Windows Server 2003 R2 is an updated release of Windows Server 2003. It was released in March 5, 2006 for IA-32 and x64 platforms, but not for IA-64. It came distributed in two discs, one containing a copy of Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and another containing a host of optionally-installed new features needed for Windows Server 2003 R2 installation similar to that of Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 and Microsoft Plus! 98. It was succeeded by Windows Server 2008.
New features of Windows Server 2003 R2 include:
.NET Framework 2.0, which replaces the .NET Framework 1.0 included with the standard releases
Active Directory Federation Services, a single sign-on solution for Active Directory Services
Microsoft Management Console version 3.0. Additionally, several new snap-ins are included:
Print Management Console, for managing print servers
File Server Resource Manager, for managing disk quotas on file servers
Storage Manager for SANs, for managing LUNs
A new version of Distributed File System that includes remote differential compression technology
Microsoft Virtual Server 2005, a hypervisor and the precursor to Hyper-V
Windows Services for UNIX, a UNIX environment for Windows