When the second CD finishes installing, you will see this message.

The first release of Windows Server 2003 displayed the Manage Your Server dialog box after Windows finished installing. R2 provides you with the Windows Server Post-Setup Security Updates screen first.

R2 is designed to block all inbound packets until you click the Finish button shown in Image 3.

The new Print Management Console allows administrators to more easily monitor network printers and take action if necessary.

The new File Server Management console centralizes tools related to managing file servers.

The DFS Replication Engine has been completely rewritten. The new multi master replication engine supports multiple replication topologies. If a WAN link fails, data can be stored at a hub server and forwarded when the link becomes available again.

The DFS management interface has also been redesigned to make managing DFS namespaces less confusing.

Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) allows you to store application data in the Active Directory.

ADAM allows you to create a separate Active Directory partition for each application so that the application’s data is isolated from other Active Directory partitions.

Active Directory Federated Trusts makes identity federation possible. This means that a user’s Active Directory identity can be securely shared over a federated trust.

The Server for NIS portion of the Microsoft Identity Management for UNIX console allows a domain controller to act as a master NIS (UNIX Network Information Server) for one or more NIS domains.

The Password Synchronization portion of the Microsoft Identity Management for UNIX console allows passwords to be synchronized between Windows and UNIX environments. If a user changes their Windows password, the user’s UNIX password is changed as well, and visa versa.

The Subsystem for UNIX Based Applications (SUA) allows you to compile and run UNIX applications on a Windows Server 2003 R2 server.

R2 features a new template based quota management utility.

File screening allows you to prevent users from saving certain types of files in various directories. For example, you could block executable files, audio files, etc.

R2 adds reporting capabilities to the file system. You can search for duplicate files, frequently accessed files, large files, etc.

Storage management reporting can be scheduled as needed.

Storage reports can be automatically e-mailed to an administrator.

Windows Server 2003 R2 contains a separate storage manager for SANs.

Although technically not included with R2 (at least not with my copy anyway), Virtual Server is worth paying attention to. Microsoft has licensed R2 to run up to four virtual servers per physical server at no additional cost!