World's first cloud-optimised operating system launched

Media release

5 September 2012

World's first cloud-optimised operating system launched in New Zealand

Windows Server 2012: built from the cloud up for the modern datacenter.

Windows Server 2012, the world's first cloud-optimised operating system (OS), was launched this morning by at New Zealand's largest technology conference, Microsoft TechEd 2012.

"Windows Server 2012 is the world's first genuine Cloud OS, which has been built from the cloud up to provide one consistent platform across private, hosted and public cloud environments," says Bradley Borrows, Azure and Server Business Group Lead for Microsoft New Zealand.

“Microsoft’s unique legacy in the most widely used operating systems, applications and cloud services positions us to deliver the Cloud OS, based on Windows Server and Windows Azure, to help customers achieve a datacenter without boundaries.”

Windows Server 2012 expands the definition of a server OS, incorporating traditionally separate technologies, such as advanced storage, networking, virtualisation and automation capabilities.

"The new features of Windows Sever 2012 will expand our capabilities, offering our clients more processing power, storage and flexibility to assist with their growth and reducing their costs," says Pablo Garcia, Director of Softsource – an infrastructure and software service provider.

"The new OS will give our customers the ability to access, manage and seamlessly migrate data between local, hybrid and Windows Azure environments through a single pane of glass."

Some of the new features in Windows Server 2012 include:

· Hyper-V: With the cloud scale of Hyper-V, no workload or application is off limits for virtualisation. It can support the largest virtual machines on the planet with 64 virtual processors and 1 TB of memory per virtual machine

· Network Virtualisation: For software-defined networking with built-in multi-tenancy, so customers can isolate different business units, customers and workloads on shared network infrastructure

· Storage Spaces: For highly available storage pools on industry standard hardware and Cluster-aware updating for continuously available server clusters, even during servicing

· PowerShell: For widespread automation, including more than 2,400 cmdlets (“commandlets”) to eliminate manual tasks for server management at cloud scale

These and hundreds of other new features can help customers achieve a transformational leap in the speed, scale and power of their datacenters and applications.

“We operate a fleet of synchronised modular data centres and anticipate new opportunities for automated management, scalability, and high availability with Windows Server 2012. The licensing model is great, too, which means we can offer compelling pricing to our clients,” says Keith Archibald, Innovation Programme Manager at Revera.

A survey of 70 early adopter customers from across the globe revealed that they expect, on average, 52 percent reduction in downtime, 41 percent reduction in workload deployment time and 15 hours of productivity time saved per year, per employee. Ninety one percent of the companies surveyed expect a reduction in server administration labor and 88 percent expect reduction in network administration labor.*

More information about Windows Server 2012 and the Cloud OS is available here. Read President of Microsoft Server and Tools Business, Satya Nadella's, post on The Official Microsoft Blog here. The conversation on Twitter can be followed at #WinServer.

Other quotes from our partners:

"Windows Server 2012 helps us to transition our clients to private, hybrid or public clouds, maximising the many opportunities that exist there, allowing our customers to deploy and manage their applications and infrastructure more efficiently and with a greater degree of flexibility than ever before," says Tony Stewart, CEO of Intergen.

“Windows Server 2012 is a serious contender when it comes to public and private cloud solutions, and given the price point, it’s compelling enough for customers to re-evaluate their current and future cloud requirements,” says Paul Conroy, IS Infrastructure Manager at Rakon.

“Windows Server 2012 is taking cloud computing to the next level, allowing us to provide additional value to our customers. It brings cloud capability to a single core platform, providing a seamless integrated experience and a smoother journey to the cloud,” says Charles Clarke, Pre-Sales Manager APAC for Veeam.

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* “Windows Server 2012 Rapid Deployment Program: TCO Study Whitepaper,” Microsoft Corp., June 2012

About Microsoft:

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.

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