Can Windows Server 2008 Lift Vista's Boat?

It's common knowledge in the Microsoft channel that many of the core files in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista are identical. But Microsoft partners believe the impact of the shared code base has been underestimated, and that the stronger performance and security that results from the cross-pollination between the two products is going to have a positive effect on Vista adoption.

"Server 2008 will bring to life functions and features of Vista that have been hidden somewhat in Server 2003 environments," says Todd Swank, director of marketing for system builder and solution provider Nor-Tech, Burnsville, Minn. "And that's when a lot of businesses are going to begin making the transition from XP to Vista."

Since the days of Windows NT, the Windows client and server operating systems have benefitted—from both a security and reliability standpoint—from shared engineering best practices and a common code base. But with Server 2008 and Vista, these commonalities will generate "significantly more business value" by cutting down on the time needed to patch and troubleshoot flaws, says Alex McCabe, solution architect at Continental Resources Inc., a Bedford, Mass.-based solution provider.

"The NT 4 workstation and server were almost the same code, but that was a much simpler time: It's like comparing the Bronze Age to the Industrial Revolution," McCabe says.

For organizations that deploy Server 2008 and Vista together, the primary benefits will come in the form of more reliable code and consistent hot fixes within both platforms, McCabe says. For Microsoft, "there will be fewer issues with security hot fixes, because they'll be attributable to both the server and the workstation. From a security diagnostics and maintenance point of view, it'll be easier to identify issues for customers, and compatibility testing will also be easier," McCabe says.

Dave Stutzman, technical services manager at i3 Business Solutions LLC, a Microsoft Gold partner in Grand Rapids, Mich., hasn't been recommending Vista to his clients, but plans to re-evaluate that policy now that Vista service pack 1 (SP1) has arrived and the synergies with Server 2008 become more apparent.

"After SP1, we're going to take a much closer look at Vista, and the kernel tie-in to Server 2008. We're most interested in the enhancements and performance gains that were nonexistent in previous versions," Stutzman says.

Microsoft has been talking up the performance gains that companies can see from deploying Server 2008 and Vista together, many of which stem from a redesigned TCP/IP stack that supports IPv6 and makes network operations faster and more efficient between the client and server.

This revamped architecture has implications for a wide range of server functions, including the prioritization of network traffic to specific line of business applications using group policy, says Justin Graham, senior technical product manager in the Windows Server product marketing group.

In addition, the Server Message Block 2.0 protocol, which Microsoft introduced with Vista, greatly speeds up client-to-server file sharing in Server 2008 environments, according to Graham. "The basic tenet we're trying to hit is to make it easier for customers to manage, deploy and leverage common technologies within the platform," he says.

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