Yesterday, March 13, 2007, the second service pack for Windows Server 2003 went live. SP2 is designed as a cumulative service pack and it includes updates, security and stability enhancements and new capabilities integrated into Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional x64 operating systems. "Thousands of customers are already using the Release Candidate of SP2, which was made available in November. In fact, there has been twice as many downloads of the SP2 Release Candidate than there were of the Windows Server 2003 SP1 Release Candidate," revealed a member of the Windows Server Division.

The Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The second service pack will deliver updates for Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 SP1, Windows Storage Server R2, Windows Unified Data Storage Server, Windows Compute Cluster Server, Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2, and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition systems. Microsoft informed that the forthcoming service pack for Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, due within 30 days, will be based on Windows Server 2003 SP2.

Microsoft also provided a few examples of features and capabilities new to the service pack. Windows Deployment Services, a revamped form of Remote Installation Services (RIS), will enable the remote network-based installations.

Windows Server 2003 Scalable Networking Pack offers support for technologies that resolve issues related to OS bottlenecks and network packet processing, enhancing the performances and scalability of workloads associated with Windows Server 2003. Microsoft Management Console 3.0 offers additional management and the service pack provides enhanced performance under Windows virtualization and for SQL Server.

"Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 supports the new Wi-Fi Alliance certification for wireless security, making it easier for end users to securely connect to Wi-Fi hotspots. Improved IPsec Filter Management reduces the IPsec filter set that needs to be managed for a Server and Domain Isolation deployment from potentially hundreds of filters to as few as two. "Firewall per port" authentication secures traffic between extranet environments and internal assets that are protected via IPsec domain isolation," are other features exemplified by Microsoft.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 was tested by Softpedia as being 100% Free and is available for download here.