I have an instance of Windows Web Server 2008. Do you know if it is possible to upgrade it toward "Windows Standard Server 2008"? (I mean without a complete reinstall and considering that I have the license to do that)
it is possible if your server is x64:
https://serverfault.com/questions/10299/upgrading-windows-server-2008
and for vista is not a complete reinstall, what about Windows Anytime Upgrade?
I'd be very surprised if it did. Even upgrades in Vista between versions is pretty much a complete reinstall.
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I have installed certain applications in my VM which has Windows OS Server 2008. Now, If I upgrade the Windows Server to 2012, will it affect my applications in anyway?
I could see that the application is supported in 2012 Server.
It really depends on the applications, but most should be fine. I would recommend taking a snapshot of your old installation so that you can quickly go back to WS 2008 if need be.
Check with application vendor if they support 2012 version OS. Don't upgrade the instance without a snapshot. Most applications should work, unless any App-OS dependency.
I'm looking to test some of the new features in Hyper-V 2012 (v3).
Hyper-V v3 can be downloaded as a "free" version "Hyper-V Server 2012", or it can be purchased as part of Windows Server 2012 Standard or datacenter. However, as usual licensing is unclear.
On the one hand MS talk about their free edition in several (many) sites. On the other hand, when you go to the actual download site it talks about a trial. To me a trial has an expiry date so it makes me nervous.
I could use my Windows Standard 2012 license as part of my Microsoft Action Pack Subscription (MAPS), but I'm not sure what I'm actually entitled to.
So my question is:
What are the real differences between the free (trial) download of Hyper-V Server 2012 and the paid-for Windows Server Core 2012 where you have to install with a key.
Does the "trial" version actually expire?
No, Hyper-V Server 2012 doesn't expire.
Hyper-V Server is quite a bit like Server Standard Core with all of the roles except Hyper-V (and other supporting roles and features) removed.
Now, in Server 2012, you can add the full UI back to the Server Core editions, but that's not an option with Hyper-V Server 2012 - it will always just be a command-line. That also means that the typical management UI tools won't run on Hyper-V Server 2012, so you'll need a machine that you can manage it from remotely (the PowerShell cmdlets for Hyper-V actually do work on Hyper-V Server, though).
Hyper-V Server isn't really for people who want to "play around" with Hyper-V - it's really designed for people who want to boost their Hyper-V infrastructure with more physical hosts, and who want to run a very lightweight OS in the root partition, leaving the most resources available for the VMs.
If you just want to get used to Hyper-V or test some things out with it, but you don't have experience with managing Hyper-V remotely already, stick with a full version of Windows Server (or Windows 8 Pro/Enterprise x64, which also have Hyper-V).
I have SQL 2008 R2 on my computer and it works fine with the database. If I install Visual Web Developer 2010 express it says I have to install SQL Express , per it is a dependency. I would prefer to only install web developer.
Will an express installation effect my current installation's operation at all?
Yes they can coexist as they will be installed as separate services - see this forum post
Officially, they can coexist.
Unofficially, my experience with a joint installation is painful. SQL Server patches would fail mysteriously on machines with a joint install. Sometimes you could find fix information in a KB article, sometimes not. Sometimes reinstalling SQL Server worked, sometimes an OS reinstall was required.
You can take the risk on a development server, but I wouldn't do this in production.
I'm in the process of looking for a dedicated server to host my soon to be released web apps. THey are build with ASP.NEt and uses Sql Server 2005. I've got a great deal with a company for a Intel Core2Quad Q9300 with 8Gb or ram and 750Gb sata.
They offer me Windows 2003 64 Standard or Windows 2008 64 Web for free, which one should I choose?
My main concern is about the database, in the first moment I'm going to have only one box to host both the web and database layer. Will I be able to install SQL Server (initially the express edition, then eventually the standard) on the Web version of Windows 2008?
If you can get Server 2008, i'd go with it because IIS7 is an excellent Upgrade to IIS6.
SQL Server Standard 2008 64-Bit is officially supported on Windows 2008 Web Server. SQL Server Enterprise 2008 64-Bit is NOT (not sure if it does work and is only not listed. 32-Bit Enterprise is listed, but running 32-Bit on a modern server does not sound appealing). See System Requirements here for a full list of SQL Server 2008 Editions and supported Servers.
Not sure about SQL Server 2005, there seems to be a patch needed.
You can run SQL Server on Server 2008 Web Edition (this is a change from Server 2003 Web Edition). The main limitations I am aware of between Web and Standard for 2008 is Web cannot do any kind of virtualization, Active Directory or DNS management, etc. It is intended to be essentially an application server.
I would recommend the newer OS, since it comes with IIS7 and the enhanced TCP/IP (among other things).
If its free, go for the standard version. Here is a comparison of the features:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/compare-features.aspx
I've never noticed any performance differences in the versions, so might as well get features you might use someday. Expensive to upgrade later.
You can run the SQL on either one.
I am considering switching to a co-located solution running a DNN (DotNetNuke) installation and an email server that mostly just does alias forwarding. I think I can get DNS services outside of this colocation box - but that could be an issue.
I am running this website for a non-profit group and trying to stay inexpensive. Will Windows Server 2008 Web Edition be acceptable for running all of this? My research so far says it will but I am looking for anyone with any experience running web edition and what sort of pitfalls does it have?
I was going to install SQL express as the backend for the DNN site. Indications are that you can't connect to SQL from outside the Web Edition box. Does this include SQL Management studio?
Any assistance or advice on this would be appreciated.
Update:
Still looking for any specifics with Windows Server 2008 Web Edition
We tried running DNN on Windows 2008 64-bit and 32-bit a while back. Not a great experience with intermittant failures and application hangs. We had to revert back to Windows 2003.
This was on a moderately loaded site. If you want to give them any sort of guaranteed uptime/availability I would recommend Windows 2003.