Microsofts Martin McClean and Brian Lich have created Server Posterpedia, a Windows Store app, that contains the famous component architecture posters for Windows Server, Exchange Server, SharePoint Server and Windows Azure.

The component architecture posters provide visual references for understanding the functions and roles of Microsoft products.

With a smile on my face, I discovered the Server Posterpedia app contains:

• the Active Directory in Windows Server 2003 Component Poster
• the Active Directory in Windows Server 2008 Component Poster

Using this app on Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 (with the Desktop Experience feature enabled) allows zooming in and scrolling through the components that make up Active Directory in detail.

Note:
It took me a while to figure out how to move around when zoomed, but finally found the scroll bar at the right and bottom of the app.

The cool part about this app is that it offers a lot of specialized information on planning, migration and security from the TechNet websites through the App Bar (Win+Z or right-click on a poster). This way, a download link is also offered to download the poster in case you still want it printed A0-sized for the wall of your office.

Another great feature of this app is that we don’t need to dig through the Microsoft Downloads website to find new component posters. This app will be updated with this new content using the automatic Windows Store App Update process in the background.

If you’ve suddenly become curious about the component architecture posters themselves, use the following links:

Windows Server 2008 Component Posters
Windows Server 2008 R2 Feature Components Poster
Active Directory in Windows Server 2003 Components Poster