Windows Server 2012 Powers the Cloud OS

[btarunr]

Today in a global online launch event Satya Nadella, president of Microsoft Server and Tools Business, announced the general availability of Windows Server 2012. In his keynote speech, Nadella described how Windows Server 2012 is a cornerstone of the Cloud OS, which provides one consistent platform across private, hosted and public clouds.

"The operating system has always been the heartbeat of IT and is now undergoing a renaissance in the new world of continuous cloud services, connected devices and big data," Nadella said. "Microsoft's unique legacy in the most widely used operating systems, applications and cloud services positions us to deliver the Cloud OS, based on Windows Server and Windows Azure, helping customers achieve a datacenter without boundaries."

Enabling the Modern Datacenter
Microsoft built Windows Server 2012 from the cloud up, applying its experience operating global datacenters that rely on hundreds of thousands of servers to deliver more than 200 cloud services. Windows Server 2012 expands the definition of a server operating system, with significant new advancements in virtualization, storage, networking and automation. Hundreds of new features can help customers achieve a transformational leap in the speed, scale and power of their datacenters and applications. In combination with Windows Azure and System Center, Windows Server 2012 empowers customers to manage and deliver applications and services across private, hosted and public clouds.

Customers Find Success With Windows Server 2012
Customers can use their existing skills and investments in systems management, application development, database, identity and virtualization to take advantage of Windows Server 2012 and realize the promise of cloud computing. Many enterprise customers are already seeing tremendous value in early deployments. A survey of 70 early adopter customers from across the globe revealed that they expect, on average, 52 percent reduction in downtime, 41 percent reduction in workload deployment time, and 15 hours of productivity time saved per year, per employee. 91 percent of the companies surveyed expect a reduction in server administration labor, and 88 percent expect reduction in network administration labor.*

Menzies Aviation, an airline passenger and cargo handling company that employs more than 17,000 people, is using Windows Server 2012 to provide identity access management and information access policies to its employees as it rapidly incorporates newly acquired businesses.

"We are very impressed by Windows Server 2012 and Microsoft's overall solution to help us manage our systems and applications across our private cloud environments as they scale with our business," said Martin Gallington, senior vice president of IT at Menzies Aviation. "This is a dramatic leap forward, matched by a simple, cost-effective pricing model."

Equifax is a global information solutions provider that organizes and assimilates data on more than 500 million consumers and 81 million businesses worldwide. It now counts on Windows Server 2012 for improved reliability and uptime of its information services to clients.

"Windows Server 2012 revolutionizes how we can operate our datacenter, allowing us to better meet our commitments," said Bryan Garcia, chief technology officer at Equifax. "The new high availability technologies help us deliver 'always-on' applications, and we're betting on Hyper-V as a critical component of our private cloud strategy. We are gaining tremendous efficiencies, which translate into more time to innovate for company growth."

More information about Windows Server 2012 and the Cloud OS is available here.

[Munki]

Oh crap. I sense a datacenter overhaul coming on. *Munki leave to go catch the flu*

[tacosRcool]

Who cares about cloud computing anyways. The way I see it is that your internet provider will find more excuses to charge you more to access your stuff and these random hackers who steal your data and publish them out just to prove stupid points...

[Frick]

Originally Posted by tacosRcool

Who cares about cloud computing anyways.

At this point? A loooot of people.

[Prima.Vera]

How come is this better then MS Server 2008 R2??

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Prima.Vera

How come is this better then MS Server 2008 R2??

http://arstechnica.com/information-t...12_first_look/

Just a first look. Expanded Powershell, quicker (generally) to configure out of the box, more/better VR stuff included, etc. Final words from the article:

Cleanup aside, Server 2012 brings so much to the table that it should be quickly picked up by small and mid-size organizations trying to make themselves look bigger from an IT perspective. Even when you look at the very narrow scope of its storage abilities, Server 2012 has a big potential financial payoff in terms of lowering the cost of IT. And when tied to hosted services in a public or private cloud, Server 2012 will help IT administrators scale up or down on demand with a lot less pain and a much smaller budget.

[Easy Rhino]

ok ok, i do have to admit that hyperV is actually a pretty bad ass hypervisor and the windows server OS is reliable. BUT! unless microsoft is selling their software dirt cheap no server admin at a large data center would choose microsoft over redhat or other enterprise variant.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Easy Rhino

ok ok, i do have to admit that hyperV is actually a pretty bad ass hypervisor and the windows server OS is reliable. BUT! unless microsoft is selling their software dirt cheap no server admin at a large data center would choose microsoft over redhat or other enterprise variant.

Yeah well it all depends on what you do I guess.

[Jizzler]

Originally Posted by Prima.Vera

How come is this better then MS Server 2008 R2??

"What's New in Windows Server 2012"
http://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh831769.aspx

Some nice improvements and new features all around.

[Easy Rhino]

Originally Posted by Frick

Yeah well it all depends on what you do I guess.

true as with all things tech.

[Prima.Vera]

Originally Posted by Easy Rhino

ok ok, i do have to admit that hyperV is actually a pretty bad ass hypervisor and the windows server OS is reliable. BUT! unless microsoft is selling their software dirt cheap no server admin at a large data center would choose microsoft over redhat or other enterprise variant.

Because I am in the line of work I can promise you this. ONLY small companies are using Linux servers. All the biggest companies like Cisco, IBM, ATT, etc are only using MS Servers. Not because MS Servers are necessary better, but because the MS provided support for his servers is like 1000000x better than any Linux one, which is almost unexistant.

[Easy Rhino]

Originally Posted by Prima.Vera

Because I am in the line of work I can promise you this. ONLY small companies are using Linux servers. All the biggest companies like Cisco, IBM, ATT, etc are only using MS Servers. Not because MS Servers are necessary better, but because the MS provided support for his servers is like 1000000x better than any Linux one, which is almost unexistant.

hrm, maybe where you live, but in the US, the OS for major data centers are all linux and BSD.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Easy Rhino

hrm, maybe where you live, but in the US, the OS for major data centers are all linux and BSD.

I think you're talking different things. What kind of servers are PV talking about? Data centers could be a different story. And speaking of Red Hat:

This week, at the end of its fiscal year on February 29 (2012), Red Hat marks a major milestone: it becomes the first billion-dollar-a-year company making its revenue entirely (or almost entirely) from building and maintaining open source software.

Yeah they have to have some serious business. And they do have great support if you have the money. There's Linux and there's Linux.

[sy5tem]

all those new sugar coated cloud thingy ... how about a server YOU DON'T NEED TO REBOOT WEEKLY!? ?!?!?!??? for SECURITY update?

[Munki]

I'm most excited about having a GUI for the Active Directory Recycle Bin.

No moar typing powershell commands to recover the n00bies mistakes!