Hello,We have a Windows 2003 domain with Exchange 2003, SQL 2005, SQL 2000, and Vista clients etc. Recently we added a Windows 2008 enterprise edition as additional domain controller. I am not a fan of adding an OS, say Windows 2008 R2 if the features in it are not important to the forest. I have some questions about R2 and its feature set and I hope folks out there could shed some advice. Find below my queries:1. Is there any need to have a W2K8 R2 as domain controller? If so what features are we betting on?2. In future once we get to W7, I like to use Branch cache. Does this require a W2K8 R2 domain controller? My understanding is at that time you need a W2K8 R2 member server with W7 clients?3. We are also scheduled to move to Exchange 2007 on a new hardware set. Is there any advantage of using R2 with Exchange?4. We are planning to move to SQL 2008 on a new hardware set. Is there any advantage of using R2 with SQL 2008?5. We run file server on Samba and we are planning to bring it to a Windows 2008 setup. What features will R2 provide for a Windows File server? TIA

Hello TIA, I will try my best to answer your questions, however some of them are better to be answer in other forums. 1. Is there any need to have a W2K8 R2 as domain controller? If so what features are we betting on? A: If you will remain at the Windows Server 2003 forest functional level, it is not necessary for you to introduce a Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller. However, if you want to use new features that is supported by Windows Server 2008 Forest functional level, you will need to use Windows Server 2008 R2 DC. The new features that are introduced with Windows Server 2008 R2 Active Directory is mentioned in the following online document. What's New in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) in Windows Server 2008 R2 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd378796(WS.10).aspx 2. In future once we get to W7, I like to use Branch cache. Does this require a W2K8 R2 domain controller? My understanding is at that time you need a W2K8 R2 member server with W7 clients? A: Yes. What you have thought is right. There is no requirement for Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller if you want to use Branch cache. The only requirement is you will need to Windows Server 2008 R2 member server to act as Brach cache server and the client should be Windows 7. BranchCache in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Overview http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd755969(WS.10).aspx BranchCache http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/network/dd425028.aspx 3. We are also scheduled to move to Exchange 2007 on a new hardware set. Is there any advantage of using R2 with Exchange? A: As this question is related to Exchange server 2007, for better and quick answer to it, we suggest you ask it in our Exchange forum. Exchange Forum http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/default.aspx?ForumGroupID=235&SiteID=17 Running Exchange with Windows Server 2008 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.12.exlonghorn.aspx 4. We are planning to move to SQL 2008 on a new hardware set. Is there any advantage of using R2 with SQL 2008? A: This question will be better answered here in SQL server forum. SQL Server http://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/category/sqlserver/ 5. We run file server on Samba and we are planning to bring it to a Windows 2008 setup. What features will R2 provide for a Windows File server? A: Windows Server 2008 R2 file service provides more File Services features, including Server Message Block version 2 (SMB2), Distributed File System Namespace (DFS-N), Distributed File System Replication (DFS-R), Microsoft Services for Network File System (NFS), Folder Redirection, Offline Files (CSC), BranchCache and File Server Resource Manager (FSRM). This webcast introduces them in detail. TechNet Webcast: Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services (Level 300) http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032412462&EventCategory=5&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US For more reference: Why Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2? http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/why-upgrade.aspx Hope this can be helpful.This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi David, Perfectly crafted :)sainath !analyze

Thanks vey much