Microsoft Servers (previously called Windows Server System) is a brand that encompasses Microsoft's server products. This includes the Windows Server editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system itself, as well as products targeted at the wider business market. Unlike Microsoft Dynamics or Microsoft Office product lines, most of the products sold under this brand are not intended to be line-of-business services in and of themselves.
The Microsoft Servers line of software and technology includes:
Initially, Microsoft server operating systems were editions of Windows NT family. Starting in 2003, a Windows Server subfamily was formed that encompasses server operating system versions independent of the client versions of Windows.
Server operating systems of Microsoft include:
Windows NT 3.1 Advanced Server editionWindows NT 3.5 Server editionWindows NT 3.51 Server editionWindows NT 4.0 (Server, Server Enterprise, and Terminal Server editions)Windows 2000 (Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server editions)Windows Server 2003, including:Windows Home ServerWindows Storage ServerWindows Compute Cluster ServerWindows Server 2003 R2Windows Server 2008, including:Windows Essential Business Server 2008Windows HPC Server 2008Windows Server 2008 R2, including:Windows Home Server 2011Windows Server 2012Windows Server 2012 R2Windows Server 2016The following are special offerings consisting of one of the operating systems above:
Windows Server Essentials (initially Windows Small Business Server)Windows MultiPoint ServerSome of the products included in the Windows Server System product branding are designed specifically for interaction with Microsoft Office. These include:
BizTalk Server – Business process design and integration toolsCommerce Server – E-Commerce portalInternet Information Services (IIS) – Web server, FTP server and basic email serverExchange Server – E-mail and collaboration serverForms Server – Server-based electronic formsHost Integration Server – Data and management connector between Windows environments and mainframe systems such as AS/400, formerly known as Microsoft SNA ServerGroove Server – Collaboration server; works in conjunction with Microsoft SharePoint WorkspacePerformancePoint Server – Business performance management serverProject Server – Project management and resource allocation services; works as the server component to Microsoft ProjectProject Portfolio ServerSearch ServerSharePoint Server – Produces sites intended for collaboration, file sharing, web databases, social networking and web publishing.Skype for Business Server – Instant messaging and presence server, integration with telephone PBX systems. Integrates with Skype for Business.Speech Server – Speech applications for automated telephone systems, including voice recognitionSQL Server – Relational Database Management and business intelligence serverMicrosoft Hyper-V ServerVirtual Server – Platform virtualization of operating systemsForefront – Comprehensive line of business security productsThreat Management Gateway – Firewall, routing, VPN and web caching server, formerly known as Microsoft ISA Server or Microsoft Proxy Server in its earlier iterationsProtection for Exchange ServerProtection for SharePoint ServerExchange Online ProtectionUnified Access GatewayIdentity ManagerIdentity Integration Server – Identity management productMicrosoft System Center, a set of server products, aims specifically at helping corporate system administrators manage a network of Windows Server and client desktop systems.
System Center Advisor – Software-as-a-service offering that helps change or assess the configuration of Microsoft Servers software over the InternetSystem Center App Controller - Unified management for public and private clouds, including cloud-based virtual machines and servicesSystem Center Configuration Manager – Configuration management, hardware/software asset management, patch deployment tools for Windows desktops (previously Systems Management Server); includes Software Center.System Center Data Protection Manager – Continuous data protection and data recoverySystem Center Endpoint Protection - Anti-malware and security tools for Microsoft productsSystem Center Essentials – Combined features of Operations Manager and Windows Software Update Service (WSUS), aimed at small- and medium-sized businessesSystem Center Orchestrator (formerly Opalis) - An automation platform for orchestrating and integrating administrative tools to decrease the cost of datacenter operations while improving the reliability of IT processes. It enables organizations to automate best practices, such as those found in Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Orchestrator operates through workflow processes that coordinate System Center and other management tools to automate incident response, change and compliance, and service-lifecycle management processes.System Center Operations Manager – Services and application monitoringSystem Center Service Manager – Ties in with SCOM, SCCM for asset tracking as well as incident, problem, change and configuration management (code name: Service Desk)System Center Virtual Machine Manager – Virtual-machine management and datacenter virtualizationServices for UNIX – SFU for Windows XP Pro and Windows Server 2003 onlyMicrosoft Application Center – Deployment of web applications across multiple servers. Some of its capabilities are now in System Center.Microsoft BackOffice ServerContent Management Server – Web site content management and publishing. Merged into Microsoft SharePoint Server.Microsoft SNA Server – replaced by Microsoft Host Integration ServerMicrosoft Site Server – replaced by Microsoft Commerce ServerMicrosoft Merchant Server - replaced by Microsoft Site ServerMicrosoft Proxy Server – replaced by Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway (also known as ISA Server)System Center Capacity Planner – Provides purchasing and best-practice capacity planning guidance