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Yes!!! At last we can talk about what we have been working on for close to 18 months - “San Diego” - that was the code name for what is now “Microsoft Cloud Platform System” (CPS), which was announced earlier today by Scott Guthrie.
These 18 months have been a journey for all of us in the product group. It began, as all journeys should, as conversations with our customers. What followed has evolved how we think about and engineer our products. We were struck by the large number of customers who were failing to realize the benefits of the cloud. Running one of the largest public clouds, Microsoft Azure, we know what it takes to build and run a cloud, and we wanted to see how to take these learnings, be it architectural, design, operations, or technology and help you benefit from it. We have learned a lot along the way, and want to pass on all the knowledge we have gathered onto you. In essence, CPS is the culmination of this experience. With Dell as our partner, we are thrilled to bring an Azure-consistent cloud-in-a-box to your datacenter.
CPS – A customer-focused journey to solution delivery
As we set out to build CPS, we engaged many of our Enterprise and Service Provider customers. What we found to be common among them was the challenge of taking hardware and software components and building them into a system that yielded robust cloud services. On this path too many customers were failing because of the challenges of complex system definition, hardware integration and software deployment & configuration. In short, too many cloud computing projects could not fulfil the anticipated promise due to cost and complexity.
In building CPS, we decided to attack that problem armed with the experience of building and operating our Azure datacenters. First, we embarked on a system design that harvested the principles of our Azure architecture and composed a stamp-architecture that is appropriate to run in customer datacenters.
A core element of this design is the work we put into failure mode analysis. One constant that we recognize when operating at scale is that failures will happen. And yet business-critical services cannot be impacted by these failures. The CPS system architecture includes redundancy in the physical infrastructure as well as intelligence in the software that makes the solution resilient to failures.
Designing a resilient system requires a careful balance between availability and the cost of service delivery. As you design systems that are capable of surviving failures, it is easy to let costs balloon by over-engineering redundancy. Working closely with Dell, we took decisions that allowed us to strike a careful balance between the cost of the infrastructure, and productivity of the system. This “sweet spot” was achieved by leveraging proven hardware components together with Microsoft’s software-defined datacenter technologies.
The last challenge that we took on was to minimize complexity. We heard from many of you that perhaps the most difficult part of complex system design is the challenges around integration. In CPS we worked directly with Dell and component manufacturers to ensure that drivers, firmware, software and configurations came together in a reliable way. We have spent month’s operating and putting systems through some of the most rigorous testing that our engineers can produce.
Now as we bring CPS to market, we have the confidence to not only stand behind our solution, but to proudly stand in front of it. In CPS, we are offering a unified support model: Microsoft. When customers encounter issues in a CPS environment, there is one number to call and that is ours. Of course if the issue lies in hardware, we will work with Dell to resolve it, but you as a customer are not burdened with figuring out who the responsible party is to resolve your problem.
CPS – An integrated hardware and software cloud solution
CPS is a pre-integrated, pre-deployed, Microsoft validated solution built on Dell hardware, Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2 and Windows Azure Pack. It combines the efficiency and agility of cloud computing, along with the increased control and customization achieved in virtualized, multi-tenant environments. CPS scales from a single rack to up to four racks and is optimized for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS for Windows and Linux) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) style deployments.
Let’s take a closer look at CPS
At the hardware layer, a customer can deploy CPS in increments from one to four racks. Each rack has
A single rack can support up to 2000 VM’s (2 vCPU, 1.75 GB RAM, and 50 GB disk). You can scale up to 8000 VM’s using a full stamp with four of these racks. Of course customers have the flexibility of choosing their VM dimensions, as we have seen with the private preview deployments with CPS.
CPS uses software components that customers are familiar with (Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2 and Windows Azure Pack), so there is no retooling needed to operate CPS. It comes with integrated anti-virus, fabric based backup for all VM’s, disaster recovery, orchestrated patching, monitoring, an Azure-consistent self-service portal (Windows Azure Pack) for tenants, REST-based API for programmatic interaction and automation using PowerShell. CPS also provides PaaS services such as “Websites” and Database-as-a-service. There are no additional components to buy to make it a complete cloud solution.
There is a lot we want to share about CPS and this is just the start. We will be at TechEd, Europe in Barcelona, Spain (Oct 28 - 31) where we will have many sessions on CPS. In particular we have an overview session (CDP-B232) and an Architectural Deep Dive (CDP-B341) that would be a great way to get an understanding of what CPS is and how it works. You can find out more about CPS here. See you in Barcelona!
CPS Engineering Team
In today’s Windows Experience blog, we communicated our intent to deliver regular improvements to Windows in order to address feedback quickly while continuing to bring you an enterprise-class platform. We also provided a heads up that the next update for Windows happens on August 12.
On August 12, we will also release an update to Windows Server 2012 R2. In addition to regular security updates, this update will deliver bug fixes that will improve performance and reliability for your infrastructure. There are no changes to system APIs, your applications should “just work” without the need for re-certification or re-validation.
Similar to Windows 8.1, we will make these Windows Server 2012 R2 updates available for consumption starting August 12th through existing distribution mechanisms, including Windows Update and Windows Server Update Services.
In business for more than 40 years, Nottingham-based Paul Smith is a preeminent British designer. The company has 14 different collections—produced in England and Italy—under the global Paul Smith brand. In addition to 17 shops in England, Paul Smith retail stores are found in fashion capitals around the world. Paul Smith opens three new stores a year on average and the demand for IT services from the business is growing. “Our goal is to manage costs and improve service delivery, but we are challenged by an IT budget that doesn’t keep up with expectations from the business.” says Lee Bingham, Head of IT at Paul Smith.
To address this challenge, six years ago Paul Smith began defining a new approach to building its infrastructure and providing IT services to the business, while reducing server and data center cost. It wanted to provide global services from a central location, simplify data center administration, and automate manual tasks, in particular the provision of test and development environments. Paul Smith also needed to find less expensive and time-consuming ways to accommodate fluctuating demands in compute and storage requirements than simply adding more servers. To reduce unnecessary ‘midstream’ expenditures, the company wanted a better understanding of usage and improved capacity planning.
To achieve these goals, Paul Smith aligned itself with Microsoft. Beginning in 2008 with the Windows Server 2008 operating system, Paul Smith has worked with Microsoft to take advantage of the latest virtualization, cloud computing, and data center management solutions. Over time Paul Smith upgraded to Windows Server 2012 to build private clouds and deployed Microsoft System Center 2012 data center management tools to manage them. The company used these technologies to build dynamic data center and cloud infrastructures with more flexible workloads and automated processes. And with Windows Server 2012, Paul Smith worked with Microsoft partner, risual to introduce global DR capabilities. The teams upgraded the hypervisors at Tier 2 sites to Windows Server 2012 and used Hyper-V Replica to replicate business-critical virtual machines back to its Tier 1 data centers.
Now, with the Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system and System Center 2012 R2, Paul Smith is introducing Hybrid cloud computing. With a hybrid cloud solution from Microsoft, IT staffers can easily move existing applications between its on-premises environment and Windows Azure without having to change networking, security policies, or operational processes.
Also, Paul Smith is using StorSimple, a cloud-integrated storage solution from Microsoft that works with Windows environments, to create a hybrid cloud storage solution that uses the Windows Azure environment. Paul Smith generates a lot of design data in its London office, and it is using StorSimple to protect and copy that data to Windows Azure storage. The company is also using StorSimple to manage the amount of data that resides in its data centers.
Thanks to virtualization and increased server density, Paul Smith reduced hardware acquisition and maintenance costs by £840,000 (US$1.4 million), according to figures compiled for the first year it deployed Windows Server 2012. And by embracing the hybrid cloud computing model, the company expects ongoing infrastructure savings. Purchasing compute, storage, and networking resources in the cloud is less expensive than building them on-premises, especially when the resources are required on an intermittent basis.
You can read the full case study here or watch the video here:
Following our announcement from last week, we have now released the fix through Windows Update for the issue with Windows Server 2012 R2 Update communicating with WSUS 3.2 servers in certain non-default configurations. For servers that have already installed the update, Windows Update will re-offer the complete update, but it will only install the fix. Please read KB2959977 and the WSUS team blog for further details.
As always, we’ve been listening to your feedback and want to ensure that you have a smooth deployment experience and continue to receive enterprise-grade protection. As a result, we have extended the timeframe for you to deploy the update. You now have until the August “update Tuesday” to apply this update to your Windows Server 2012 R2 servers. This provides a four-month window to deploy the update as appropriate to your organization. Any security updates during this four-month window can be applied to servers without requiring the full update to be installed.
More information can be found on the Windows Springboard blog.
Following our announcement from last week, we’ve now released the media for Windows Server 2012 R2 Update on the Volume License Service Center (VLSC) today. Additionally, we wanted to create awareness of an issue with the Windows Server 2012 R2 Update VSLC/MSDN media that manifests under very specific configuration settings. Most of you should see no impact whatsoever. For the small number of who might encounter this issue, we have issued additional information and workaround guidance here.
Following our announcement from last week, we are happy to announce that Windows Server 2012 R2 Update is now generally available through Windows Update. The Windows Server 2012 R2 evaluation experience and has also been updated to the new OS image. The Volume Licensing Service Center will be updated on April 14, 2014 and the new image will be coming to Azure soon. We encourage you to apply this update to your Windows Server 2012 R2 systems as soon as possible. As a reminder, this becomes the new servicing baseline for Windows Server 2012 R2 systems, so next month's security updates (i.e. May "patch Tuesday") will be dependent on Windows Server 2012 R2 Update being installed. Windows Server 2012 R2 Update is categorized as "security update" because it includes two new security fixes (as well as all previously-issued fixes since Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM). Separate versions of these security fixes (KB2922229 and KB2936068) are also available for those organizations that aren't yet ready to deploy the full Windows Server 2012 R2 Update.
· Manage a list of software repositories in which packages can be searched, acquired, and installed
· Search and filter your repositories to find the packages you need
· Seamlessly install and uninstall packages from one or more repositories with a single PowerShell command
As we mentioned back in February, Microsoft has been working on an update to Windows Server 2012 R2 in conjunction with an update to Windows 8.1. Today we are providing Windows Server 2012 R2 Update to MSDN and TechNet subscribers and it will be generally available through Windows Update starting on April 8, 2014.
We continue to focus on providing a world-class platform for IT Pros and developers around the globe. This includes an easy way to get up to date with the patches, bug-fixes, and improvements that we’ve been working on since we released Windows Server 2012 R2. To that end, we’re releasing this update which brings everything together for you in one easy-to-deploy package.
No system APIs have been changed and there are no changes to hardware requirements. Aside from a single reboot, there is no action for you to take if you have turned on automatic update. Plus, you will not need to re-verify nor re-certify your server applications, including System Center. They should “just work” without requiring any additional testing.
Here is what is included in Windows Server 2012 R2 Update:
We have been working with customers and partners who have already tested the update. We've heard consistent feedback that the update experience was smooth and easy. Customers also reported that their server applications continued to work with no issues. Several noted that the EMIE was very useful in ensuring compatibility for their LOB apps.
We encourage you to apply this update to your Windows Server 2012 R2 systems as soon as possible. This will ensure that you continue to benefit from the enterprise-grade performance and protection that our platform delivers. It will also ensure that you continue to get the best servicing experience from Microsoft. Future updates as of the patch Tuesday in May, including security fixes, will be based on Windows Server 2012 R2 Update as the baseline.
Microsoft Volume Licensing customers who are planning new or upgrade Windows Server 2012 R2 deployments will be able to get the new OS image through the Volume Licensing Service Center starting on April 14, 2014. We are also working with our server OEM partners to have their offerings updated to the Windows Server 2012 R2 Update image as quickly as possible. We expect various OEMs to roll out systems with Windows Server 2012 R2 Update quickly, but at different times.
Further technical information on Windows Server 2012 R2 Update landing page on TechNet.
Sure. You bet it can. It seems like there are infinite possibilities for networking difficulties and complications. That’s why so many organizations are afraid of it. But there’s a popular solution to datacenter networking that’s actually simplifying the process in organizations around the world! Find out all the details in a new MVA training course on March 19 (from 8am‒1pm): Software-Defined Networking with Windows Server and System Center. The team of experts who built the solution shares deep expertise and answers your questions in real time.
Software-defined networking, or SDN, can streamline datacenter implementation through self-service provisioning, take the complexity out of network management, and help increase security with fully isolated environments. If this sounds appealing, SDN could be exactly what you’re after. Whether you’re looking at a new network strategy for your existing datacenter or setting up a disaster recovery plan with a second datacenter, SDN can meet your networking needs. It’s even useful for hosters and service providers!
Get the guidance you need to get started right away. You’ll be *simply* amazed at how easy it can be.
Register now!
As announced by Joe Belfiore earlier this morning, Microsoft is releasing an update to Windows 8.1 this spring which brings a range of new and enhanced capabilities to customers and partners. In coordination with this release, we will also release a minor update to Windows Server 2012 R2 at that time. This update to Windows Server 2012 R2 includes minor UI enhancements and bug fixes, as well as previously-released monthly update rollups and security fixes. As with all of our servicing updates, we are committed to making this update process as simple and straightforward as possible, ensuring that Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications running on Windows Server 2012 R2 “just work” without the need for re-certification. We look forward to sharing more information as the date approaches!
Protecting application availability – especially against threats like regional disasters – can be a high-cost endeavor involving complex planning and the need to remotely monitor service availability. This cost and complexity results in many applications which could benefit from protection going unprotected today.
Windows Azure Hyper-V Recovery Manager helps protect your on premises applications by automating the replication of virtual machines to a secondary location – and as of today, it’s now generally available.
It provides three key capabilities
These recovery plans enable automated disaster recovery orchestration by sequencing failover of different virtual machines and application tiers and providing customization through scripts and manual actions.
Now you can easily protect, monitor, and if needed recover your applications with an easy-to-use cloud-based service.
Several customers have already deployed Windows Azure Hyper-V Recovery Manager in their environments, including as Aston Martin, United Airlines, and Pošta Slovenije. You can read more about specific capabilities in today’s blog posts from Brad Anderson and Scott Guthrie.
Learn more about Hyper-V Recovery Manager here.
As enterprises are adapting to more personally owned devices, IT is looking for a way to manage these devices and provide the users with access to corporate applications and data while ensuring compliance. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure via Remote Desktop Services enables IT to deliver corporate desktops and applications that employees can access from their personal or corporate devices, regardless of form factor or platform as well as from both internal and external locations. Centralized desktops and apps hosted in the datacenter or cloud can be easily managed, and apps and data can be secured.
A key challenge that IT organizations experience with VDI deployments are the related storage and costs. The required storage investment varies depending on the type of deployment (i.e. personal VM deployments require more storage space) but it has been a common problem across the board. At Microsoft, storage has been a key area of focus during product design as our goals are to unlock these challenges and help our customers to reduce their storage costs and management complexity in the datacenter.
Microsoft has introduced key technologies with Windows Server 2012 R2 Remote Desktop Services which address these challenges and can help IT reduce storage costs.
Disk Deduplication
Personal desktop collections require much more storage space compared to session based desktops or even pooled desktop collections. Disk deduplication is a technology which automatically identifies and removes redundant blocks of data to reduce storage consumed by as much as 90% for each personal desktop collection! Disk deduplication can also provide performance gains for read-intensive operations (e.g. booting a VM) through caching.
Figure 1 On-disk transformation of files during data deduplication
Tiered Storage Spaces
Tiered Storage Spaces provides a simplified management of storage volumes that are a mix of multiple disks of different speeds. The operating system automatically optimizes the location of the data in the volume so that the most frequently accessed data is on the fastest disks. For example, frequently used data will automatically be moved onto the faster drives. It is possible to liken Tiered Storage Spaces to the implementation of lean production principles in a manufacturing cell. An operator would put the most frequently used tool to a better location to be more efficient and productive.
We are really excited about how these storage enhancements in the core platform are redefining what’s possible with virtual desktop environments. To learn more, and to begin testing these new capabilities, visit www.microsoft.com/msvdi.
In October, we announced Windows Server 2012 R2 which delivers several exciting improvements for VDI solutions. Among the benefits, Windows Server 2012 R2 reduces the cost per seat for VDI as well as enhances your end user’s experience. The following are just some of the features and benefits of Windows Server 2012 R2 for VDI:
If your VDI solutions run on Dell servers or if you are looking at deploying new VDI infrastructure, we are excited to let you know about the work we have been doing in partnership with Dell around VDI. Dell recently updated their Desktop Virtualization Solution (DVS) for Windows Server to support Windows Server 2012 R2, and DVS now delivers all of the benefits mentioned above. Dell is also delivering additional enhancements into Dell DVS for Windows Server so it will also support:
Depending on where you stand in the VDI deployment cycle in your organization, Dell DVS for Windows Server is already supported today on multiple Dell PowerEdge server platforms:
This week, Microsoft and Dell will present a technology showcase at Dell World in Austin (TX), USA. If you happen to be at the show, you will be able to see for yourself how well Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 integrate into Dell DVS. We will show:
We are excited about the work that we are doing with Dell around VDI and hope you have a chance to come visit our joint VDI showcase in Austin. We will be located in the middle of the Dell booth in show expo hall. Also, we will show a VDI demo as part of the Microsoft Cloud OS breakout session at noon on Thursday (December 12th ) in room 9AB. Finally, we will show a longer VDI demo in the show expo theater (next to the Microsoft booth) at 10am on Friday (December 13th ) morning. We are looking forward to seeing you there.
For years now, Microsoft has been building and operating some of the largest cloud applications in the world. The expertise culled from these experiences along with our established history of delivering market-leading enterprise operating systems, platforms, and applications has led us to develop a new approach for the modern era: the Microsoft Cloud OS.
The Cloud OS vision combines Microsoft knowledge and experiences with today’s trends and technology innovations to deliver a modern platform of products and services that helps organizations transform their current server environment into a highly elastic, scalable, and reliable cloud infrastructure. Utilizing the software that powers the Cloud OS vision, organizations can quickly and flexibly build and manage modern applications across platforms, locations, and devices, unlock insights from volumes of existing and new data, and support end-user productivity wherever and on whatever device they choose.
At the heart of Cloud OS is Windows Server 2012 R2. Delivering on the promise of a modern datacenter, modern applications, and people-centric IT, Windows Server 2012 R2 provides a best-in-class server experience that cost-effectively cloud-optimizes your business. When you optimize your business for the cloud with Windows Server 2012 R2, you take advantage of your existing skillsets and technology investments. You also gain all the Microsoft experience behind building and operating private and public clouds – right in the box. Delivered as an enterprise-class, the simple and cost-effective server and cloud platform Windows Server 2012 R2 delivers significant value around seven key capabilities:
Server virtualization. Windows Server Hyper-V offers a scalable and feature-rich virtualization platform that helps organizations of all sizes realize considerable cost savings and operational efficiencies. With Windows Server 2012 R2, server virtualization with Hyper-V pulls ahead of the competition by offering industry-leading size and scale that makes it the platform of choice for running your mission critical workloads. Using Windows Server 2012 R2, you can take advantage of new hardware technology, while still utilizing the servers you already have. This functionality enables you to virtualize today and be ready for the future tomorrow.
Whether you are looking to expand virtual machine mobility, increase virtual machine availability, handle multi-tenant environments, gain bigger scale, or gain more flexibility, Windows Server 2012 R2 with Hyper-V gives you the platform and tools you need to increase business agility with confidence. Plus, you can also benefit from workload portability as you extend your on-premises datacenter into a service provider cloud or Windows Azure.
Storage. With the increase in new applications, the explosion of data, and growing end-user expectations for continuous services, there has come a significant increase in storage demands. Windows Server 2012 R2 offers a wide variety of storage features and capabilities to address the storage challenges faced by organizations. Whether you intend to use cost-effective, industry-standard hardware for the bulk of your workloads or Storage Area Networks for the most demanding ones, Windows Server 2012 R2 provides you with a rich set of features that can help you maximize the returns from all of your storage investments.
Microsoft designed Windows Server 2012 R2 with a strong focus on storage capabilities, including improvements in the provisioning, accessing, and managing of storage and the transfer of data across the network that resides on that storage. The end result is a storage solution that delivers the efficiency, performance, resiliency, availability, and versatility you need at every level.
Networking. New technologies, such as private- and public-cloud computing, mobile workforces, and widely dispersed assets have transformed the business landscape and altered how we manage networking and network assets. Still, the main goal remains the same: keep all networking components connected to ensure smooth data transmission and reliable access by users and customers to the services they need when they need them.
Windows Server 2012 R2 makes it as straightforward to manage an entire network as a single server, giving you the reliability and scalability of multiple servers at a lower cost. Automatic rerouting around storage, server, and network failures enables file services to remain online with minimal noticeable downtime. In addition, Windows Server 2012 R2 provides the foundation for software-defined networking, out-of-the box, enabling seamless connectivity across public, private, and hybrid cloud implementations.
Whatever your organization’s needs, from administering network assets to managing an extensive private and public cloud network infrastructure, Windows Server 2012 R2 offers you solutions to today’s changing business landscape. These capabilities help reduce networking complexity while lowering costs, simplifying management tasks, and delivering services reliably and efficiently. With Windows Server 2012 R2 you can automate and consolidate networking processes and resources, more easily connect private clouds with public cloud services, and more easily connect users to IT resources and services across physical boundaries.
Server management and automation. Datacenter infrastructure has become more and more complex. Multiple industry standards are confusing hardware vendors. Customers are looking for guidance on how to best automate their datacenter while adopting a standards-based management approach supporting their multi-vendor investments. Windows Server 2012 R2 enables IT professionals to offer an integrated platform to automate and manage the increasing datacenter ecosystem. Features within Windows Server 2012 R2 enable you to manage many servers and the devices connecting them, whether they are physical or virtual, on-premises or in the cloud.
Web and application platform. Chances are your organization already uses or is planning to use a combination of on-premises and off-premises IT resources and tools for building a hybrid environment. To protect your existing investment in on-premises applications as you begin to migrate to the cloud, you need a scalable application and web platform that enables you to manage your applications and websites in a unified way.
Windows Server 2012 R2 builds on the tradition of the Windows Server family as a proven application platform, with thousands of applications already built and deployed and a community of millions of knowledgeable and skilled developers already in place. The capabilities included in Windows Server 2012 R2 offer your organization even greater application flexibility, helping you build and deploy applications either on-premises, in the cloud, or both at once, with hybrid solutions that can work in both environments.
As your organization plans for and moves to a hybrid or cloud-based environment, Windows Server 2012 R2 provides the tools you need to build, provision, and manage multi-tenant environments while still supporting your large enterprise or the many customers hosted within your service provider infrastructure.
Access and information protection. Information exists almost everywhere in your organization: on servers, laptops, desktops, removable devices, and in emails. Users need to be able to access this information from anywhere, share it where appropriate, and achieve maximum productivity with the assets they have. To further complicate matters, the move to cloud computing necessitates being able to secure enterprise applications that no longer live in your datacenter.
Microsoft assists you in supporting consumerization of IT and in retaining effective management, security, and compliance capabilities. The enterprise tools and technologies that Microsoft provides can help with key enterprise tasks such as identifying non-corporate devices, delivering applications and data to those devices with the best possible user experience, and establishing and enforcing policies on devices based on the end user’s role within the organization. Microsoft enterprise tools and technologies can help IT staff to maintain a high level of security across all device types, whether the devices are corporate or personal assets, and establish security measures that protect their organization’s systems, data, and network.
To address these information needs and challenges, organizations have to make fundamental shifts in how they approach identity and security. Windows Server 2012 R2 helps you accommodate these changes through exciting new remote access options, significant improvements to Active Directory and Active Directory Federation Services, and the introduction of policy-based information access and audits with Dynamic Access Control, and new scenarios to help customers provide access to corporate resources for users from their own devices. With these new capabilities, you can better manage and protect data access, simplify deployment and management of your identity infrastructure, and provide more secure access to data from virtually anywhere across both on-premises well managed devices and new consumer orientated form factors.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. Most IT departments currently face the challenge of enabling worker productivity on a growing number of mobile devices in the workplace. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) helps you accommodate these new devices by enabling them to access a centralized instance of the Windows desktop in the datacenter. By virtualizing these desktop resources, you can alleviate device compatibility and security issues while still delivering a consistent, familiar experience that enhances end-user productivity. With Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft makes it easier and more cost-effective to deploy and deliver virtual desktop resources across workers’ devices.
VDI technologies in Windows Server 2012 R2 offer easy access to a rich, full-fidelity Windows environment running in the datacenter, from virtually any device. Through Hyper-V and Remote Desktop Services (RDS), Microsoft offers three flexible VDI deployment options in a single solution: Pooled Desktops, Personal Desktops, and Remote Desktop Sessions (formerly Terminal Services). With Windows Server 2012 R2, you get a complete VDI toolset for delivering flexible access to data and applications from virtually anywhere on popular devices, while also helping to maintain security and compliance.
To compete in the global economy and keep up with the pace of innovation, IT organizations must improve their agility, their efficiency, and their ability to better manage costs while enabling their business and end users to stay continuously productive.
Microsoft has gained expertise from years of building and operating some of the largest cloud applications in the world. We’ve combined this expertise with our experiences in delivering market-leading enterprise operating systems, platforms, and applications to develop a platform for infrastructure, applications, and data: the Cloud OS.
The Microsoft Cloud OS delivers a modern platform of products and services that helps enterprise IT teams transform their current environment to a highly elastic, scalable, and reliable infrastructure. With Cloud OS, organizations can quickly and flexibly build and manage modern applications across platforms, locations, and devices, unlock insights from volumes of existing and new data, and support user productivity wherever and on whatever device they choose. Microsoft uniquely delivers the Cloud OS as a consistent and comprehensive set of capabilities that span on-premises, service provider, and Windows Azure datacenters, enabling enterprises to improve scale, elasticity, and availability of IT services.
At the heart of Cloud OS is Windows Server 2012 R2, which delivers upon the promises of a modern datacenter, modern applications, and people-centric IT. Whether you are an enterprise building out your own private cloud environment or a service provider offering large-scale cloud services, Windows Server 2012 R2 offers an enterprise-class, simple and cost-effective solution that’s application-focused and user centric. With Windows Server 2012 R2, you can utilize the capacity of your datacenter, deliver best-in-class performance for your Microsoft workloads, and receive affordable, multi-node business continuity scenarios with high service uptime and at-scale disaster recovery.
We hope that you are as excited as we are to get started today!
One of the key issues this blog has covered recently is the transformation of storage. Microsoft is focused on helping customers control the costs of storage, whether by using industry-standard hardware or simplifying existing hardware infrastructure. To that end we have made significant investments in the SMB 3.0 protocol for file-based storage. This helps customers use existing network infrastructure to achieve Fibre Channel-like performance, regardless of the underlying storage subsystem.
EMC has announced support for the Server Message Block 3.0 protocol in their VNX and VNXe product lines and published a brief paper entitled, “EMC VNX and VNXe with Microsoft SMB 3.0 – The best of NAS and SAN without compromise.” It’s a great read.
In it, they highlight the benefits of SMB 3.0 and how storage that uses it can offer the performance and capabilities comparable to traditional SAN storage. With solutions based on SMB 3.0 you can avoid the costs of Fibre Channel implementations.
The paper also highlights how SMB 3.0 is the future of storage protocols – providing the performance and availability customers need to move mission-critical workloads to network-attached storage platforms based on SMB 3.0.
EMC and Microsoft are performing regular interoperability tests, so you can confidently deploy EMC VNX and VNXe products in a Windows Server 2012 environment. These EMC products are compatible with the SMB 3.0 functionality provided by Windows Server file servers with transparent failover that we discussed in a previous post.
Microsoft is committed to helping customers reduce the costs of storage while managing data efficiently. SMB 3.0 is an example of how we’re delivering on the commitment and helping to build an ecosystem of storage solutions.
You can read more technical information about our storage capabilities at Jose Barreto’s storage blog on TechNet. You can also explore SMB 3.0 and many other storage capabilities hands-on by downloading the Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview here – which will become generally available October 18.
Hi, all,
If you're a TechNet or MSDN subscriber, I have good news for you: in response to your requests, Windows Server 2012 R2 (and Windows 8.1) will be available from TechNet and MSDN today. Because we will continue to evaluate the bits with our partners and MVPs, there may be additional changes between today's release and GA. The previously announced GA date of October 18 has not changed.
http://blogs.technet.com/b/in_the_cloud/archive/2013/09/09/ready-now-for-tns-amp-msdn-download-windows-server-2012-r2.aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dn205302.aspx
Can't wait to hear from you with additional feedback about the release!
Best,
Christa
You asked, we delivered. As announced on Steve Guggenheimer's blog, and Microsoft VP Brad Anderson’s blog post, “Ready Now for TNS & MSDN: Download Windows Server 2012 R2”, the Released to Manufacturing (RTM) bits for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 are now available for download to current MSDN and TechNet subscribers.
For those of you who are developers, be sure to also grab a copy of Visual Studio 2013. The release candidate is still currently available. Keep in mind general availability is still October 18, 2013 for the wave we announced last month.
And for those of you interested in downloading some of the other products and trying them, here are some resources to help you:
As always, follow us on Twitter via @MSCloud! And if you would like to follow Brad Anderson, do that via @InTheCloudMSFT !
Birthdays are always special and we wanted to take this moment to celebrate the birthday of a special product. This week we are celebrating the birthday of Windows Server 2012. The product has done really well in the market and has super human strength. So here’s a question for you, “If Windows Server 2012 were a superhero, who would it be?”
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A frustrating reality for IT leaders is that their teams continue to struggle with the complications of data growth even though they spend more money on storage every year. It’s not surprising that IT leaders are looking for new storage architectures to help them solve their scalability problems and reduce their costs. A post to this blog in June briefly discussed the problems customers are having with data growth and mentioned how a StorSimple Cloud-integrated Storage system could be used to alleviate them. This post expands on that conversation and introduces the Microsoft hybrid cloud storage solution.
Information systems that enable business agility are an asset and those that inhibit it are a liability. Unfortunately, traditional storage technologies lack the flexibility to quickly re-align with changing business strategies. The combination of compound data growth and inflexible storage means that the IT team spends too much time, money and energy maintaining the status quo, as opposed to facilitating change. The result is that the data assets of the business cannot be leveraged the way business leaders want them to be.
IT organizations need new power tools to manage storage and data affordably in an environment of unyielding data growth. The situation demands continuous, automated data and storage management that frees the IT team from time-consuming and error-prone tasks.
A recent development in business storage is hybrid cloud storage that integrates a StorSimple on-premises Cloud-integrated Storage (CiS) system with Windows Azure Storage, as shown in the figure below. The StorSimple part of the solution is an enterprise iSCSI SAN storage system with internal SSDs and hard disks to store data, along with software for data deduplication, compression and tiering that reduces capacity consumption and places data on resources that are optimized to reduce cost or deliver performance. Above and beyond these features, the StorSimple system automatically accesses Windows Azure Storage to transparently extend usable capacity, and protect and archive data.
The Microsoft hybrid cloud storage solution
Unlike traditional storage systems that require periodic, disruptive and expensive capacity upgrades, the Microsoft hybrid cloud storage solution provides uninterrupted, pay-as-you-grow capacity expansion in Windows Azure. In other words, customers only pay for the cloud storage capacity they use, as opposed to over-buying storage capacity in advance. In addition, data is protected automatically by copying it to the cloud, where it can be kept for virtually any amount of time without the high cost of replication or the complications of working with tape.
The StorSimple Cloud-integrated Storage system manages capacity by relocating dormant, unused data to Windows Azure Storage. If applications or users ever need data that was relocated to the cloud, it is transparently accessed and reloaded back onto the StorSimple system. Storage administrators don’t need to worry about running out of capacity unexpectedly because Windows Azure Storage can be instantly allocated whenever a capacity “relief valve” is needed.
Customer-settable data retention policies are easily implemented to comply with government regulations and corporate legal requirements. Data stored in the cloud is immutable and is checked to ensure data integrity with every read. Windows Azure Storage makes three copies of data and puts them in three different fault domains to protect them in the cloud with an option for three additional copies in a remote Windows Azure data center. All data written to the cloud is encrypted prior to being uploaded using encryption keys that are created and managed by the customer. Data in the cloud supports multiple storage functions simultaneously, including backup, DR, archiving and capacity expansion. Disaster recovery operations are location-independent and the data downloaded during recovery is restricted to those applications and users that need it, saving a great deal of time when time savings are most valuable.
The Microsoft hybrid cloud storage solution is optimized to address the problems caused by the growth of unstructured data. The scenarios that will generate the best results include corporate file sharing, large SharePoint installations, document management applications, data archiving, virtual server storage or any other environment where there is a sizable amount of dormant, inactive data that is not regularly accessed. To find out more about the Microsoft hybrid cloud storage solution, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/storsimple
By now, readers of this blog may have already heard of our presence at VMworld in San Francisco this week. As you can imagine, planning a “guerrilla” activity is never a trivial task, and making it happen requires a lot of hard work behind the scenes. Therefore, I was feeling pretty pleased with what our team had managed to organize as I boarded my flight for San Francisco early Monday morning. Add to this the fact that I was visiting the Bay Area, a place that I called home for seven memorable years – I was really looking forward to the trip.
It was only during the flight (when I finally had some time to myself) did the enormity, the audacity of what we were doing dawn on me. We were driving up to our competitor’s biggest event of the year, in its own backyard, and trying to promote a competing technology to a very committed and passionate community. We were committed to keep our conversation to the merits of our own solution, and not to disparage our competition in any way, but would VMworld attendees give us a chance? I would be lying if I said that I didn’t start to feel apprehensive about the week ahead.
Two days in, and I can tell you that the only thing I should have been worried about is eating way more frozen custard than is healthy (to be fair though, I have been standing in front of an ice cream truck for two days). So far, hundreds of VMworld attendees have lined up to sample some delicious dessert and talk to us about Hyper-V and System Center, the latest trends in storage and networking, and above all, the future of the datacenter. All in all, it’s been a blast.
Of course, we showed up unannounced at VMware’s biggest event of the year, so some interesting encounters were to be expected. As word of our presence spread, quite a few VMware employees stopped by our location. While one tried to interrogate us, and a few were clearly very nervous, many shared a good laugh with us, and some even tried the frozen custard!
Not surprisingly, the real highlight over the last two days has been the great conversations I’ve had with the IT professionals who have stopped by. Here are the trends that seemed to repeat themselves over and over again:
Of course, some of the people we spoke to were skeptical about how good Hyper-V really is. Many looked at Hyper-V a long time ago, and haven’t kept up with the progress our platform has made in recent years. If you count yourself among this group, we at Microsoft would love to show you how far we’ve come. However, you needn’t take my word for it – I encourage you to find out for yourself. We have created a website called Virtualization2 specifically for IT professionals familiar with VMware. The site has self-paced courses that go into Microsoft virtualization, our advanced management and automation tools, as well as the storage and network virtualization features of Windows Server 2012. There are also links to hands-on-labs, trial downloads of our software, as well as other useful tools.
Our ice-cream truck will be at VMworld on Wednesday as well – you can find us on the corner of 2nd and Howard between 12-4 pm. If you haven’t yet done so, please come by and talk to our experts! And whether or not you are at the conference, be sure to check out our Virtualization2 website, and give us your feedback on other content you’d like to see there.
VMworld kicks off this week in San Francisco. I happen to know a few loyal VMware IT professionals, and the event is clearly a very exciting time of the year for them - an opportunity to meet other fellow enthusiasts, as well as to learn more about new releases from VMware. But I wonder if they would ever expect to learn more about Microsoft technologies such as Hyper-V and System Center while attending the event. Well, that’s what we’re going to make happen this year, albeit a little creatively.
Before I go into more details, let me first address the most obvious question that VMworld attendees (and IT professionals that are familiar with VMware) are probably asking right now – “why would I want to learn about Hyper-V while attending VMworld?” The answer is simple – to help their careers as technology professionals. Research shows that over 70% of businesses now have more than one virtualization platform in their IT environment. As you can imagine, this trend is opening up opportunities for IT professionals that are familiar with more than one virtualization platform. And if you look at the market data, it is clear that Hyper-V is the one to watch (and try!) . In fact, Microsoft is quickly catching up with VMware in terms of hyper-visor share. IDC data shows that over the last 3 years, Hyper-V has grown usage share 4 times faster than ESX/vSphere.
This progress in the marketplace is no accident. We have gone from strength to strength with successive releases of Windows Server and System Center, and our solution boasts a number of features that surprise IT professionals, especially those that have not looked our way recently. Do you fall in that camp? If so, did you know that:
Now, back to VMworld, and our presence there. If you are a VMworld 2013 attendee, and would like to learn more about the progress we have made, we invite you to a free scoop of San Francisco’s finest frozen custard and some casual conversation with our technical experts at our frozen custard stand, located just a block away from Moscone center (201 2nd Street from Noon - 4 pm, to be exact). And needless to say, you are welcome even if you just want the custard!
Varun Chhabra Senior Product Marketing Manager, Server and Tools
[1] Source: ESG Lab Review Report: Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Storage Performance and Cost Analysis, July 2013
[2] Source: ESG Report: Exchange 2013 on Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Performance Testing
Today we are pleased to make several important announcements. We are extremely excited that on October 18th, eligible customers will able to download Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2, and use the latest update to Windows Intune. Also on October 18th, Windows 8.1 will be available to consumers and businesses worldwide. To find out more about this announcement, see Microsoft Vice President, Brad Anderson's blog, "Mark Your Calendars for October 18th, the R2 Wave is Coming". While you’re there, be sure to also check out his special series on “What’s New in 2012 R2” for a deep dive on all the new innovations to expect in the R2 wave of products.
You can also get started early and download the preview bits now:
Also, be sure to follow @WindowsServer and Brad Anderson @InTheCloudMSFT for all the latest news on these upcoming releases!
Windows Server 2012 R2 is in preview right now and ready for your evaluation. We have been rolling out detailed information on our Cloud OS vision though Brad Anderson’s What’s New in 2012 R2 blog series. That will continue but we thought you would like a short consolidated list for consideration. Here are some key innovations in Windows Server 2012 R2.
Storage transformation – Delivers breakthrough performance at a fraction of the cost
Software defined networking – Provides new levels of agility and flexibility
Virtualization and live migration – Provides an integrated and high-performance virtualization platform
Access & Information Protection – Empowering your users to be productive while maintaining control and security of corporate information with Windows Server 2012 R2
Java application monitoring – Enables deep application insight into Java applications.
This is by no means a comprehensive lists of new features and benefits, but we just wanted to give you some information on the key focus areas. For those of you interested in downloading some of the products and trying them, here are some resources to help you: