Windows Server 2008 R2

Not to be confused with Windows Server 2008.
Windows Server 2008 R2
Version of the Windows NT operating system
Screenshot of Windows Server 2008 R2 showing the Server Manager application which is automatically opened when an administrator logs on
DeveloperMicrosoft
OS familyWindows Server
Source model
Released to
manufacturing		July 22, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-07-22)
General
availability		October 22, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-10-22)[1]
Latest releaseService Pack 1 with October 2024 monthly update rollup (6.1.7601.27366) / October 8, 2024; 33 days ago (2024-10-08)[2]
Marketing targetBusiness
Update methodWindows Update, Windows Server Update Services, SCCM
Platformsx86-64 (and originally Itanium)
Kernel typeHybrid (Windows NT kernel)
Default
user interface		Windows shell (Graphical)
LicenseCommercial software (Retail, volume licensing, Microsoft Software Assurance)
Preceded byWindows Server 2008 (2008)
Succeeded byWindows Server 2012 (2012)
Official websitedocs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-R2-and-2008/dd349801(v=ws.10)
Support status
Mainstream support ended on January 13, 2015.[3]
Extended support ended January 14, 2020.[3]

Paid updates; only for Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter volume licensed editions:[4][5]

ESU (Extended Security Updates) support ended on January 10, 2023, for non-Azure &
January 9, 2024, for Azure.[6][3]

Grandfathered[7] Premium Assurance security update support until January 13, 2026.[8][9]

See § Paid extended updates for details.
Part of a series of articles on
Windows 7
Siblings

Windows Server 2008 R2, codenamed "Windows Server 7", is the eighth version of the Windows Server operating system produced by Microsoft and released as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009,[10] and became generally available on October 22, 2009, the same respective release dates of Windows 7.[11] It is the successor to Windows Server 2008, which is derived from the Windows Vista codebase, released the previous year, and was succeeded by the Windows 8-based Windows Server 2012.

Enhancements in Windows Server 2008 R2 include new functionality for Active Directory, new virtualization and management features, version 7.5 of the Internet Information Services web server and support for up to 256[12] logical processors. It is built on the same kernel used with the client-oriented Windows 7, and is the first server operating system released by Microsoft which dropped support for 32-bit processors, an addition which carried over to the consumer-oriented Windows 11 in 2021.

Windows Server 2008 R2 is the final version of Windows Server that includes Enterprise and Web Server editions, the final that got a service pack from Microsoft and the final version that supports IA-64 and processors without PAE, SSE2 and NX (although a 2018 update dropped support for non-SSE2 processors). Its successor, Windows Server 2012, requires a processor with PAE, SSE2 and NX, in any supported architecture.

Seven editions of Windows Server 2008 R2 were released: Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, HPC Server and Itanium, as well as Windows Storage Server 2008 R2. A home server variant called Windows Home Server 2011 was also released.

  1. ^ https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/Jun09/06-02SteveGuggenheimer.mspx
  2. ^ "October 8, 2024—KB5044356 (Monthly Rollup)". Microsoft. October 8, 2024. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Windows Server 2008 R2 Lifecycle Policy". Microsoft. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  4. ^ "Product Lifecycle FAQ – Extended Security Updates – Microsoft Lifecycle". learn.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
  5. ^ "Announcing new options for SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 End of Support". azure.microsoft.com. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  6. ^ "Extended Security Updates for SQL Server and Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 | Microsoft". Microsoft. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference PA2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference PA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference PA3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Server and Cloud Platform Team (2009-07-22). "Windows Server 2008 R2 Reaches the RTM Milestone!". Blogs.technet.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2009. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  11. ^ "Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Timelines Shared at Computex". News Center. Taipei, Taiwan: Microsoft. June 3, 2009.
  12. ^ "Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition Overview". Microsoft.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved 2011-06-15.