Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008 R2, codenamed "Windows Server 7", is the fifth 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 manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009, shortly after the completion of Windows 7. It is the successor to Windows Server 2008, which is derived from the Windows Vista codebase, released the previous year, and was succeeded by the Windows 8-based Windows Server 2012.
| Version of the Windows NT operating system | |
Screenshot of Windows Server 2008 R2 showing the Server Manager application which is automatically opened when an administrator logs on. | |
| Developer | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| OS family | Windows Server |
| Working state | Current |
| Source model | |
| Released to manufacturing | July 22, 2009 |
| General availability | October 22, 2009 |
| Latest release | Service Pack 1 with security update rollup (6.1.7601.24499) / March 19, 2019 |
| Marketing target | Business |
| Update method | Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services, SCCM |
| Platforms | x86-64, Itanium |
| Kernel type | Hybrid (Windows NT kernel) |
| Default user interface | Windows shell (Graphical) |
| License | Commercial software (Retail, volume licensing, Microsoft Software Assurance) |
| Preceded by | Windows Server 2008 (2008) |
| Succeeded by | Windows Server 2012 (2012) |
| Official website | docs |
| Support status | |
| Mainstream support ended on January 13, 2015. Extended support ended January 14, 2020. Windows Server 2008 R2 is eligible for the paid ESU (Extended Security Updates) program. This program allowed volume license customers to purchase, in yearly installments, security updates for the operating system until January 10, 2023, only for Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter volume licensed editions. The program was included with Microsoft Azure purchases, and offered Azure customers an additional year of support, until January 9, 2024. Installing Service Pack 1 is required for users to receive updates and support after April 9, 2013. | |
| Part of a series of articles on |
| Windows 7 |
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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 which dropped support for 32-bit processors, a move which was followed by the consumer-oriented Windows 11 in 2021.
Windows Server 2008 R2 is the final version of Windows Server that includes Enterprise and Web Server editions, the final that got a service pack from Microsoft and the final version that supports IA-64 and processors without PAE, SSE2 and NX (although a 2018 update dropped support for non-SSE2 processors). Its successor, Windows Server 2012, requires a processor with PAE, SSE2 and NX, in any supported architecture.
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.