Advantages of Windows Server 2008 Core Server

I mentioned about not so attractive features of Windows Server 2008 Core Server in my previous article . Definitely over thick line those comments are realistic however I always had this in mind that there must be something behind this concept of core server. Microsoft will not brand something without any real cause.

The biggest advantage I see about Core Server is the scenarios in which we can install core server.

Here is one I have in my mind.

Scenario :

I am Admin in XYZ company and they have a branch office at a distant location. As company doesn't want to invest a lot on IT infrastructure for remote office  and expects to me to manage the servers for that location. They want me to provide them a cost effective solution for branch. They also want that the perfromance of the domain requests should not be compromised.

In this case I will install Windows Server 2008 Core Server because it uses less system resources than regular server. So I dont require powerful server. I saved $$.

I will install read only domain controller on this server hence the users can query AD without any perfromance issue. We can also use the same server as File & Print Server and/or DNS and/or DHCP for that site.

This seems to me a very cost effective scenario for a small site.

I would request you all build similar kind of scenarios and share the same with us.