Windows Server 8 goes beta

Last week, Microsoft announced the launch of Windows Server ‚8‚ beta. The new operating system is cloud optimised and is designed to help organisations of all sizes embrace private and hybrid cloud computing.

It’s not just consumers that are getting new goodies from Microsoft. The company last week announced the release of the Windows Server ‚8‚ beta, the cloud-optimised operating system (OS) that it says will help organisations of all sizes embrace private and hybrid cloud computing. IT professionals and software developers worldwide can now download, evaluate and provide Microsoft with feedback on the new platform.

Microsoft South Africa’s Johannes Kanis says Windows Server ‚8‚ applies Microsoft’s experience in building and operating public cloud services to deliver a highly dynamic, available, and cost-effective server platform for cloud-enabled IT.

‚It offers businesses and hosting providers a scalable, dynamic, and multitenant-aware cloud infrastructure that securely connects across premises and allows IT to respond to business needs faster and more efficiently,‚ said Kanis.

In a blog post that went live last week, Microsoft corporate vice president Bill Laing describes how Windows Server ‚8‚ applies Microsoft’s experience and insights from operating public cloud services, such as Windows Azure. The result of this ‚cloud design point‚ is a cloud-optimized OS that dramatically improves the economics of IT with automated infrastructure to deliver highly available networking, storage, computing and application platform on industry standard hardware.

Laing uses the blog post to highlight a few of the many new features and capabilities coming in Windows Server ‚8.‚ These new technologies are examples of how the new server provides a multi-tenant platform for cloud computing, delivers high availability and disaster recovery on more cost effective hardware, offers multi-machine management and automation, and provides software developers with an ideal application platform.

Customers and partners should visit the Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform What’s New Page for more information and guidance, including a video about Windows Server ‚8.‚ You can also follow the conversation on Twitter at #Winserver.

*