Purchasing
Departments may purchase Microsoft Server 2008 through either the Microsoft Select program or the Microsoft Consolidated Campus Agreement (MCCA). There are no work-at-home rights for this product. Refer to the Campus Licensing section for detailed information on each agreement.

Versions
the Select and MCCA, departments may purchase Server 2008. Please see Microsoft's Server 2008 Overview of Editions for descriptions.

• Server 2008 Datacenter
• Server 2008 Datacenter w/o Hyper-V
• Server 2008 Enterprise
• Server 2008 Enterprise w/o Hyper-V
• Server 2008 Standard
• Server 2008 Standard w/o Hyper-V
• Web Server 2008
• HPC Server 2008
• HPC Server 2008 w/o Hyper-V
• Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems

Activation
All Windows Server 2008 versions purchased through MCCA or Select can be activated using the Key Management Service (KMS) through the campus KMS server. To remain operational, these systems will need to be re-activated every 180 days. The campus server can activate up to 20,000 systems in an hour, so it is not necessary (nor is it recommended) for departments to set up their own KMS server.

Once a server is activated using KMS, it will attempt to reconnect periodically (weekly by default) to the KMS server to re-activate for the full 180 day window. If a system fails to connect to the KMS server after 180 days, it will receive warnings and will then go into a reduced-functionality mode until it is re-activated.

The KMS service can be located using one of the following methods:

• Auto-discovery: If the system is using the Domain Name System (DNS) service, the Service Location (SRV) resource record will (by default) automatically locate a local KMS host.
• Direct Registration: A system administrator can specify the KMS host and communication port in the registry. Departments with systems pointed to an Active Directory DNS Server can connect to the KMS server by following the steps outlined here.

For more information on KMS activation, visit: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb892849.aspx

Note for system administrators: A new Server 2008 installation will not contact the KMS server during the first three days unless the administrator manually configures the system to contact the KMS server during installation. If you have not activated Windows Server 2008, you are reminded each time you log in and at common intervals until the end of the activation grace period of 60 days. If you have not activated Windows Server 2008 during this grace period, the system then will be unlicensed. While in the notification condition, you will be able to log on and off, and the system will function normally. However, the desktop background will change to black, and Windows Update installs only critical updates. The notifications will continue until you activate the operating system.