Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012, codenamed "Windows Server 9", is the sixth release of Windows Server. It is the server version of Windows 8 and succeeds Windows Server 2008 R2. Two pre-release versions, a developer preview and a beta version, were released during development. The software was generally available to customers starting on September 4, 2012.

Features:

Work Folders bring the functionality of Dropbox to corporate servers. Install this role on a Windows Server 2012 R2 system, and you get a fully functional, secure file replication service. The initial release will support only Windows 8.1 clients. Support for Windows 7 and iPad devices is promised for the future, with Android clients further down the list. Like Dropbox, Work Folders will keep copies of files on both the server and the client, performing sync operations whenever the client establishes a connection with the server.

User interface
Server Manager has been redesigned with an emphasis on easing management of multiple servers. The operating system, like Windows 8, uses the Metro-based user interface unless installed in Server Core mode. Windows Store is available in this version of Windows but is not installed by default. Windows PowerShell in this version has over 2300 commandlets, compared to around 200 in Windows Server 2008 R2.

IP address management
Windows Server 2012 has an IP address management role for discovering, monitoring, auditing, and managing the IP address space used on a corporate network. The IPAM is used for the management and monitoring of Domain Name System (DNS) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers. Both IPv4 and IPv6 are fully supported

Storage Tiering
This might be the single most exciting new feature in Windows Server 2012 R2. In essence, Storage Tiering is the ability to dynamically move chunks of stored data between different classes of storage, such as fast SSDs and slower hard drives. Many high-end storage systems have had automated tiering for years, but this is the first time you are able to do it at the operating system level. Microsoft uses a heat-map algorithm to determine which chunks of data are seeing the most activity and automatically moves the "hottest" chunks to the fastest tier. You can adjust the settings for how and when the data is moved using PowerShell.

Deduplication on running VMs
Data deduplication in Windows Server 2012 is a nice feature, but one thing it cannot do is deduplicate running virtual machines. That limitation is removed in Windows Server 2012 R2, albeit specifically for VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) deployments on SMB 3.0. That said, this new capability could greatly increase the overall effectiveness of deduplication for VDI implementations. As a side benefit, deduplication greatly improves boot performance of virtual desktops. In addition to storing the VMs on SMB 3.0 (required), Microsoft highly recommends using Scale-Out File Server on Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2. Cluster Shared Volumes are supported for high availability.