Microsoft South Africa today introduced a broad set of innovations in its technology, programmes and services for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 - all aimed at helping ensure that customers from the smallest to the largest experience the highest possible levels of computing reliability.
Among the new services and technologies are the Datacenter High Availability Programme, hundreds of engineering innovations in Windows Server 2003, and the Microsoft Reliability Service.
"Our goal is to cut customers` downtime by 50%," said Desmond Nair, IT Infrastructure product manager at Microsoft South Africa. "It has been reported that Windows 2000 Server customers have experienced three-nines levels of availability out of the box, and our goal is to build on that success and challenge ourselves to deliver an even more reliable, highly productive system in Windows Server 2003."
"Server reliability is a critical issue for companies," said Donna Scott, vice-president and research director at Gartner Inc. "Downtime, whether it is planned or unplanned, equals lost time and money. Companies need new means and methods to monitor infrastructure reliability in order to make informed decisions that translate into business value."
Datacenter High Availability Programme
The Datacenter High Availability Programme announced today builds on best practices of the inaugural Datacenter Programme, launched in September 2000. Developed alongside Microsoft`s OEM industry partners, the new programme targets five-nines levels of availability for Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition customers, and includes three key enhancements:
* Certified, pre-tested OEM configurations provide greater flexibility, reliability and faster time to market for customers.
* Support-centre options now include support from any Gold Certified Datacenter Service Provider - OEMs, resellers and system integrators - in addition to Microsoft directly.
* Microsoft`s High Availability Resolution Queue will provide Datacenter-dedicated proactive and reactive support services 24x7, worldwide.
"Reliability is a critical issue for us, and without it we won`t even consider a product," said John Bader, vice-president of enterprise technology at Allstate Insurance Co. "Through the Windows Datacenter High Availability Programme and the engineering innovations and enhancements within Windows Server 2003, it is clear that Microsoft is addressing customers` high-availability needs."
Windows Server 2003 Reliability Innovations
Early reports from Microsoft`s Operations and Technology Group show more than 40% reduction in unplanned system downtime as a result of innovations in Windows Server 2003. The company has been running pre-release versions of the server platform company-wide for nearly a year on more than 1 000 production servers.
Microsoft has enhanced how Windows Server 2003 handles device drivers - one of the leading causes of unplanned downtime. Windows Driver Protection blocks drivers with known problems from installing and directs customers to an updated version, while Driver Rollback enables Windows Server 2003 to get back to a working state more quickly when faulty drivers do affect performance.
Other technology innovations in Windows Server 2003 include:
* Application process isolation segregates applications from one another, so that one application crash does not interrupt the Web service uptime of other applications.
* Application recycling for Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 alleviates application and systems failure due to memory leaks in poorly written application code.
* Memory mirroring enables fast failover of fault-tolerant servers.
* New clustering capabilities make it easy to set up and reconfigure Windows Server 2003 clusters remotely, without rebooting.
"With over 200 enterprise VPN networks being managed by our datacenter platform and customers demanding 24x7 availability, reliability is an extremely critical issue for us," said Greg Moore, CEO and president of SmartPipes Inc. "The engineering innovations and enhancements that Microsoft has built into Windows Server 2003 make it clear the company is taking the reliability of customers` systems quite seriously."
Microsoft Reliability Service
Microsoft also announced today plans for the Microsoft Reliability Service (MRS). The Reliability Service will monitor event data from customer datacenter servers, analyse the data, and produce customer-tailored reliability and availability reports. MRS will enable customers to monitor the availability of software and hardware components within their systems, identify root causes of both planned and unplanned downtime, and take preventive measures to improve system availability.
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Windows Server 2003 is a comprehensive, integrated and secure infrastructure designed to help customers reduce costs and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of IT operations. Building on Windows 2000 family strengths, the new server platform helps customers extend existing resources while laying the foundation for building a new generation of connected applications that improve business productivity. More information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/.
Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.
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