Understanding Windows Server 2008 Server Core

A Server Core installation provides a minimal environment for running specific server roles, which reduces the maintenance and management requirements and the attack surface for those server roles. A server running a Server Core installation supports the following server roles:

• Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
• Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS)
• DHCP Server
• DNS Server
• File Services
• Print Services
• Streaming Media Services
• Windows Virtualization

Benefits of a Server Core installation

The Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 provides the following benefits:

• Reduced maintenance - Because the Server Core installation option installs only what is required to have a manageable server for the AD DS, AD LDS, DHCP Server, DNS Server, File Services, Print Services, and Streaming Media Services roles, less maintenance is required than on a full installation of Windows Server 2008.
• Reduced attack surface - Because Server Core installations are minimal, there are fewer applications running on the server, which decreases the attack surface.
• Reduced management - Because fewer applications and services are installed on a server running the Server Core installation, there is less to manage.
• Less disk space required - A Server Core installation requires only about 1 gigabyte (GB) of disk space to install and approximately 2 GB for operations after the installation.
• Lower risk of bugs - Reducing the amount of code can help reduce the amount of bugs.