Low Latency Workloads Technologies: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831415
73 Network Load Balancing Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831698
74 Feature Comparison: Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/C/A/2CA38362-37ED-4112-86A8-
FDF14D5D4C9B/WS%202012%20Feature%20Comparison_Hyper-V.pdf
75 Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate: Server Management:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/E/C/2EC3EA6D-4EE8-4A0F-9CB2-
704C9B60305C/WS%202012%20White%20Paper_Server%20Management.pdf
76 What's New in Windows PowerShell: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh857339.aspx
77 What's New in Server Manager: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd378896(v=ws.10).aspx
78 Group Policy Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831791
79 Windows Azure Backup Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831419.aspx%20
80 Active Directory Domain Services Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831484
81 Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/hh831593
82 Application Server Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831530
83 Volume Activation Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831612.aspx
84 Web Server (IIS) Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831725
85 Windows Server Update Services Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh852345.aspx
86 Windows Server Essentials Experience Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dn280940.aspx
87 Windows System Resource Manager Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/hh997019.aspx
88 Windows Server Backup Feature Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj614621.aspx