Microsoft has released the third technical preview of its upcoming
Windows Server 2016 operating system and System Center 2016 service
management suite, bringing a variety of improvements, functionality and
several new key features. These enhancements include new Nano Server
functionality, software defined network (SDN) management and the first
public preview of Windows Server Containers.
Nano Server Enhancements
The latest version of Windows Server 2016 (TP3) offers several
improvements to Nano Server, a minimal-footprint deployment option that
can be installed to a physical host or virtual machine. A new Emergency
Management console allows users to observe and correct networking
configurations from the existing Nano Server console. Additionally,
ASP.Net v5 applications can now run using CoreCLR, and Azure VMs can run
Nano Server thanks to a new PowerShell script. Nano Server's
capabilities have generally improved while maintaining a minimal
footprint on system resources.
To The Cloud!
Server 2016 TP3 continues to build upon the operating system's focus
on cloud computing by including a scalable network controller for policy
management and deployment, an L4 load balancer, and enhanced network
gateways for hybrid connectivity. These improvements also give us a
first look at the core set of networking capabilities and SDN
architecture used in Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform.
Containers In Server 2016
The most significant addition to Windows Server 2016 TP3 is the first
public build of Windows Server Containers, enabling operating system
level virtualization for running multiple isolated applications in a
single host container.
"This is the first step in bringing containers to the Windows Server
ecosystem, and we're excited about the possibilities," stated Microsoft's official Server & Cloud blog.
"We're committed to making containers a part of the modern application
platform available to our customers in the 2016 wave of datacenter
solutions."
This is great news for developers who were promised DevOps benefits
for Windows Server environments by Microsoft and Docker, which also
released its own technical preview of the Docker Engine daemon for
Windows Server.
System Center 2016 And Other Management
The third technical preview of System Center 2016 also comes packed
with feature enhancements that make it easier to manage Windows Server
2016. Support for rolling upgrades for cluster nodes and support for
Nano Server as both a host and file server have been added to the
Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM), and you can also manage Shielded VMs
and guarded hosts with ease. Improvements to the storage capabilities
include better end-to-end quality of service and faster data retrieval
using storage tiers. Furthermore, Microsoft has released the Remote
Server Administration Tool (RSAT) for Windows 10 client systems,
enabling remote management of Windows Server 2016 TP3.
The latest technical preview of Windows Server 2016 and System Center
2016 seem to make good on Microsoft's promise to bring containers to
the Windows environment, and further improves upon its focus on cloud
computing and virtualization management with several key feature
improvements and deployments. It should not be too long before we hear
the rumblings of an eminent retail release of the highly anticipated
server operating system and its management counterparts. This newest
preview just makes us hope it comes sooner than later.
