Slide Show: How Hard Will Windows Server 2008 Rock The Channel?

It has been nearly five full years since Windows Server 2003 was released to manufacturing, and the channel natives are getting restless. But the Windows Server 2008 RTM is almost here, and there's a palpable air of excitement and enthusiasm among VARs over the myriad improvements Microsoft has baked into the OS.

But while solution providers are pumped up about virtualization in Windows Server 2008, they're just as jacked about features like Network Access Protection, Internet Information Services 7.0, Server Core, and Bitlocker, and Terminal Services. Fueling VARs' giddiness is their belief that the new features will help them drive services revenue among existing clients, as well as capture new business.

In an interview with ChannelWeb, one Microsoft channel partner, in a frenzy over the impending release, described Windows Server 2008 as "a f---ing MONSTER release, a real game changer." We spoke with 10 other Microsoft partners who used somewhat less colorful language to identify the important features of Windows Server 2008 and how they'll impact the channel.

PHIL ALDRICH
Microsoft practice director at Dimension Data Americas

There's a number of features in Windows Server 2008 that represent keys to the future of the Windows Server platform:

Server Core: This core service-only version of the operating system has finally ditched the graphical user interface. This will remove overhead and lower the security risks. Active Directory, DNS, DHCP and other core services will now run safely and more efficiently.

Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC): This domain controller role for non-secure locations is a significant improvement for those domain controllers exposed to limited security. The configuration cannot be hacked or changed. It is a one-time copy. And as the name implies, it is read-only.

Windows Power Shell: Command line scripting and management comes to Microsoft's server line. This will be fundamental to managing Server Core.

Windows Deployment Services: The ability to quickly script server builds for recovery and standardization is a major improvement for the server platform.

MATT SCHEROCMAN
Vice president of consulting services at PCMS IT Advisor, a Cincinnati-based Microsoft Gold partner

Security improvements are significant in Windows Server 2008. Network Access Protection being built into the server core is definitely going to benefit VARs selling into the midmarket and SMB. NAP makes sense for these customers because it eliminates the need to deploy a third party network access control solution and the cost of integrating it.

NAP is going to drive services for VARs because what has typically delayed the SMB market getting into network access control is the cost of bringing in third party vendors' solutions. NAP is a free product comes with Windows Server 2008, and smaller companies are going to be more than willing to pay for the services to drive that.

On the other side, when you look at large multinational corporations, the ability to have read-only domain controllers in their remote locations and secure them with Bitlocker is going to be huge. With Windows Server 2008, you can assign access down so that remote office locations only have access to the information they need. And if someone walks away with server, at least they won't be able to get the data.

RON HERARDIAN
President of Global System Services, a Mountain View, Calif.-based solution provider

The real story is virtualization. If an IT customer can run 20 Linux application environments in on a single virtual machine host (e.g., VMware or Xen), but only 10 Windows environments, that would hurt Microsoft.

As a result, Microsoft has to do two things: (1) They have to make Windows servers smaller and more efficient to maximize the number of Windows instances that can be run on a single virtual machine host (such as a VMware ESX or Windows Server 2008 machine), e.g., their MinWin project; and (2) they have integrate virtualization technology deeply into the Windows server platform, i.e., build it into Windows Server 2008.

Obviously, by tying virtualization to Windows and making it practically free, Microsoft is following the long established (and much repeated) pattern of making virtualization a zero-sum game for competitors. When EMC makes VMware an open source project, it will be the signal that Microsoft has won the virtualization war, just as they won the web browser war and the enterprise e-mail war and the desktop office suite war before that.

DANIEL DUFFY
CEO of Valley Network Solutions, a Microsoft Gold partner in Fresno, Calif.

The SMB2 file system (which Microsoft introduced with Windows Vista to boost communication speeds between Vista PCs and Windows Server 2008) is sorely overdue, and should provide users that are routinely storing gigabytes of files with a huge performance boost.

The self-healing NTFS file system will be significant for everyone, from SMBs to enterprises. Being able to know that your system doesn't have to be downed to correct minor NTFS errors is huge, and will provide additional peace of mind.

I also think that Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA) has the potential to make the end user experience more consistent, and I look forward to seeing standardized error messages that actually help and make clear sense when they occur.

CHRIS WARD
Senior solutions architect at Greenpages, a solution provider in Kittery, Maine

I believe the biggest changes in Windows Server 2008 come in the Terminal Services realm. For years, Microsoft has been two steps behind Citrix from a feature perspective with Terminal Services, and other third parties, such as Provision Networks, have stepped in to add some of these features to Terminal Services.

With Windows Server 2008, a lot of these features have made their way into the heart of Terminal Services. They include the ability to 'publish' or run seamless window applications; a more robust web interface; and a 'secure gateway' type feature to allow access to both terminal servers and XP/Vista workstations via the Internet, without the need for any third party software or appliances.

The management of these new features could still use some improvement, but they're a step in the right direction. From a channel perspective, this could greatly shake up small and medium size Citrix partners who rely on Presentation Server as a primary revenue stream.

RIC OPAL
Vice president of Peters and Associates, an Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based solution provider

Security features are big in Server 2008. We're going to have a nice chance to go in to clients and not just talk about software, but also about adjusting the policies, and that'll likely boost services revenue.

The virtualization feature set that will be part of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V will be more than adequate for most companies. So we're going to be focusing our services efforts around capacity planning and what data centers will need to look like, and then we'll compare and contrast that with other solutions from other vendors.

When you look at total license costs that some companies have organizationally, we may be able to position Windows Server 2008 for the customer and take some of that cost out.

TRAVIS FISHER
Executive vice president at Inacom Information Systems, a Salisbury, Md.-based solution provider

We're excited about application mode terminal services, which allow us to take some of these core applications that are running on clients' networks and pull them away from the desktop, making them easier to manage. We've got couple of nice sized deals with thin clients, and application mode terminal services will really help with those.

CARL MAZZANTI
CEO of eMazzanti Technologies, a Hoboken, N.J.-based solution provider

Server Core in Windows 2008 is the answer to branch office authentication and system security our customers have been requesting for years. We now have a means to secure branch office locations and still offer all of the tools one would expect at a corporate center. This, on top of the small system load, the removed GUI interface, and ease of central management, makes Server Core a killer offering the likes of which Windows hasn't had before.

RURIK BRADBURY
Vice president of strategy at Intermedia, a New York-based Exchange hosting partner

Windows Server 2008 is faster, with native 64-bit support, and more secure. Windows Server Core, with only the IIS module deployed, is a great new feature. And virtualization on top of just the core is really interesting.

As far as Internet Information Services 7 goes, it's definitely more flexible. For instance, it allows users to integrate ASP.NET and PHP, which is a great feature.

However, one downside is that some of the features are not easily hostable: certificate management and the debugging tools, for example. This is something that we will have to work around.

DAVE SOBEL
CEO of EvolveTech, a Fairfax, Va.-based solution provider

For me, the focus on virtualization, and making it part of the core feature set, is what is most exciting -- and most sellable -- about the release of Windows Server 2008.