Editing Windows Server 2003 (section)

===Windows Storage Server===
Windows Storage Server 2003, a part of the Windows Server 2003 series, is a specialized server [[operating system]] for [[network-attached storage]] (NAS).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Posey |first=Brien |date=2003-11-03 |title=Microsoft does NAS with Windows Storage Server 2003 |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/microsoft-does-nas-with-windows-storage-server-2003/ |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=TechRepublic |language=en-US}}</ref> Launched in 2003 at [[Storage Decisions]] in Chicago, it is optimized for use in file and print sharing and also in [[storage area network]] (SAN) scenarios. It is only available through [[Original equipment manufacturer]]s (OEMs).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-09-10 |title=Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 Is Now Available, Offering Customers Dependability, Seamless Integration and Great Economics |url=https://news.microsoft.com/2003/09/10/microsoft-windows-storage-server-2003-is-now-available-offering-customers-dependability-seamless-integration-and-great-economics/ |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=Stories |language=en-US}}</ref> Unlike other Windows Server 2003 editions that provide file and printer sharing functionality, Windows Storage Server 2003 does not require any CAL.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-11-25 |title=What You Need to Know About Windows Storage Server 2003 |url=https://www.itprotoday.com/windows-8/what-you-need-know-about-windows-storage-server-2003 |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=ITPro Today: IT News, How-Tos, Trends, Case Studies, Career Tips, More |language=en}}</ref>

Windows Storage Server 2003 NAS equipment can be ''headless'', which means that they are without any monitors, keyboards or mice, and are administered remotely.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1. Introducing Windows Server 2003 – Learning Windows Server 2003 [Book] |url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/learning-windows-server/0596006241/ch01.html |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=www.oreilly.com |language=en}}</ref> Such devices are plugged into any existing [[Internet Protocol|IP]] network and the storage capacity is available to all users. Windows Storage Server 2003 can use [[RAID]] arrays to provide [[data redundancy]], [[fault-tolerance]] and high performance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1. Introducing Windows Server 2003 – Learning Windows Server 2003 [Book] |url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/learning-windows-server/0596006241/ch01.html |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=www.oreilly.com |language=en}}</ref> Multiple such NAS servers can be clustered to appear as a single device, which allows responsibility for serving clients to be shared in such a way that if one server fails then other servers can take over (often termed a [[failover]]) which also improves fault-tolerance.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-10-28 |title=How to configure a failover cluster using Microsoft Windows 2003/2008 |url=https://www.starwindsoftware.com/resource-library/how-to-configure-a-failover-cluster-using-microsoft-windows-20032008/ |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=Resource Library}}</ref>

Windows Storage Server 2003 can also be used to create a [[Storage Area Network]], in which the data is transferred in terms of chunks rather than files, thus providing more granularity to the data that can be transferred. This provides higher performance to [[database]] and [[OLTP|transaction processing]] applications. Windows Storage Server 2003 also allows NAS devices to be connected to a SAN.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Windows Storage Server 2003 led to a second release named Windows Storage Server 2003 R2. This release adds file-server performance optimization, Single Instance Storage (SIS), and index-based search. Single instance storage (SIS) scans storage volumes for duplicate files, and moves the duplicate files to the common SIS store. The file on the volume is replaced with a link to the file. This substitution reduces the amount of storage space required, by as much as 70%.<ref name="StorageServerITPro">{{cite web|url=https://www.itprotoday.com/windows-8/storage-server-r2-boasts-search-and-file-access-improvements|title=Storage Server R2 Boasts Search and File-Access Improvements|website=[[IT Pro]]|first=David|last=Chernicoff|date=April 17, 2006|access-date=September 2, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404041721/http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/windows-server-2003/storage-server-r2-boasts-search-and-file-access-improvements|archive-date=April 4, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 provides an index-based, full-text search based on the indexing engine already built into Windows server.<ref name="StorageServerITPro" /> The updated search engine speeds up indexed searches on network shares. This edition also provides filters for searching many standard file formats, such as [[ZIP (file format)|ZIP archives]], [[AutoCAD|AutoCAD models]], [[XML|XML documents]], [[MP3|MP3 audio files]], [[PDF|PDF documents]], and all [[Microsoft Office]] file formats.

Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 includes built in support for Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server, and adds a Storage Management snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console. It can be used to manage storage volumes centrally, including [[Distributed File System (Microsoft)|DFS]] shares, on servers running Windows Storage Server R2.

Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 can be used as an [[iSCSI]] target with standard and enterprise editions of Windows Storage Server 2003 R2, incorporating [[WinTarget]] iSCSI technology which Microsoft acquired in 2006 by from StringBean software.<ref>{{cite web |first=Nicholas |last=Kolakowski |url=http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1933870,00.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130122195959/http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1933870,00.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 22, 2013 |title=HP TouchPad Needs 6 to 8 Weeks for Additional Shipments |publisher=Eweek.com |date=2011-09-07 |access-date=2013-01-09 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/wss2003/productinformation/newsreviews/stringbean.mspx |title=Microsoft Corporation Acquires WinTarget Technology from String Bean Software |publisher=Microsoft.com |access-date=November 22, 2011}}</ref> This will be an add-on feature available for purchase through OEM partners as an iSCSI feature pack, or is included in some versions of WSS as configured by OEMs.

Windows Storage Server 2003 can be promoted to function as a domain controller; however, this edition is not licensed to run directory services. It can be joined to an existing domain as a member server.<ref name="storageserverfaq">{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/wss2003/productinformation/FAQ/default.mspx|title=Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 – Frequently Asked Questions|publisher=Microsoft}}</ref>

====Features====
* '''[[Distributed File System (Microsoft)|Distributed File System]] (DFS)''': Allows multiple [[network share]]s to be aggregated as a virtual file system.
* Support for '''[[Storage area network|SAN]]''' and '''[[iSCSI]]''': Allows computers to connect to a Storage Server over the [[LAN]], without the need for a separate [[fibre channel]] network, thus a [[Storage Area Network]] can be created over the [[LAN]] itself. iSCSI uses the [[SCSI]] protocol to transfer data as a block of bytes, rather than as a file. This increases performance of the Storage network in some scenarios, such as using a database server.
* '''Virtual Disc Service''': Allows [[Network-attached storage|NAS]] devices, [[RAID]] devices and SAN shares to be exposed and managed as if they were normal hard drives.
* '''JBOD systems''': [[JBOD]] (''Just a bunch of discs'') systems, by using VDS, can manage a group of individual storage devices as a single unit. There is no need for the storage units to be of the same maker and model.
* Software and Hardware '''RAID''': Windows Storage Server 2003 has intrinsic support for hardware implementation of [[RAID]]. In case hardware support is not available, it can use software enabled RAID. In that case, all processing is done by the OS.
* '''Multi Path IO (MPIO)''': It provides an alternate connection to IO devices in case the primary path is down.

====Editions====
Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 was available in the following editions:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Introduction to Per Core Licensing and Basic Definitions |url=https://download.microsoft.com/download/3/d/4/3d42bdc2-6725-4b29-b75a-a5b04179958b/percorelicensing_definitions_vlbrief.pdf |date=April 2017 |access-date=2023-03-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 x64 Editions Important Information |url=https://dl.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_electronics/esuprt_software/esuprt_operating_system/ms-win-storage-srvr-2003-r2-x64-edtn_reference%20guide_en-us.pdf |date=September 2006 |access-date=2023-01-14}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; text-align:center;"
|-
!
! Express
! Workgroup
! Standard
! Enterprise
|-
| Number of physical CPUs<ref group=lower-roman name="CPUZ" />
| colspan="2" | 1 || 1–4 || 1–64
|-
| x64 variants available
| {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
|-
| Numbers of disk drives
| 2 || 4 || colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Unlimited
|-
| NICs
| 1 || 2 
|-
| Print service
| {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
|-
| CALs required
| {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}
|-
|Clustering
| {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}}
|-
| iSCSI target support
| {{Optional}} || {{Optional}} || {{Optional}} || {{Optional}}
|}
{{Reflist |group=lower-roman |refs=
<ref name="CPUZ" group=lower-roman>Microsoft defines a physical CPU/processor as a single socket/node on the systemboard. For O/S licensing purposes, a dual-socket single-core (Intel Pentium/4 Xeon, AMD Athlon/64) system counts as a total of 2 processors, whereas a single-socket quad-core CPU (such as AMD's Opteron and Intel's Xeon) counts as 1 processor. Microsoft's policy has no bearing on how third-party software vendors (such as Oracle) administer CPU licensing for its server applications.</ref>
}}
Windows Unified Data Storage Server is a variant of Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 with iSCSI target support standard, available in only the standard and enterprise editions.<ref>Microsoft Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003 whitepaper – Microsoft Corporation (October 2006)</ref>