Simplify your datacenter management

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Hybrid Cloud Blog</title> <atom:link href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud</link> <description></description> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 21 Sep 2017 16:00:38 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency> <item> <title>Explore Ignite sessions on Windows Server and the Hybrid Cloud</title> <link>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/09/21/explore-ignite-sessions-on-windows-server-and-the-hybrid-cloud/</link> <comments>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/09/21/explore-ignite-sessions-on-windows-server-and-the-hybrid-cloud/#respond</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 21 Sep 2017 16:00:37 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform Team]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/?p=16075</guid> <description><![CDATA[Attention Windows Server customers! Are you running in a hybrid cloud model today? Is it one of your priorities for the coming year? Windows Server has a ton of great new hybrid innovations coming your way. To learn more, check out these sessions next week at Microsoft Ignite: 1. Cloud infrastructure: Enabling new possibilities together <p><a class="read-more" href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/09/21/explore-ignite-sessions-on-windows-server-and-the-hybrid-cloud/">Continue reading</a></p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Attention Windows Server customers! Are you running in a hybrid cloud model today? Is it one of your priorities for the coming year? Windows Server has a ton of great new hybrid innovations coming your way. To learn more, check out these sessions next week at Microsoft Ignite:</p>&#10;<h4>1. <a target="_blank" href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/56551?source=sessions" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cloud infrastructure: Enabling new possibilities together</a></h4>&#10;<p>Join Jason Zander, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Azure, as he discusses how companies are changing IT strategies to leverage the cloud and better support digital transformation. In this IT pro-focused, demo-packed session, we examine updates across Azure IaaS, Azure Stack, Azure security and management, and Windows Server. Come see how customers are moving workloads of all sizes, including mission critical applications, to the cloud now, and how Microsoft uniquely supports hybrid cloud requirements to help you adopt Azure more easily.</p>&#10;<p><strong>Room:</strong> Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) West Hall C</p>&#10;<p><strong>Time:</strong> Monday, September 25, 2017 from 2:15 PM &#8211; 3:30 PM Eastern Time</p>&#10;<h4>2. <a target="_blank" href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/55407?source=sessions" rel="noopener noreferrer">Windows Server and hybrid cloud</a></h4>&#10;<p>Jeff Woolsey, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft for Windows Server, is an authority on ways customers can benefit from virtualization, management, and cloud computing across public, private, and hybrid environments. In this session, he shares insights and demos of new ways customers can extend their Windows Server environments to a hybrid cloud model.</p>&#10;<p><strong>Room:</strong> Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) West Hall E1</p>&#10;<p><strong>Time:</strong> Thursday, September 28, 2017 from 10:45 AM &#8211; 12:00 PM Eastern Time</p>&#10;<h4>3. <a target="_blank" href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/55114?source=sessions" rel="noopener noreferrer">Migrating your applications, data and workloads to Azure</a></h4>&#10;<p>Cloud migration is one of the biggest blockers for customers as they look to transition to the speed and efficiency cloud provides. In this session, Michael Leworthy will cover how to best approach application, VM, and database migration, giving you resources and tools to accelerate your success in moving to the cloud. Learn about new tools from Microsoft and our ecosystem that support migrating workloads, applications, and their databases, including real time discovery and application dependency mapping, cost analysis, evaluation of risk, and effective targeting of the cloud environment. Leave this session knowing the exact set of services, processes, and options to use to effortlessly plan and drive your Azure migration.</p>&#10;<p><strong>Room:</strong> Hyatt Regency Windermere Y</p>&#10;<p><strong>Time:</strong> Thursday, September 28, 2017 from 9:00 AM &#8211; 10:15 AM Eastern Time</p>&#10;<h4>4. <a target="_blank" href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/53257?source=sessions" rel="noopener noreferrer">Modernizing your .NET Apps without a rewrite</a></h4>&#10;<p>In this session, we start you on your journey from legacy .NET, WinForms, WCF, and SQL-based applications towards modern, mobile first applications using .NET Core, Visual Studio, Microsoft Azure and containers without having to start over from scratch. We have the tools and the techniques, you have the code. Presented by Taylor Brown and Scott Hunter.</p>&#10;<p><strong>Room:</strong> Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) W230</p>&#10;<p><strong>Time:</strong> Wednesday, September 27, 2017 from 12:30 PM 1:45 PM Eastern Time</p>&#10;<h4></h4>&#10;<h4>5. <a href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/53574?source=sessions">Maximize storage efficiency and conquer distributed file access with Windows Server and Azure Files</a></h4>&#10;<p>For years, you have been locked into expensive proprietary hardware storage solutions. Will Gries and Fabian Uhse, Microsoft program managers, will give you an end-to-end look at how the software-defined storage stack in Windows Server can be paired with new features in Azure Files, including sync and cloud tiering, to create a scalable, distributed storage platform on commodity hardware. We show you how to reduce storage and management costs, achieve global reach with availability SLAs, and seamlessly embrace the cloud all within your normal OS and hardware refresh schedules.</p>&#10;<p><strong>Room:</strong> Orange County Convention Center, W307</p>&#10;<p><strong>Time:</strong> Tuesday, September 26, 2017 from 12:30 PM 1:45 PM Eastern Time</p>&#10;<h4>6. <a target="_blank" href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/54789?source=sessions" rel="noopener noreferrer">Azure Security and Management for hybrid environments</a></h4>&#10;<p>As organizations continue their digital transformation to the cloud, they are faced with the need to secure and manage resources across hybrid environment. Join this session to learn how Azure security and management services help you address these challenges without any secondary tools, and increase agility for your business. Jeremy Winter, Partner Director in Azure Security and Operations Management, will share the new and upcoming technologies to secure and manage your workloads wherever they are.</p>&#10;<p><strong>Room:</strong> Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) West Hall F1</p>&#10;<p><strong>Time:</strong> Tuesday, September 26, 2017 from 9:00 AM &#8211; 10:15 AM Eastern Time</p>&#10;<p>These sessions are a great place to start, but to learn more please see the complete list of <a target="_blank" href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/videos?f=%255B%257B%2522name%2522%253A%2522Windows%2520Server%2522%252C%2522facetName%2522%253A%2522products%2522%257D%255D" rel="noopener noreferrer">Windows Server sessions at Ignite</a>. And if you cannot join us in Orlando, you can still be part of Microsoft Ignite, just <a target="_blank" href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ignite/about" rel="noopener noreferrer">join us online</a>!</p>&#10;]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/09/21/explore-ignite-sessions-on-windows-server-and-the-hybrid-cloud/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Datacenter efficiency gets easier with new Windows Server Software Defined partner solutions</title> <link>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/07/18/datacenter-efficiency-gets-easier-with-new-windows-server-software-defined-partner-solutions/</link> <pubDate>Tue, 18 Jul 2017 16:00:38 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft Windows Server Team]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/?p=16045</guid> <description><![CDATA[The island of Bora Bora. The finish line at a marathon. A software defined datacenter. What do they have in common? Being there is easy getting there is the hard part. However in the latter case, at least, you can let someone else do the hard part for you. Theres so much efficiency, simplicity, <p><a class="read-more" href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/07/18/datacenter-efficiency-gets-easier-with-new-windows-server-software-defined-partner-solutions/">Continue reading</a></p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The island of Bora Bora. The finish line at a marathon. A software defined datacenter. What do they have in common? Being there is easy getting there is the hard part. However in the latter case, at least, you can let someone else do the hard part for you.</p>&#10;<p>Theres so much efficiency, simplicity, and cost-savings to be gained by moving to a software-defined infrastructure, but many IT organizations lack the resources to design and implement it themselves. If that sounds like your organization, check out the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.microsoft.com/wssd" rel="noopener noreferrer">solutions</a> provided by the partners in our Windows Server Software-Defined (WSSD) program, including DataON, Fujitsu, HPE, Lenovo, QCT, and Supermicro. This growing lineup of partners offers an array of validated WSSD solutions that work with Windows Server 2016 to deliver the benefits of software-defined infrastructure.</p>&#10;<p>With <a target="_blank" href="http://www.microsoft.com/wssd" rel="noopener noreferrer">WSSD validated solutions</a>, you can tap into similar technologies used to run hyper-scale datacenters such as Microsoft Azure. Azure runs on Windows Server, and the Datacenter edition of Windows Server 2016 includes many of the same technologies that Microsoft uses to support Azure. These new capabilities are built into the OS, so you wont need to buy any additional software. In addition, youll realize significant price/performance results by taking advantage of cutting-edge devices such as NVMe drives, RDMA NICs, and NVDIMMs at price points that are much better than traditional external storage devices.</p>&#10;<p>To earn certification by the Windows Server Software-Defined program, partners must meet Microsoft standards for quality, accelerated time to value, out-of-the-box optimization, and expedited problem resolution. Our validation and certification is one of the most rigorous in the industry. Each component is certified and the end-to-end solution is validated using Microsofts test harness. Deployments use prescriptive, automated tooling that cuts deployment time from days or weeks to mere hours. Youll be up and running by the time the WSSD partner leaves your site, with a single point of contact for support.</p>&#10;<p>Partners offer three kinds of WSSD solutions:</p>&#10;<ul>&#10;<li><strong>Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) Standard:</strong> Highly virtualized compute and storage are combined in the same server-node cluster, making them easier to deploy, manage, and scale.</li>&#10;<li><strong>Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) Premium:</strong> Comprehensive software-defined datacenter in a box adds software-defined networking and Security Assurance features to HCI Standard. This makes it easy to scale compute, storage, and networking up and down to meet demand just like public cloud services.</li>&#10;<li><strong>Software-Defined Storage (SDS):</strong> Built on server-node clusters, this enterprise-grade, shared-storage solution replaces traditional external storage device at a much lower cost while support for all-flash NVMe drives delivers unrivaled performance. You can quickly add storage capacity as your needs grow over time.</li>&#10;</ul>&#10;<p>Take the next step <a target="_blank" href="http://www.microsoft.com/wssd" rel="noopener noreferrer">find your WSSD partner</a> today.</p>&#10;<h2>And a few words from our partners</h2>&#10;<blockquote><p>DataON is very proud to be a Microsoft partner, exclusively focused on Microsoft server-based storage solutions, said Howard Lo, Vice President, Sales &amp; Marketing, DataON. We combine our hyper-converged platform and exclusive MUST visibility and management tool for Windows Server SDS to deliver a WSSD-validated solution to give our customers the greatest confidence in their choice to deploy a Windows Server software-defined infrastructure.</p></blockquote>&#10;<blockquote><p>&#8220;We are excited to share QCTs Windows Server 2016 certified servers and our QxStack Microsoft Cloud Ready Solutions, with the worlds leading businesses and institutions so they can enhance their software-defined compute, storage, networking, virtualization, flexibility, and infrastructure scalability, said Mike Yang, President of QCT. The complementing solutions allow us to fulfill the continuing needs of our mutual customers by delivering faster-time-to-value, flexible and innovative cloud-ready solutions, and to do so in a low-risk and cost effective manner.</p></blockquote>&#10;<blockquote><p>Supermicro has partnered with Microsoft to bring to market a Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) premium solution based on our industry leading NVMe systems, said Henry Kung, VP of server integration, Supermicro. We worked closely with the Windows Server team to certify Windows Server Storage Spaces Direct using our highest performing 1U all-NVMe platform. This HCI premium solution is a cost-effective software defined data center (SDDC) in a 4-node solution with all the benefits of Microsoft software-defined storage and networking. This HCI premium solution is certified and ready to be deployed in large volume in enterprise and cloud-scale datacenters.</p></blockquote>&#10;]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>New Windows Server preview release available to Windows Insiders!</title> <link>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/07/13/new-windows-server-preview-release-available-to-windows-insiders/</link> <comments>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/07/13/new-windows-server-preview-release-available-to-windows-insiders/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 13 Jul 2017 22:00:49 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft Windows Server Team]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/?p=16005</guid> <description><![CDATA[On June 15th we announced some very exciting news Windows Server will now have more frequent releases providing customers who are innovating quickly an opportunity to take advantage of new operating system capabilities at a faster pace, both in applications, particularly those built on containers and microservices, as well as in the software-defined datacenter. <p><a class="read-more" href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/07/13/new-windows-server-preview-release-available-to-windows-insiders/">Continue reading</a></p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>On June 15th we announced some <a target="_blank" href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/15/delivering-continuous-innovation-with-windows-server/" rel="noopener noreferrer">very exciting news</a> Windows Server will now have more frequent releases providing customers who are innovating quickly an opportunity to take advantage of new operating system capabilities at a faster pace, both in applications, particularly those built on containers and microservices, as well as in the software-defined datacenter.</p>&#10;<p>Today were extremely happy to announce that the very first preview release of this new cadence is available for Windows Insiders! To access the new Windows Server preview release, you can register for the <a target="_blank" href="https://insider.windows.com/ForBusiness" rel="noopener noreferrer">Windows Insiders for Business</a>* program. If you dont have an Office 365 or an Azure AD account, you can also register for the <a target="_blank" href="https://insider.windows.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Windows Insiders</a> program with your Microsoft ID. New preview builds will be available on a regular basis, and the latest <a target="_blank" href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windowsinsiderpreviewserver" rel="noopener noreferrer">Windows Server build is always available for download</a>. Matching Windows Server container images will be available via the Docker Hub. Get more information about <a target="_blank" href="http://aka.ms/containers/insiders" rel="noopener noreferrer">Windows Server containers and Insider builds</a>.</p>&#10;<p>Watch the Windows Server blog over the coming weeks as well be blogging in detail about the new features and capabilities coming in these previews and ultimately available for production use in the Semi-annual Channel release this fall.</p>&#10;<h2>Its all about your feedback!</h2>&#10;<p>The most important part of a frequent release cycle is to hear whats working and what needs to be improved, so your feedback is extremely valued. Dont forget to register a Windows 10 device with the Windows Insider Program. That way youll be able to provide feedback via the Feedback Hub App. In the app, choose the Server category and then the appropriate subcategory for your feedback. Please indicate what edition and build number you are providing feedback on.</p>&#10;<p>You can also send your feedback via the <a target="_blank" href="https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-Server-Insiders/bd-p/WindowsServerInsiders" rel="noopener noreferrer">Windows Server Insiders</a> space on the Tech Communities.</p>&#10;<p>Were very excited about this release and really looking forward to hear what amazing things youre doing with the Semi-annual Channel releases of Windows Server!</p>&#10;<p>Follow us on Twitter <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/MSHybridCloud" rel="noopener noreferrer">@MSHybridCloud</a>!</p>&#10;<p>* If you signed up for Windows Insiders for Business using an AAD account, there is a temporary issue with access to the<a href="https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fsoftware-download%2Fwindowsinsiderpreviewserver&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cv-canmo%40microsoft.com%7C32a727800dcc4219c29108d4c7ceea9d%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C636353138921216443&amp;sdata=vf3zp8k6P7cmYos%2B%2F5dDt%2F%2BUqXBKZ%2F98Xcr4SoJWS70%3D&amp;reserved=0"> Windows Server Download page </a>using AAD accounts. If you registered using an MSA account at the Windows Insider program, your MSA account may be used to access the page and to download builds until this is resolved.</p>&#10;]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/07/13/new-windows-server-preview-release-available-to-windows-insiders/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Application Modernization is a journey</title> <link>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/07/12/application-modernization-is-a-journey/</link> <pubDate>Wed, 12 Jul 2017 17:00:51 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform Team]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/?p=16026</guid> <description><![CDATA[Ive recently been working with many customers who find themselves at a crossroads when it comes to legacy applications. They have several hundred or thousands of applications running in what was once a modern approach...]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>This blog post was authored by Shawn Gibbs, Senior Program Manager, WSSC. </em></p>&#10;<p>Ive recently been working with many customers who find themselves at a crossroads when it comes to legacy applications. They have several hundred or thousands of applications running in what was once a modern approach, but in today&#8217;s world lack the ability to gain all the benefits available in modern architectures. In the customer engagements Ive been working on, Im starting to see paradigms. Like with any journey it is important to understand the destination before you set off. The destination may be a serverless microservices pattern in which applications are architected to offer the greatest flexibility in scale and repeatability at high speed. The goal in a modern approach is to be able to iterate against the components without impacting all the services that depend on them but allow for new business functionality at a rapid pace while increasing the ability scale easily. Once we have a destination, we need to map the possibilities and process required to achieve short-term objectives that gain some of the benefits of the more modern approach. Moving to a devops approach is necessary, in order to take full advantage of the benefits.</p>&#10;<p>The basic steps I find work well for customers are: 1) Document the destination; 2) Map the journey and find low hanging fruit; 3) Validate the different stops in the journey; 4) Take the first step</p>&#10;<h2>Document the destination</h2>&#10;<p>The final destination or architecture doesnt need to be complete or an in-depth architecture but there are some very basic questions to answers. First, its necessary to determine what youd like to use as a starting point, is Windows Server 2016 with a container service enough to get you started? Is your project more elaborate in nature and would benefit from using a platform as a service? A starting point is to consider your depth of capabilities and design a pattern that will utilize this knowledge base. For example, your operations team may be focused and excellent at managing Linux and your development team may be made up of primarily .Net developers. We then look at modern application patterns like <a target="_blank" href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microservices-an-application-revolution-powered-by-the-cloud/?cdn=disable" rel="noopener noreferrer">microservices</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/functions" rel="noopener noreferrer">serverless</a> development and decide, how and if the applications should be architected in this way. As part of this design and implementation exercise some packaging and deployment options will be required and <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/windowscontainers/about" rel="noopener noreferrer">containers</a> may be a fit for the microservices we will develop and allow us the ability to increase scale and agility of our continuous integration and deployment process. There are other considerations to look at like the actual tooling that will be used and if other solutions like messaging or documents storage make sense.</p>&#10;<h2>Map the journey and find low hanging fruit</h2>&#10;<p>These early low hanging fruit can be greater scaling capabilities, faster deployments, and guaranteed consistency between dev/test and production environments. We find that customers are not always looking to rewrite existing applications and that the organizations priority before starting to build new applications is to gain some of the benefits of newer design models in legacy applications. While it can be easier to start from scratch with a new architecture, its sometimes not cost effective or not an option and requires you to start with your existing applications and re-architect them to a more efficient architecture. Once the destination is mostly mapped out we need to get the delta from where we are today and where we would need to be to gain the greatest amount of benefits from a modern application pattern. As the delta list begins to take shape, there is now a requirement to rewrite the code base due to things like breaking out individual services and supporting the .Net Core framework development. If this is a journey and we consider the stops along the journey as the incremental steps we can take to modernize we may see that we can gain certain benefits from lifting and shifting the application to a more portable and repeatable architecture. In this case we may port to a container and deploy as is in a container orchestration cluster which now allows the app to be deployed quickly and easily along with scaling automatically using the orchestrator. We will also evaluate the merits of leveraging PaaS services for portions of the application and these can be delivered from Microsoft Azure directly or from Azure Stack on-premises.</p>&#10;<h2>Validate the different stops in the journey</h2>&#10;<p>This is typically where we can perform a series of proofs that test the ability to containerize the application as is, as well as <a target="_blank" href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ConnieYau.NETPortabilityAnalyzer" rel="noopener noreferrer">analyze the portability</a> of our existing code base to .Net Core . In some cases, we may find a monolithic application with its own internal APIs can be converted to a microservices architecture easily. For example, we may have a Web front end that talks to a few APIs that are part of the same codebase deployed as a single application running in a web server. We may deploy the same code base to a number of containers and mark each container as the entry point for the individual APIs and front end. In this phase, there can be a fine tuning of tools and processes that will be required for the destination but more importantly ones that can be used at individual stops along the way. The goal would be not to use an interim set of tooling for these middle phases of the journey that doesnt translate into the end result which could be costly and not required. Its also important to understand that microservices architecture and/or containers is not for everything. In some conversations, Ive been asked how do I back up my container?, a sign that organizations havent quite caught up with the new way of doing things.</p>&#10;<h2>Take the first step</h2>&#10;<p>This is where the project will realize some of the benefits mapped out in our journey. In most cases the journey includes a lift and shift of an existing code base into a more modern model which was tested in earlier stages. In some cases, these may be the final destination for example, a containerized microservices architecture where only the code base and type of containers may change. As part of the journey you can formalize the final CI/CD process to maximize the benefits afforded by either containerizing, code refactoring, or both.</p>&#10;<p>The changes in app patterns and the rise of containers is the kind of paradigm shift that happens every decade or so. This is definitely a big shift for the industry, but it holds a lot of potential benefits for organizations to move faster and respond better to a changing competitive landscape. After having worked directly with dozens of organizations on these very changes, Im a firm believer in whats possible with this new technology and Id encourage you to find an app in your portfolio and get started with the process today.</p>&#10;]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Try Cloud Essentials: A free hands-on resource from Microsoft</title> <link>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/27/try-cloud-essentials-a-free-hands-on-resource-from-microsoft/</link> <pubDate>Tue, 27 Jun 2017 16:00:33 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform Team]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/?p=15976</guid> <description><![CDATA[Find out how Microsoft Cloud Essentials can help you get the necessary experience, training, and support to make your journey to the cloud successful. Everything you need is in one place, and its free to join.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Find out how Microsoft Cloud Essentials can help you get the necessary experience, training, and support to make your journey to the cloud successful. Everything you need is in one place, and its free to join.</em></p>&#10;<p>Your cloud transition is unique your starting point, destination, and priorities are specific to your companys situation, as well as your own career trajectory. Now theres a single resource to help you map your journey, put fuel in your tank, and get you going on the road to success. And its free to join.</p>&#10;<p>Moving to the cloud used to be a question of whether, but increasingly its a question of how, says Mark Winters, who manages the Cloud Essentials program at Microsoft. Your company has its roadmap, and you have your own as an IT professional. With Cloud Essentials, weve created a hands-on, single destination for both.</p>&#10;<p><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/cloudessentials/en-US">Cloud Essentials</a> brings together all of the necessary components to make your cloud journey successful:</p>&#10;<ul>&#10;<li><strong>Product experience:</strong> Get the experience you need with free trials and tools for cloud products. Hands-on labs provide the instruction you need to master the necessary skills and keep you current with relevant technologies that are always evolving.</li>&#10;<li><strong>Solutions training:</strong> Free courses from Pluralsight and professional certifications through the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) program will help you beef up your cloud knowledge.</li>&#10;<li><strong>Career development:</strong> See what industry experts suggest for your cloud career path, and develop the skills you need to get there. Follow a learning curriculum at your own pace, with the flexibility to select the skills you need most to stay relevant. You can also find out what salaries are common for cloud roles in your geographic area.</li>&#10;<li><strong>Support:</strong> Whether you need help with Cloud Essentials, technical support for Azure or Cloud Accelerator, or a lifeline to your community of peers and Microsoft experts, youll find it all in one place. Its either free or deeply discounted, depending on the level of support you need.<a href="https://msdnshared.blob.core.windows.net/media/2017/06/Pro4_630x472.jpg"><img width="457" height="343" title="Pro4_630x472" class="aligncenter" style="float: none;padding-top: 0px;padding-left: 0px;margin-left: auto;padding-right: 0px;margin-right: auto;border-width: 0px" alt="Pro4_630x472" src="https://msdnshared.blob.core.windows.net/media/2017/06/Pro4_630x472_thumb.jpg" border="0" /></a></li>&#10;</ul>&#10;<h3><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloudessentials">Subscribe to Cloud Essentials</a> today. Its easy and its free.</h3>&#10;<p>&nbsp;</p>&#10;<p>Follow us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/MSHybridCloud">@MSHybridCloud</a>!</p>&#10;]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>FREE WEBINAR: Three ways to migrate to a hybrid-cloud environment (with demos!)</title> <link>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/26/free-webinar-three-ways-to-migrate-to-a-hybrid-cloud-environment-with-demos/</link> <pubDate>Mon, 26 Jun 2017 16:00:39 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform Team]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/?p=15995</guid> <description><![CDATA[This blog post was authored by Jeff Woolsey, Principal PM, Windows Server. The path to hybrid cloud is paved with good intentions. But its easy to get off-track if you dont begin by making some important decisions about existing applications and infrastructure. Fortunately, you have several great options so how do you choose the right <p><a class="read-more" href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/26/free-webinar-three-ways-to-migrate-to-a-hybrid-cloud-environment-with-demos/">Continue reading</a></p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>This blog post was authored by Jeff Woolsey, Principal PM, Windows Server.</em></p>&#10;<p>The path to hybrid cloud is paved with good intentions. But its easy to get off-track if you dont begin by making some important decisions about existing applications and infrastructure. Fortunately, you have several great options so how do you choose the right strategy for your unique workloads?</p>&#10;<p>Join me on Thursday, June 29 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time (UTC-7), when I will walk you through:</p>&#10;<ul>&#10;<li>Deciding what should move to cloud and what should stay on-premises</li>&#10;<li>Migration methods you can use to streamline your move to hybrid cloud</li>&#10;<li>Options for moving VMs to cloud, or modernizing existing applications with containers</li>&#10;</ul>&#10;<p>In this one-hour session, I will cover the various options and decision points, illustrate with live demos, and have real-time Q&amp;A. Whether you are planning your first simple migration or a more complex hybrid approach, join us to get started quickly on a trusted path.</p>&#10;<h3><a target="_blank" href="https://info.microsoft.com/migrating-to-a-hybrid-cloud-environment.html">Register today</a> for this free seminar. I hope to see you there!</h3>&#10;]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Five keys to a more consistent, cost-effective enterprise cloud</title> <link>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/21/five-keys-to-a-more-consistent-cost-effective-enterprise-cloud/</link> <pubDate>Wed, 21 Jun 2017 16:00:53 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform Team]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/?p=15935</guid> <description><![CDATA[IT professionals frequently tell us that their biggest challenge is getting more bang for the buck. Between maximizing development and operational capabilities with existing resources, maintaining or reducing costs, and preserving data security, making decisions about IT can feel like being stuck between a rock and a couple of hard places. Although more organizations are <p><a class="read-more" href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/21/five-keys-to-a-more-consistent-cost-effective-enterprise-cloud/">Continue reading</a></p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>IT professionals frequently tell us that their biggest challenge is getting more bang for the buck. Between maximizing development and operational capabilities with existing resources, maintaining or reducing costs, and preserving data security, making decisions about IT can feel like being stuck between a rock and a couple of hard places.</p>&#10;<p>Although more organizations are adopting hybrid deployments as one answer to the problem, theyre seen as a temporary solution. When we asked IT professionals and business decision makers why, we found the main impediment to be lack of a common frame of reference for hybrid capabilities.</p>&#10;<p>Lets unpack that. IT needs to <em>maximize existing resources</em>, making them more flexible and scalable and improving performance for both machines and employees. IT needs to do all of it <em>as cheaply and safely as possible</em>, optimizing costs and maintaining end-to-end security. A hybrid cloud deployment delivers on these requirements in five key ways:</p>&#10;<p><strong>Greater flexibility: </strong>Hybrid cloud deployments allow all sizes of enterprise to extend existing infrastructure to the cloud without massive capital investment. The capability to run multiple environments seamlessly gives IT the means to support DevOps more efficiently.</p>&#10;<p><strong>Faster scalability:</strong> A consistent hybrid cloud infrastructure lets you burst resources fast and reliably scale them down again. Use your on-premises resources to host IP and sensitive data while extending CPU-intensive activity to the cloud.</p>&#10;<p><strong>Increased performance:</strong> A consistent hybrid deployment means greater uptime and reliability, as well as increased capacity. In addition to efficient burst capability, a well-implemented hybrid reduces latency across network resources.</p>&#10;<p><strong>Real cost-efficiency:</strong> Hybrid cloud deployments are both cheaper to operate and more robust than non-hybrid solutions. The cloud side takes on maintenance and load balancing, making it easier to predict setup costs and total cost of ownership. IT can allocate staff with more precision and reduce capital expenditures overall.</p>&#10;<p><strong>Consistent security:</strong> Cloud security is proving to be more robust than traditional firewalls. Because of the way hybrid cloud allocates resources across environments, you can maintain burst capability while protecting sensitive data, apps, and intellectual property in the datacenter. Single sign-on helps your users be productiveno matter which apps or devices theyre usingwhile protecting corporate information.</p>&#10;<p>A true hybrid deployment includes on-premises resources working in seamless integration with cloud resources to scale workloads efficiently. It takes advantage of the robust security in an enterprise cloud to protect data and user identities across environments. Hybrid isnt just a transitional solution; its the deployment that makes the most sense for enterprise IT.</p>&#10;]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Delivering continuous innovation with Windows Server</title> <link>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/15/delivering-continuous-innovation-with-windows-server/</link> <comments>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/15/delivering-continuous-innovation-with-windows-server/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 15 Jun 2017 16:00:12 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft Windows Server Team]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/?p=15885</guid> <description><![CDATA[This blog post was authored by Erin Chapple, General Manager, Windows Server. Over the years, our conversations with customers about their application and datacenter needs have really evolved, but the one constant is the accelerating pace of change. Digital transformation is changing the way business is done and the most competitive organizations react quickly to <p><a class="read-more" href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/15/delivering-continuous-innovation-with-windows-server/">Continue reading</a></p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>This blog post was authored by Erin Chapple, General Manager, Windows Server.</em></p>&#10;<p>Over the years, our conversations with customers about their application and datacenter needs have really evolved, but the one constant is the accelerating pace of change. Digital transformation is changing the way business is done and the most competitive organizations react quickly to new opportunities, which usually involves agile applications. IT leaders frequently ask me how Windows Server is evolving to meet this new reality and how they can take advantage of new innovations at the pace their business demands.</p>&#10;<p>Today, Id like to share more details about our new model of delivering more frequent releases of Windows Server. Starting this fall, we plan to deliver two feature updates per year, each spring and fall, aligning to the <a href="https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Overview-of-the-upcoming-changes-to-Office-365-ProPlus-update-management-78B33779-9356-4CDF-9D2C-08350EF05CCA?ui=en-US&amp;rs=en-US&amp;ad=US">Windows and Office Semi-annual Channel release cycle</a>. This option provides opportunity for customers who are innovating quickly to take advantage of new operating system capabilities at a faster pace, both in applications &#8211; particularly those built on containers and microservices, as well as in the software-defined hybrid datacenter. <a href="https://aka.ms/gdvrlt">System Center</a> will also be participating in the Semi-annual Channel and have shared more information in their blog today.</p>&#10;<h2>Nano Server and containers No such thing as too small</h2>&#10;<p>Last month at <a href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/05/10/windows-server-for-developers-news-from-microsoft-build-2017/">Microsoft Build</a> we announced a number of great developer and container related innovations that will be coming as part of this upcoming feature update, including a new version of Nano Server. Since our first release of Nano Server last year, weve spent a lot of time with customers to understand how theyre using Nano Server and where they want to see future investments. Two things were very clear:</p>&#10;<ol>&#10;<li>Using Nano Server for containers is their highest priority.</li>&#10;<li>When it comes to containers, smaller is better.</li>&#10;</ol>&#10;<p>Based on that feedback, we are making an important change to Nano Server. This next release will focus on making Nano Server the very best container image possible. From these changes, customers will now see the Nano Server images shrink in size by more than 50 percent, further decreasing startup times and improving container density. As part of this effort to focus on containers, we will be removing the functionality for infrastructure-related roles. Instead of using Nano Server for these scenarios, we recommend deploying the Server Core installation option, which includes all the roles and features you would need. These changes to Nano Server, combined with the new application innovations in .NET Core 2.0 which enables customers to use more of their code in more places, make Nano Server the best option for new container-based development.</p>&#10;<p>In addition to these Nano Server investments, were also delivering application innovations to support Linux containers and workloads natively on Windows Server. Were extending the Hyper-V isolation capability, introduced with the 2016 release, to Linux containers as well, so now you can run Linux containers on Windows Server. This means customers will no longer have to deploy two separate container infrastructures to support both their Windows and Linux-based applications. Were also bringing the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), commonly known as Bash on Windows, to Windows Server. This unique combination allows developer and application administrators to use the same scripts, tools, procedures and container images they have been using for Linux containers on their Windows Server container host.</p>&#10;<h2>Server Core Also coming to the Semi-annual Channel</h2>&#10;<p>I am also pleased to announce that Server Core will now be included in the Semi-annual Channel. Server Core is a headless installation option of the operating system which includes all the roles and features needed to run datacenter servers and containerized traditional applications.</p>&#10;<p>Moving forward, Server Core will be the recommended choice for hosting your virtual machines as well as your containers which can be running a Nano Server container image, a Server Core container image, or even Linux container images. This makes Server Core the ideal platform to support the very popular lift-and-shift scenario of moving legacy applications to containerized deployments, often running in Azure, for increased performance and manageability with reduced costs.</p>&#10;<p>Server Core is also our recommended option for infrastructure workloads. Many customers dont realize that Server Core is the base image that runs Azure and Azure Stack. This means the investments we make in Windows Server for Azure can be made available to customers to use in their own datacenters. This makes Server Core a great choice for Azure customers who like the idea of consistent technologies between their datacenter and the cloud. One example of this in the upcoming feature update is the cluster sets functionality for increased scale of hyper-converged deployments. Were also continuing to add security investments such as the ability to quickly encrypt network segments on their software-defined networking infrastructure per their security and compliance needs. You can expect new features to continue to optimize efficiency, performance and security for software-defined datacenters.</p>&#10;<h2>Accessing Windows Server in the Semi-annual Channel</h2>&#10;<p>There are two ways to get access to Windows Server in the Semi-annual Channel:</p>&#10;<ul>&#10;<li>Windows Server Standard or Datacenter customers who are covered by Software Assurance will automatically have access to Semi-annual Channel releases as they are made available. Servers without Software Assurance do not have rights to the Semi-annual Channel releases.</li>&#10;<li>Customers can also access these new Windows Server images in Azure or other cloud and hosting environments. Plus, if you have existing Windows Server licenses with Software Assurance, you should take advantage of the savings (up to 40%!) when you use the <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/hybrid-use-benefit/?v=17.22">Azure Hybrid Use Benefit</a>.</li>&#10;</ul>&#10;<p>With the release of Windows Server 2016, we started the process of making our monthly updates cumulative. This means when you update the server, you know all prior updates have been applied. So the more active cadence of software release and deployment has already begun and will continue for Semi-annual Channel releases as well. As part of this process we also want to enable flexibility for organizations adopting this model, so weve enabled them to skip one of the semi-annual releases and wait to upgrade until the next release.</p>&#10;<p>You can read more details on this new more frequent release cadence at a new article published on our website: <a href="https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=851042">Windows Server Semi-annual Channel Overview</a>.</p>&#10;<table width="637" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2">&#10;<tbody>&#10;<tr>&#10;<td width="217" valign="top"><strong></strong></td>&#10;<td width="209" valign="top">&#10;<p align="center" style="text-align: center"><strong>Semi-annual Channel</strong></p>&#10;<p align="center"><strong>(Windows Server)</strong></p>&#10;</td>&#10;<td width="209" valign="top">&#10;<p align="center"><strong>Long-term Servicing Channel </strong></p>&#10;<p align="center"><strong>(Windows Server 2016)</strong></p>&#10;</td>&#10;</tr>&#10;<tr>&#10;<td width="217" valign="top"><strong> Nano Server</strong></td>&#10;<td width="209" valign="top">&#10;<p align="center">Yes</p>&#10;</td>&#10;<td width="209" valign="top">&#10;<p align="center">No</p>&#10;</td>&#10;</tr>&#10;<tr>&#10;<td width="217" valign="top"><strong> Server Core</strong></td>&#10;<td width="209" valign="top">&#10;<p align="center">Yes</p>&#10;</td>&#10;<td width="209" valign="top">&#10;<p align="center">Yes</p>&#10;</td>&#10;</tr>&#10;<tr>&#10;<td width="217" valign="top"><strong> Server with Desktop Experience </strong></td>&#10;<td width="223" valign="top">&#10;<p align="center">No</p>&#10;</td>&#10;<td width="245" valign="top">&#10;<p align="center">Yes</p>&#10;</td>&#10;</tr>&#10;</tbody>&#10;</table>&#10;<p>&nbsp;</p>&#10;<p>For workloads that require longer term stability and predictability, Windows Server 2016 is a great option. This is the latest release from our long-term servicing channel (LTSC) and it is supported for 10 years, or up to 16 years if you purchase <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/premium-assurance">Premium Assurance</a>. In the Semi-annual Channel, feature updates are cumulative, so each release builds on the prior one and adds new capabilities, which ultimately culminates in the next LTSC release.</p>&#10;<h2>Windows Server previews coming soon to the Windows Insiders Program. Sign up today!</h2>&#10;<p>While Windows Server has always evolved to meet the changing needs of our customers, the next phase truly depends on you. This new model provides more opportunity than ever before for you to influence the direction of Windows Server. I am looking forward to your feedback and partnership as we deliver the next generation of OS technology to support the applications and infrastructure innovation you need!</p>&#10;<p>Becoming a part of <a href="https://insider.windows.com/ForBusiness">the Windows Insider program</a> will give you the opportunity to test pre-release code, provide feedback, and really influence how we develop our products. You can also join the discussion on the new <a href="https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-Server/ct-p/Windows-Server">Windows Server Tech Community</a>, where you can ask questions and share ideas with other customers and experts, including Microsoft engineers and MVPs.</p>&#10;<p>You can read more on this new more frequent release cadence as well as details on how to sign up for the Windows Insiders program at a new article published on our website: <a href="https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=851042">Windows Server Semi-annual Channel Overview</a>.</p>&#10;<p>We look forward to hearing from you!</p>&#10;]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/15/delivering-continuous-innovation-with-windows-server/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>34</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Frequent, continuous releases coming for System Center</title> <link>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/15/frequent-continuous-releases-coming-for-system-center/</link> <pubDate>Thu, 15 Jun 2017 16:00:05 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft Windows Server Team]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/?p=15916</guid> <description><![CDATA[This blog post has been authored by Bala Rajagopolan, Principal Group Program Manager, System Center. In todays digital world, customers expect companies to interact with them through applications, and managing and monitoring these applications and the infrastructure they run on is crucial. While more applications and workloads are moving to the cloud, managing on-premises resources <p><a class="read-more" href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/15/frequent-continuous-releases-coming-for-system-center/">Continue reading</a></p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>This blog post has been authored by Bala Rajagopolan, Principal Group Program Manager, System Center.</em></p>&#10;<p>In todays digital world, customers expect companies to interact with them through applications, and managing and monitoring these applications and the infrastructure they run on is crucial. While more applications and workloads are moving to the cloud, managing on-premises resources remains an important job for most organizations. To help you deliver agile IT operations at the pace of the cloud across all your workloads, we are excited to announce that System Center will soon offer more frequent feature release cycles. This will give you the opportunity to try new features and provide timely feedback to inform the roadmap items for the upcoming releases.</p>&#10;<h2>Faster release cadence</h2>&#10;<p>We will be delivering features and enhancements on a faster cadence in the next year, focusing on the highest priority needs of our customers across System Center components. You will see releases twice a year, aligned with the <a href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/15/delivering-continuous-innovation-with-windows-server/">Windows Server semi-annual channel</a> timelines. A technical preview is planned for release in the fall with the first production version available early next calendar year, and subsequent releases approximately every six months. These releases will be available to System Center customers with active Software Assurance. System Center Configuration Manager will continue to offer three releases a year to give you the latest updates for managing servers, PCs, and mobile devices.</p>&#10;<h2>Expanded support for Windows Server, Linux, and VMware</h2>&#10;<p>With the incredible adoption of Windows Server 2016, customers are asking for more ways to take advantage of the new features. In the first release, our focus will be on System Center Operations Manager, Virtual Machine Manager, and Data Protection Manager. The key areas of investment will include support for Windows Server and Linux, enhanced performance, usability and reliability, and extensibility with Azure-based security and management services.</p>&#10;<p>This release will make it easy for you to deploy and manage nested virtualization, and support software load balancing. In addition, you will be able to provision Storage Quality of Service (QoS) via self-service. To support heterogeneous environments, System Center is investing in improved monitoring for Linux using a FluentD agent, and reducing storage costs for VMware backups. For VMware, you will also have the ability to migrate a UEFI firmware based VMware VM to a Gen 2 Hyper-V virtual machine.</p>&#10;<p>In addition, you will see enhancements in performance and usability, including expanded HTML5 dashboards for Operations Manager and faster performance for the Virtual Machine Manager Host Refresher. To bring together on-premises data with cloud data, you will also see more integrations with Azure services. This includes integration with Azure Insight &amp; Analytics Service Map, to map application and server dependencies across platforms, and centralized reporting for Data Protection Manager with Azure Backup. We also recently announced the ability to <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/log-analytics/log-analytics-itsmc-overview">send incident data</a> to Service Manager from Azure. We will provide more information on these and other updates for the first release in the coming weeks.</p>&#10;<p>To help influence the upcoming releases, we encourage you to join the <a href="https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/System-Center/bd-p/SystemCenter">System Center Tech Community</a> and UserVoice forums to provide your feedback and suggestions.</p>&#10;]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Windows Server 2016: Run your applications on any platform</title> <link>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/08/windows-server-2016-run-your-applications-on-any-platform/</link> <comments>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/08/windows-server-2016-run-your-applications-on-any-platform/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 08 Jun 2017 16:00:29 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft Windows Server Team]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/?p=15846</guid> <description><![CDATA[The thing about your digital transformation is that its a process, not an event. You can already see some benefits, but the ultimate payoff may be years down the road. In the meantime, youve got a wide variety of workloads running in different clouds, on different hosts, and on bare metal. That can create challenges <p><a class="read-more" href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/08/windows-server-2016-run-your-applications-on-any-platform/">Continue reading</a></p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The thing about your digital transformation is that its a process, not an event. You can already see some benefits, but the ultimate payoff may be years down the road. In the meantime, youve got a wide variety of workloads running in different clouds, on different hosts, and on bare metal. That can create challenges when it comes to security, app development, VDI experiences, and disaster recovery.</p>&#10;<p>Windows Server 2016 was designed specifically with these challenges in mind. In a new white paper, <a target="_blank" href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/7/2/B72E4A92-4F98-4FE9-A770-D5E82F592ED8/Windows_Server_2016_Run_Workloads_For_Any_Platform_EN_US.pdf">Windows Server 2016: Run Workloads for Any Platform</a>, weve rounded up all of the guest-level benefits of running this OS in hybrid environments. Windows Server 2016 is designed to run both traditional and cloud-native workloads equally well on-premises or in the cloud, and can help resolve many of the issues that come with deploying workloads in hybrid and cloud environments:</p>&#10;<ul>&#10;<li><strong>Built-in security for virtual machines:</strong> Many security concerns are common across all platforms, they exist no matter where you run them. Windows Server 2016 has protections against malware, ransomware, and credential theft built-in at the OS level. You can improve security for any app significantly, just by migrating that app to Windows Server 2016.</li>&#10;<li><strong>Easier, more efficient app development:</strong> Whether youre writing apps for virtual machines or for the cloud, Windows Server 2016 helps developers deliver apps to market faster and with greater impact by supporting innovations like containers, Server Core, and Nano Server.</li>&#10;<li><strong>Improved VDI experiences:</strong> With Windows Server 2016 as your work space, you can provide personal-session desktops in the cloud, support modern graphics and 3D apps, and eliminate MultiPoint Server licensing costs.</li>&#10;<li><strong>More cost-effective disaster recovery:</strong> Storage Replica in Windows Server 2016 offers both synchronous and asynchronous replication of data between servers and clusters to keep all nodes in sync, regardless of whether they are located on-premises or in the cloud.</li>&#10;</ul>&#10;<p>The white paper also provides an overview of capabilities that become available when you run your workloads on Windows Server 2016 on Azure. <a target="_blank" href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/7/2/B72E4A92-4F98-4FE9-A770-D5E82F592ED8/Windows_Server_2016_Run_Workloads_For_Any_Platform_EN_US.pdf">Download it today</a> and learn more about the benefits of running Windows Server 2016, no matter where you run it.</p>&#10;]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/06/08/windows-server-2016-run-your-applications-on-any-platform/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> </item> </channel> </rss>