Windows 2008 R2 Standard Edition supports Version 2 and 3 Templates
Chris here again. This time I have a quick post. For those looking for reasons to either implement a PKI or potentially upgrade a PKI to Windows Server 2008 R2, the Standard Edition now supports Version 2 and 3 templates. Prior to Windows Server 2008 R2 the Certification Authority role had to be installed on Enterprise or Datacenter edition of the OS to support the use of Version 2 or 3 templates.
Version 2 templates give you the capability to use Autoenrollment, custom certificate templates, and key archival.
Version 3 templates give the ability to provision Network Service access to the Private Key, as well as support for Suite B algorithms.
To assist in determining which SKU to use when deploying a certification authority the folks at the Windows PKI Blog have posted a matrix that highlights features by SKU.
Chris “this is very exciting” Delay
