Microsoft releases Windows Server 8 Developer Preview

SOFTWARE DEVELOPER Microsoft has announced the availability of Windows Server 8 Developer Preview, according to our sister IT news web site V3.co.uk.

The Windows Server 8 Developer Preview is an early build of Microsoft's next generation server operating system that adds enhancements from its Azure cloud computing service.

Microsoft server and tools president Satya Nadella said at Microsoft's Build conference that Windows Server 8 will be "the most cloud-optimised server OS available", adding that the service has been given a major revamp around how it works in multi-tenanted environments and the way it provisions workloads.

Key new features include high-end storage and networking capabilities that would previously have required costly infrastructure such as dedicated storage arrays.

Microsoft also demonstrated how Windows Server 8 supports live storage migration, so that a virtual machine image can be moved from one drive to another without interrupting the virtual machine itself.

An update to Microsoft's Server Message Block protocol now enables multi-channel communication, meaning that it can use multiple network adapters simultaneously to deliver very high aggregate data throughput. µ