Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 64 Bit

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 64 Bit is the fourth version of the Windows Server operating system produced by Microsoft and released as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was released to OEM hardware partners on July 22, 2009 and became generally available on October 22, that year. It is the successor to the Windows Vista-based Windows Server 2008, released the previous year. Enhancements in Windows Server 2008 R2 include new functionality for Active Directory, new virtualization and management features, version 7.5 of the Internet Information Services web server and support for up to 256 logical processors. It is built on the same kernel used with the client-oriented Windows 7, and is the first server operating system released by Microsoft to exclusively support 64-bit processors.

Microsoft stopped providing security updates and technical support for Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM since April 9, 2013, and Service Pack 1 must be installed to continue receiving support and updates on any given Windows operating system. Seven editions of Windows Server 2008 R2 were released: Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, HPC Server and Itanium, as well as Windows Storage Server 2008 R2. A home server variant called Windows Home Server 2011 was also released.

Windows Server 2008 R2 was succeeded by the Windows 8-based Windows Server 2012.

History

Microsoft introduced Windows Server 2008 R2 at the 2008 Professional Developers Conference as the server variant of Windows 7.

On January 7, 2009, a beta release of Windows Server 2008 R2 was made available to subscribers of Microsoft’s TechNet and MSDN programs, as well as those participating in the Microsoft Connect program for Windows 7. Two days later, the beta was released to the public via the Microsoft Download Center.^[13]

On April 30, 2009, the release candidate was made available to subscribers of TechNet and MSDN.^[14] On May 5, 2009, the release candidate was made available to the general public via the Microsoft download center.^[15]

According to Windows Server Blog,^[16] the following are the dates of the year 2009 when Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 has been made available to various distribution channels:

• OEMs received Windows Server 2008 R2 in English and all language packs on July 29. The remaining languages were available around August 11.
• Independent software vendor (ISV) and independent hardware vendor (IHV) partners have been able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 from MSDN starting on August 14.
• IT professionals with TechNet subscriptions were able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 and obtain product keys for English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish variants beginning August 14 and all remaining languages beginning August 21.
• Developers with MSDN subscriptions have been able to download and obtain product keys for Windows Server 2008 R2 in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish starting August 14 and all remaining languages starting August 21.
• Microsoft Partner Program (MPP) gold/certified members were able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 through the MPP portal on August 19.
• Volume licensing customers with an existing Software Assurance (SA) contracts were able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 on August 19 via the Volume License Service Center.
• Volume licensing customers without an SA were able to purchase Windows Server 2008 R2 through volume licensing by September 1.

Additionally, qualifying students have been able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard edition in 15 languages from the Microsoft Imagine program (known as DreamSpark at the time).^[17]

Microsoft has announced that Server 2008 R2 will be the last version of Windows supporting the Itanium architecture, with its extended support ending earlier than for the regular non-Itanium edition or “until July 10, 2018.”