Event Report
CUSTOM SOLUTIONS GROUP MICROSOFT
more than 200 cloud services creates a virtuous cycle for the development of Windows Server and Windows Azure. With the cloud OS, customers are able to use familiar application development and management tools, as well as common data, identity and virtualization platforms, across private, third-party, and the Windows Azure public cloud. They can carry their current skills, experience, and investments forward. And quite naturally, customers can transition to the cloud on their own terms taking advantage of the product portfolio offered by Office 365, Dynamics Online, Windows Server, and private cloud with Windows Server 2012 and System Center 2012.
Windows Server 2012: Stairway to the Cloud Srikanth Karnakota, Country Head-Server & Cloud Business, Microsoft, says that Windows Server 2012 will help CIOs realize the promise of cloud computing. Why is Windows Server 2012 a big deal for CIOs? As CIOs get ready for cloud computing, they’ll need a platform that can perform the role of a cloud OS. To that end—with Windows Server 2012— we have essentially looked at three scenarios: Go beyond virtualization; run every app on every form of the cloud, and respond to business users with more agility. We have added hundreds of features in this release—there are significant enhancements and represents our best work. For example, there is a 16X growth in the number of virtual processes that can run in a VM. We used to run four, and now we can run 64 processes in a box. Similarly, memory allocation per server can go from the standard 64GB to 1TB per VM. These are just fantastic scale and performance numbers in terms of what
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customers can get on the platform today. The new OS is built from the cloud up to help customers achieve a modern datacenter without boundaries. And enterprise customers are already betting on Windows Server 2012 to realize the promise of cloud computing. It is indeed a historic and monumental moment for us to launch the Windows Server 2012. Given how dynamic cloud evolution is, why should enterprises rely on Microsoft and its version of the cloud OS? Our unique legacy of delivering the most widely used operating systems, applications, and global cloud services, position Microsoft to deliver the cloud OS best. If you look at Microsoft, there’s an abundance of expertise in terms of running largescale services. Our experience and learning from running petabyte-sized datacenters to deliver
How much of your experience with Microsoft Azure influenced what you have done with Windows Server? As I said, the best thing about Microsoft is its legacy of running both commercial and consumer apps and being able to learn quickly from large-scale deployments. Azure is a great example. Bits of Azure are built from Windows Server and we are adding hundreds of thousands of users every day on Azure. We looked at that level of scale and figured out the app symmetry between the two platforms of private cloud running Windows Server and Microsoft Azure, and how they interact seamlessly. That’s where you’d find enormous value when you are trying to break boundaries. The real value of the cloud OS is giving CIOs the power and flexibility to choose between a private cloud, a partner-hosted or a public cloud, on their own terms and through devices such as Windows 8—where customers get indepth app insights, and are not compromising anything. This is where, I think, some of the learning from running Azure on a large-scale has been pumped back into Windows Server and they work hand-in-glove with each other. This interview is brought to you by the IDG Custom Solutions Group and Microsoft.
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