When I initially was asked about the “Core” version of Windows 2008, I remember going “Duh?”. Now, more than a year later, I am able to correct that to “What do you want to know?” (and hopefully being able to answer).

So – what is it?

Depending on your background and previous operating system experience, it could either be a beautiful way of offering Windows 2008 services to the network or it could be the worst thing since Windows ME…

Basically, Windows 2008 Core edition is an edition of Windows 2008 that are installed with a small footprint on the server/virtual machine (mind you – small compared to a standard Windows 2008 installation).
It will offer the following:

• Smaller installation size (Microsoft claims as little as 1.6GB – good luck. We are looking at 6-8GB)
• Smaller footprint in memory (MS goes on with 512MB RAM – not even close, but 2GB will do)

What you will also get (or not get):

• No GUI (with only a few exceptions, for instance date/time control and language settings)
• A command line interface for administration

So, when logging on to a Windows 2008 Core you are only presented with a basic command prompt, and you are then supposed to perform all actions on the server from here.

This could be considered an advantage – if you are hosting a lot of servers, this will more or less force the usage of scripting/command line, speeding up the management of larger installations.
On the other hand, if you feel more comfortable with the GUI tools remote administration can be enabled for the Core server, and then most services etc. can be administered from a remote management station with the tools installed.

The services offered by Windows 2008 core are the following:

Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
DHCP Server
DNS Server
File Services
Hyper-V
Print Services
Web Services (IIS)* (this does not include ASP.NET – rectified in R2)

Or enough to provide the basic functionality for a remote location or core services at central sites.

Are Windows 2008 Core edition for you? Basically I will have to say yes – this is a step in the right direction, limiting both the hardware requirements and the attack surface of server functions; it will not provide you with a platform for your database or mail server (you are using SQL*Server and Exchange, aren’t you? but the basic needs are covered!