Datasheet

SYSTEM OVERVIEW
11
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A new service model; a new type of service called Delayed Auto-Start decreases your server’s
apparent boot time by waiting until after your system boots to start these additional unat-
tended started services. Other changes to services included a change in the Service Control
Manager to isolate services by running them at the lowest level of privilege that they can
allow, thus reducing their security vulnerabilities.
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Improvements to the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) mechanism that support the new
EFI and BCD boot environments (see the upcoming section “The New Boot Environment”).
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The new Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA). WHEA continues Microsoft’s
long, hard road down the path to meaningful system error diagnostics. It builds on the PCI
Express Advanced Reporting to provide more detailed information about system errors and
a common reporting structure.
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Kernel patch protection, code signing to ensure code integrity, and support for a more
restricted version of protected processes—all of which are security features. These features
are not new, but have been upgraded.
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A new dynamic link library (DLL) loader and improved thread pool.
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Hardware features such as dynamic partitioning, improvements to PCI/PCI Express inter-
face, and the new boot environment.
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Power management and the ACPI 2.0 (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface)
power-saving feature.
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Support for improved Plug and Play (PnP).
◆ Kernel-based digital signature security for drivers that can prevent unauthorized streamed
content, for system patches, and for kernel-mode software installation.
Windows Server 2008 and Vista SP1 share the same kernel. That means that the first refresh of
Vista to SP1 will bring many of these enhancements not only to the Windows Server platform but
to the Vista client as well. It also means that Vista SP1 was in fact a major upgrade for Vista, as it
is very rare for Microsoft to do a full kernel swap of a client as part of a point release. Vista SP1 is
essentially a “new” operating system, and a full partner of Windows Server 2008.
Memory Support
The Windows operating system has a sophisticated memory manager, but in order to establish
new capabilities in memory hardware and software access memory addressing is often changed.
Microsoft made several changes to memory to support enterprise-class server systems, dynamic
hardware partitioning, the new video architecture, and Terminal Services. They also modified their
caching algorithms. One particular area that was completely reworked was the heap manager. The
heap manager is a reference structure that points to the free store of unallocated memory. Since
memory is used and released, this indirect system optimizes how memory is accessed and by
whom. Memory access affects performance as well as the basic security of a system.
Non-Uniform Memory Architecture (NUMA) systems are large, multiprocessor, high-performance
server systems that provide shared memory access. NUMA systems are particularly valuable to
large enterprise operations because a NUMA system virtualizes hardware. In a multiprocessor sys-
tem, you can have some processors running Unix and others running Windows, with each instance
of an operating system running independently of the others. As the organization requires more
computational power for one operating system, additional processors can be taken from one OS
and given to the other. For NUMA to run effectively, it must be able to manage both CPUs and
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