Server

Build on the opportunities

In a rapidly changing marketplace, business results are more and more dependent on the effectiveness of how people work. So when you give people the tools they need, you directly impact their ability to succeed.

With Microsoft server products, you empower IT professionals and developers at every stage in the IT lifecycle - from design to build, deploy, operate, and maintain. In fact, the entire portfolio of Microsoft servers are Windows Server System Engineered. That means each product – or its upcoming release – is built on the Common Engineering Criteria (CEC) and tested for seamless integration. This helps you manage IT complexity to meet today’s business objectives.

Microsoft's portfolio of server products work together to create a complete business solution that will enable a business to:

• Advance their business with IT solutions
• Manage complexity to achieve agility
• Protect information and control access
• Amplify the impact of their people

32-bit v 64-bit

One of the more common questions customers are asking is whether it’s better to move to 64-bit computing. Here we try to address some of the pros and cons of each.

Most new servers sold within the last two years will have x64 capability, however finding drivers for all hardware and peripherals can prove to be a lot trickier – which is why x64 tends to be, for the time being at least, a more sensible server than desktop option.

Servers don't typically ever need to see peripheral devices, and they need to work with only the limited set of hardware they're sold with. Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, for example, only comes in x64 editions, and we're likely to see more software coming out like this to promote 64-bit. There is very little risk in standardizing on x64 edition in the data centre since all legacy 32-bit applications will run natively at full speed.

Dedicated workstations for professionals are another great candidate for x64 edition so long as they're willing to put up with limited peripheral support. x64 allows high performance computing tasks to run extremely fast and efficiently. 

So the conclusion is…

A 64-bit computer can process twice as much information as a 32-bit computer, and can have significantly more random access memory (RAM). This makes a 64-bit computer a good choice if you're working with video, large database searches, or games and other programs that require complex calculations and a lot of memory.