14 DAY TRIAL // Companies looking for guidance for Microsoft infrastructure products are free to access the Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide Series. Hosted on the company's portal for IT professionals, TechNet, the IPD has been updated and tailored to the next iteration of the Windows Server operating system. In this sense, the new Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide Series is meant to include the new features and capabilities brought to the table by Windows Server 2008 R2, which, according to Microsoft, will be launched officially concomitantly with the Windows 7 client, on October 22, 2009.
“The following guides in the Infrastructure Planning and Design series have been updated to reflect new features and capabilities available in Windows Server 2008 R2: Active Directory Domain Services, Internet Information Services 7.5, File Services, and Print Services,” revealed Mitch Irsfeld, editor, TechNet Flash Newsletter.
Users will be able to access the guides outlining key design elements considered critical to catalyzing successful implementations either in bite size pieces or as a single chunk. Microsoft is allowing customers to either download the entire IPD series, or grab individual guides.
“These guides outline the critical design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation. Following the steps in these guides will result in a design that is sized, configured, and appropriately placed to deliver the stated business benefits, while also considering the performance, capacity, and fault tolerance of the system,” Irsfeld added.
Companies that want to get a jump start on Windows Server 2008 R2, formerly codenamed Windows 7 Server, can still do so with the Release Candidate build of the operating system. With the next versions of the Windows client and server joined at the hip, Microsoft is currently gearing up to release to manufacturing both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 by the end of July 2009.
Windows Server 2008 R2 Release Candidate (RC) is available for download here.