Windows Server 2008 ready to ship. Partially.

21/02/2008 16:57:30

After many delays, Microsoft plan to launch Windows Server 2008 on 28 February.  While adoption of desktop products, like Windows Vista and Office 2007, has been slow, I expect the take-up of Windows Server 2008 to be brisk.

Most of our clients will be happy to see Server 2008 released so they can crack on with projects which would be achievable with Windows Server 2003, the prospect of initiating new projects on an old operating system has forced many to delay implementation.

Microsoft always seem to talk about improved reliability and security when they release a new product and Windows Server 2008 will be no different, but I am not convinced this message will sell product.

The one thing we are really looking forward to at Local Planet Solutions is Hyper-V, which will not be included in the early releases of Server 2008.  Hyper-V Server Virtualisation is the Microsoft response to VMware, the brightest thing in server rooms at the moment. 

Virtualisation allows one server to run multiple virtual servers, reducing the amount of tin many companies will have to invest in.  There are stacks of non-monetary benefits to virtualisation, such as hardware independence, the ability to allocate resources to a server on-the-fly and being able to deliver tighter service level agreements, so Hyper-V will present big opportunities for our clients, just not yet.