Server Core installations are versatile, secure and highly-optimized installations of Windows Server. Dubbed ‘Windows without Windows’ by some, these installation in Windows Server 2008 R2 are capable of providing more (infrastructural) services than ever! Just like Full installations of Windows Server 2008 R2, depending on the edition of your choice, or budget, the Server Roles and Features installable on a Server Core installation, vary, though.
The table below shows the individual roles and features in fresh Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008 R2, Web (column 1), Standard (column 2), Enterprise (column 3) and Datacenter (column 4) edition. It also lists the Server Roles features in a fresh installation of the special-purpose Hyper-V server 2008 R2. (column 5):
red, unavailable green, available for installation gray, installed by default
|
Server Roles and Features |
W |
S |
E |
D |
H |
| Active Directory Certificate Services | |||||
| Certificate Authority | |||||
| Active Directory Domain Services | |||||
| Active Directory Domain Controller | |||||
| Active Directory Lightweight Domain Services | |||||
| DHCP Server | |||||
| DNS Server | |||||
| File Services | |||||
| File Server | |||||
| Distributed File System | |||||
| DFS Namespaces | |||||
| DFS Replication | |||||
| File Server Resource Manager | |||||
| Services for Network File System | |||||
| Branchcache for network files | |||||
| Hyper-V | |||||
| Print and Document Services | |||||
| Print Server | |||||
| LPD Service | |||||
| Remote Desktop Services | |||||
| Remote Desktop Virtualization Host | |||||
| Web Server (IIS) | |||||
| Web Server | |||||
| Common HTTP features | |||||
| Static Content | |||||
| Default Document | |||||
| Directory Browsing | |||||
| HTTP Errors | |||||
| HTTP Redirection | |||||
| WebDAV Publishing | |||||
| Application Development | |||||
| ASP.NET | |||||
| .NET Extensibility | |||||
| ASP | |||||
| CGI | |||||
| ISAPI Extensions | |||||
| ISAPI Filters | |||||
| Server Side Includes | |||||
| Health and Diagnostics | |||||
| HTTP Logging | |||||
| Logging Tools | |||||
| Request Monitor | |||||
| Tracing | |||||
| Custom Logging | |||||
| ODBC Logging | |||||
| Security | |||||
| Basic Authentication | |||||
| Windows Authentication | |||||
| Digest Authentication | |||||
| Client Certificate Mapping Authenti… | |||||
| IIS Client Certificate Mapping Auth… | |||||
| URL Authorization | |||||
| Request Filtering | |||||
| IP and Domain Restrictions | |||||
| Performance | |||||
| Static Content Compression | |||||
| Dynamic Content Compression | |||||
| Management Tools | |||||
| IIS Management Scripts and Tools | |||||
| Management Service | |||||
| IIS 6 Management Compatibility | |||||
| IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility | |||||
| IIS 6 WMI Compatibility | |||||
| IIS 6 Scripting Tools | |||||
| FTP Server | |||||
| FTP Service | |||||
| FTP Extensibility | |||||
| IIS Hostable Web Core | |||||
| .Net Framework 2.0 Features | |||||
| .Net Framework 3.5.1 Features | |||||
| .Net Framework 3.5.1 | |||||
| WCF Activation | |||||
| HTTP Activation | |||||
| Non-HTTP Activation | |||||
| Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) | |||||
| Compact Server | |||||
| BitLocker Drive Encryption | |||||
| BranchCache | |||||
| Failover Clustering | |||||
| MultiPath I/O | |||||
| Network Load Balancing | |||||
| Quality Windows Audio Video Experience | |||||
| SNMP Services | |||||
| SNMP Service | |||||
| Subsystem for UNIX-based Application | |||||
| Telnet Client | |||||
| Windows Process Activation Service | |||||
| Process Model | |||||
| .NET Environment | |||||
| Configuration APIs | |||||
| Windows Server Backup Features | |||||
| Windows Server Backup | |||||
| Command-line tools | |||||
| Windows PowerShell | |||||
| Windows PowerShell Cmdlets | |||||
| Windows Server Migration Tools | |||||
| WinRM IIS Extension | |||||
| WINS Server | |||||
| WoW64 Support | |||||
| WoW64 | |||||
| WoW64 for .NET Framework 2.0 and Win… | |||||
| WoW64 for .NET Framework 2.0 | |||||
| WoW64 for Windows PowerShell | |||||
| WoW64 for .NET Framework 3.0 and 3.5 | |||||
| WoW64 for Print Services | |||||
| WoW64 for Failover Clustering | |||||
| WoW64 for Input Method Editor | |||||
| WoW64 for Subsystem for UNIX-based ap… |
Note:
While some Server Roles and Features are available in multiple editions of Windows Server, the specific capabilities of the roles may vary between editions.
Further reading
Server Core changes in Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core Installation Option Getting Started Guide Edition Comparison by Server Core Installation Option What are the new features in Server Core in Windows Server 2008 R2? Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core – Sconfig and other new features
Implement Minimalist Solutions using Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core MPIO with Windows 2008 R2 Server Core and iSCSI Windows Tips & Tricks UPDATE PDC-2008 Managed Development on Windows Server Core 2008 R2
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