This article describes the software requirements regarding Windows Server 2008 required for deploying SharePoint Server 2010 and is a part of a series describing the complete installation of SharePoint Server 2010 on Windows Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008 R2. Please have a look at

• Installing SharePoint Server 2010 on Windows Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008 R2 - Part 1: Overview

There you can find an overview of the complete series and of course the farm topology and the deployment scenario.

Software requirements for application and front-end Web server

The software requirements [1] apply to

• a single server with built-in database and
• server farm installations including a single server or multiple servers.

Windows Server 2008

Your operation system needs to meet the following requirements:

• Windows Server 2008 SP2 64-bit,
• Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit,
• In general you should apply updates and according to TechNet [1] you need to apply the following update:
  For Windows Server 2008 with SP2, see FIX: A hotfix that provides a method to support the token authentication without transport security or message encryption in WCF is available for the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
  For Windows Server 2008 R2, see FIX: A hotfix that provides a method to support the token authentication without transport security or message encryption in WCF is available for the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 

Remarks:

• The second update isn’t available while writing the article. 
• The Beta version of the Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies 2010 Preparation Tool does not install the mentioned updates.
• If you use Windows Server 2008 with SP1 then the SharePoint Products and Technologies 2010 Preparation Tool will install SP2.

Windows Server 2008 – Roles and features

Furthermore you need to enable the following features and roles in your operating system which is described later in detail:

• Web Server (IIS) role
• Application Server role including .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

Remaining software requirements

The remaining software requirements can be installed by using the SharePoint Products and Technologies 2010 Preparation Tool.

• Beta: Microsoft "Geneva" Framework
  RTM: Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) - Geneva has to be uninstalled before WIF can be installed!
• Microsoft Sync Framework Runtime v1.0 (x64)
• Microsoft Filter Pack 2.0
• Microsoft Chart Controls for the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
• Beta: Windows PowerShell 2.0 CTP3
  RTM: Windows PowerShell 2.0
• SQL Server 2008 Native Client
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services ADOMD.NET
• Beta: ADO.NET Data Services v1.5 CTP2
  RTM: ADO.NET Data Services Update for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

Resources

Here are the resources used in this article:

• [1] Determine hardware and software requirements

Next steps

Please take a look at Part 3: Windows Server 2008 R2 configuration.