I had the pleasure to deliver yesterday a TechNet Webcast on "Windows Server 2008 File and Storage Solutions", which also included details on the upcoming Windows Server 2008 R2.

That webcast is now available on-demand (for streaming or download), via http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032399197&Culture=en-US.

Here's a quick summary of what was covered:

Windows Server 2008 File and Storage Solutions (Level 300)
Windows Server 2008 contains many changes to core file services components that increase availability, scalability, and performance. Some of these components are new others have been significantly enhanced. In this webcast, we cover some of the main file and storage features in Windows Server 2008, including Server Message Block 2 (SMB2), Distributed File System (DFS), Network File System (NFS), Offline Files, Storage Explorer, Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS), Virtual Disk Service (VDS), Share and Storage Management, and File Server Resource Manager (FSRM). We also outline some of the upcoming enhancements in Windows Server 2008 R2. Join us for a Windows Server 2008 file and storage deep dive in a webcast full of technical insight.

Here's the webcast agenda:

    • Remote File Services
      • Server Message Block version 2 (SMB2)
      • Distributed File System Namespace (DFS-N)
      • Distributed File System Replication (DFS-R)
      • Microsoft Services for Network File System (MSNFS)
      • Folder Redirection and Offline Files (CSC)
    • Storage Management
      • Storage Explorer
      • Share and Storage Management
      • Virtual Disk Services (VDS)
      • Volume ShadowCopy Services (VSS)
      • File Server Resource Manager (FSRM)
      • File Server Migration Toolkit (FSMT)

The recording also includes a demonstration comparing SMB1 and SMB2 performance, which I described in the blog post at:

http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2008/11/11/file-server-performance-improvements-with-the-smb2-protocol-in-windows-server-2008.aspx