Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 is now available!

It's a pleasure to let you know that Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 (which includes the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3) has been released to manufacturing (RTM).

Scott M. Johnson (Program Manager in the File Server Team) has just shared via a blog post that the product is on its way to the OEMs and included quite a few details, including:

• Overview
• Three New Editions
• Key Scenarios
  • File Server
  • Branch Office Server
  • Block Storage Server
  • Unified Storage Server
  • iSCSI Boot Server
  • iSCSI Boot for HPC Clusters
  • Gateway to a SAN
• Deployment Modes
  • Standalone Storage Server
  • Highly Available Storage Server
• iSCSI Topologies Tested at Microsoft
  • Hyper-V host using iSCSI LUN as a volume with VHD files
  • Hyper-V host using iSCSI LUN as pass-through disk 
  • Hyper-V guest using iSCSI LUN directly
  • Boot and Data disks for a Hyper-V host
  • Clustered Application Servers
  • Clustered Hyper-V host for Live Migration and CSV
• Components Unique to Windows Storage Server
  • Single Instance Storage (SIS)
  • New! Cluster-Ready OOBE
  • Web RDP Management
  • iSCSI Software Target 3.3
  • iSCSI Software Target 3.3 Hardware Providers
  • Branding and Licensing Packages

Scotts wraps it up with a nice table comparing the 3 editions of Windows Storage Server 2008 R2.

Check all the details at http://blogs.technet.com/b/storageserver/archive/2010/09/22/windows-storage-server-2008-r2-is-now-available.aspx.

Congrats to the team for a job well done!