Hi, my name is Bala Kasiviswanathan, director of Storage Solutions Marketing here at Microsoft, and I’m pleased to announce the release of Windows Storage Server 2008 to our OEM partners. Windows Storage Server 2008 (WSS08) is built upon Windows Server 2008 the industry-leading file services platform with the benefits of flexibility, reliability and cost effectiveness. Windows Storage Server 2008 then adds to that platform advanced storage technologies such as file de-duplication and an iSCSI software target for unified file- and block-based storage and packages it for delivery as a storage appliance. Microsoft customers benefit from enterprise-class storage capabilities without sacrificing the flexibility and reliability that Windows Server provides the rest of their environment. This release is a continuation of Microsoft’s commitment to deliver innovative file and storage solutions to our customers through our partners.
Many features and enhancements are incorporated into the Windows Server main OS, such as Storage Explorer, File Server Resource Manager (FSRM), Simple Manager for SAN’s (SMfS), etc. Others, we have chosen to date to leave inside WSS08 where it makes the most sense as an ‘appliance’ such as deduplication and block-storage.
On May 7th, you can learn more with the TechNet Webcast on “Introducing Windows Storage Server 2008” : http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032410705
You might also want to check out the WSS team blog (http://blog.technet.com/StorageServer) or our newly created website for Windows Storage Server (www.microsoft.com/StorageServer) where you can learn more and even link to our partners’ sites.
Our OEM partners http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/wss08/partners.aspx will be announcing their Windows Storage Server appliances over the next several weeks – but until then, check out the file services in WS08 (http://www.microsoft.com/storageserver) that WSS08 is built on and get ready for the best storage appliance that we’ve ever built.
-Bala