Both industry watchers and customers are closely watching the effects that virtualization and cloud computing will have on Windows Server’s evolution. Most people are embracing the benefits of virtualization, and many are wondering how virtualization relates to the cloud. Businesses want to know what that relationship will mean as they bet their future on Windows Server. The good news is that those very factors—virtualization and the cloud—are the seeds for Windows Server growth and new advantages for business.
We continue to be bullish on Windows Server because we believe that the economics of the cloud will dictate ongoing investments in servers. So it’s no surprise to see that in today’s report from IDC, “Worldwide Windows Server Operating Environments Forecast for 2011 – 2015,” the forecast emphasizes growth.
Windows Server 2008 new license shipments is projected to grow at a 2010-2015 CAGR of 8.7%, and the reason is that customers can build on Windows Server and Hyper-V as they explore the benefits that the cloud can bring. IDC credits Microsoft for evolving Windows Server with Hyper-V to expand the advantages of virtualization: “The recent release of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 marked an important milestone, not for the operating system itself but rather for the benefit it brought to Hyper-V. It included two technologies that were virtualization related: Dynamic Memory for Hyper-V (for better scale and performance of the base hypervisor) and Remote FX (for better client performance in a virtualized client deployment).”
The report also suggests that virtualization brings with it new opportunities for Windows Server customers.
o Cloud Integration: While much of the focus today is on Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), IDC (and other analyst firms) predict a major shift towards Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). With the shift, IDC expects Windows Server and Hyper-V to be integrated with Windows Azure as part of a hybrid cloud solution, in addition to being proven standalone virtualization solutions.o Unlimited Virtualization: IDC sees more customers buying premium SKUs that offer better virtualization rights. Because of that, IDC suggests that there will be greater demand for solutions like Windows Server 2008 Datacenter with unlimited virtualization rights.
These findings deliver good news to Windows Server customers. Whether companies are just starting to virtualize or are ready to take advantage of the cloud, Windows Server and Hyper-V are growing because they help businesses ensure success.
Windows PowerShell is an important cornerstone of Windows Server manageability. Windows Server 2008 R2 shipped with Windows PowerShell 2.0, hundreds of new cmdlets, and became the technology behind tools like Server Manager.
Today Microsoft is announcing that we are licensing the language specification for Windows PowerShell 2.0 under the Microsoft Community Promise. This means that now anyone can implement PowerShell on any platform. By sharing the specification with the community we’re expressing our continuing commitment to PowerShell as well as enabling interoperability with PowerShell and helping to ensure the consistency of PowerShell implementations.
You can learn more about the announcement and the specification itself on the Windows PowerShell blog.
ITPros have been asking for it, and some of you have not been using your indoor voices to ask, either. Remote Server Administration Tools (aka RSAT or Admin Pack) is now available for Windows 7 SP1.
Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 SP1 can be used to manage roles and features running on Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008. Some of the tools can be used to manage roles running on Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2003 R2. For information about the included tools and the server operating systems they’ll support, see KB958830.
As usual with RSAT, you must remove any other copies or versions of RSAT you have running on your Windows 7 with SP1 computer, including any copies you might have installed that are in different languages or locales. Remember, the RSAT installation process is a two-step dance: first, you run the correct MSU for your computer’s architecture; then, you enable the tools you want to use in the Turn Windows features on or off dialog box. This two-step installation process prevents you from installing tools that you simply won’t use, or that you might not want to install for security reasons (i.e. you don’t want a more junior admin to be able to delete Active Directory user accounts accidentally).
For complete installation instructions, be sure to read the download page before you download and install Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT). For installation instructions with screenshots, see Remote Server Administration Tools on the TechNet Wiki.