Microsoft Server is an operating system (OS) designed for use within the business enterprise. Windows Server is similar in many ways to the operating systems we run on our PCs such as Windows 7,8,10, etc.; but has many dozens of additional features not found in these desktop operating systems. Microsoft Server typically will be installed against high end server hardware that is designed not to fail (example shown right).

What makes Server different from the (OS) my desktop operating system?
While the desktop and server operating systems look and feel very similar, probably the single greatest functional difference is the inclusion (in Windows Server) of a feature referred to as “Active Directory“. Active Directory is an organizational system whereby administrators can create groupings and hierarchies of users, locations, and devices. The login account for your network is stored in Active Directory, as is a record that you have permissions to the printer down the hall. Nearly all of these minute details of your network’s configuration are stored within Active Directory.

An Active Directory configuration can span multiple geographic locations. A hierarchy then could be structured so that administrators in Cleveland are governing user credentials and access to devices in Arizona. When you consider all of the types of information that are stored in Active Directory (from passwords to printer access, permissions on folders to privileges on your desktop) you can easily imagine how things would become complex quickly once the number of users, shares, devices or physical locations begins climbing. Thus this hierarchical system dubbed “Active Directory” is not only a key difference of the Microsoft Server server operating system; it is also crucial to your business’s day to day operations after it’s been implemented.

Other things that make Microsoft Server different from a desktop OS?