New Windows Server Promises Improved Reliability, Security

By Subashini Selvaratnam

MICROSOFT (M) Sdn Bhd has announced the Beta 3 version of Windows Server 2008, the server counterpart of Windows Vista.

Formerly codenamed Longhorn, this is the next generation of the Windows Server operating system that promises improved reliability and security over predecessor Windows Server 2003 Release 2.

An exciting feature of Windows Server 2008 is Windows PowerShell, which is a new command-line shell and scripting language designed for IT professionals to easily automate system management tasks. It also does not require users to migrate their existing scripts because it will work with existing command-line tools.

Another highlight feature is network access protection, which provides a new framework that allows an IT administrator to establish health requirements for the network and to restrict network access for connecting computers that do not meet those requirements. This feature also provides ongoing compliance checking to help make sure that the network remains healthy.

IT administrators also can choose to install Windows Server 2008 through Server Core. This is a new installation option for selected server roles that include only the necessary components and sub- systems without a graphical user interface to provide a server that requires fewer updates and less servicing.

Other features include Terminal Services and Windows Server Virtualisation. Terminal Services comes with remote access features such as Terminal Services Gateway, Terminal Services Easy Print and Terminal Services RemoteApp to provide users with more scalable remote access to centralised applications and server resources.

Windows Server Virtualisation is Microsoft’s new hypervisor- based virtualisation technology. The hypervisor is a thin software layer between the hardware and Windows Server 2008 that allows multiple operating systems to run unmodified on a host computer at the same time. It provides simple partitioning functionality and is responsible for maintaining isolation between partitions to increase flexibility, reliability and manageability.

According to Microsoft Malaysia’s product solutions marketing manager, infrastructure servers Ramesh Rajandran, the company has given out 1,000 CDs of Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 to large organisations locally. The new version has been downloaded over 100,000 times in the United States since its release.

Windows Server 2008 is expected to be launched in the first quarter of next year.

Microsoft also shared results of a commissioned profile from research firm IDC showing the economic impact which predicts that for every RM1 in revenue that Microsoft earns in Malaysia, the technology ecosystem beyond Microsoft will reap approximately RM15 in revenue.

“Software and IT services drive value-add in the IT economy, from more automated production and more complex financial systems to better education and more efficient delivery of government services,” said IDC Malaysia’s research director Linus Lai.

“Software and services spending in Malaysia will grow by a compound annual growth rate of 10.4 per cent throughout 2006 to 2011, exceeding 40 per cent of total IT spending, an increase from 38 per cent in 2006. This will spur the shift from a tradingbased economy towards a higher-value knowledge-based economy.”

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