The additions to Windows Server 2003 introduced by Windows Server 2003 SP1 are designed to improve security reliability and productivity. Below is a brief introduction to the new features and enhancements brought to Windows Server 2003 by Service Pack 1. A more detailed description of these additions can be found in the Windows Server 2003 SP1 Product Overview.

Enhancements

Windows Server 2003 SP1 includes improvements to functionality that originally shipped with Windows Server 2003. Such enhancements make a great product better and raise the security, reliability and productivity of Windows Server 2003. Some of the key enhancements include:

• Support for no ute hardware. Windows Server 2003 SP1 allows Windows Server 2003 to utilize functionality built in to computing hardware by companies such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices to prevent malicious code from launching attacks from areas of computer memory that should not run code. This enhancement reduces the likelihood of the broadest and most exploited avenues of information attack.
• Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 metabase auditing. The metabase is the XML-based, hierarchical store of configuration information for IIS 6.0. The ability to audit this store allows network administrators to see which user accessed the metabase if it becomes corrupted.
• Stronger defaults and privilege reduction on services. Services such as RPC and DCOM are integral to Windows Server 2003 and thus make an alluring target for hackers. By requiring greater authentication for calls of these services, Windows Server 2003 SP1 establishes a minimum threshold of security for all applications that use these services, even if they possess little or no security inherently.
• Addition of Network Access Quarantine Control components. Windows Server 2003 SP1 now includes the RQS.exe and RQC.exe components to make deployment of Network Access Quarantine Control easier. For more information, see Network Access Quarantine Control in Windows Server 2003.