Microsoft Announces Release of Server Appliance Kit 2.0 Add-On Pack
Strong Momentum Continues for Windows Powered Server Appliances By Industry-Leading OEMs
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) today announced the release of the Microsoft® Server Appliance Kit (SAK) 2.0 Add-On Pack, which delivers a comprehensive set of management capabilities for fixed-function server appliances such as Web servers and Network Attached Storage (NAS) appliances. Designed for IT administrators, the new capabilities are the Multiple Device Manager (MDM), which enables the management of many physical server appliance devices from a central console, and the Role-Based User Interface (RBUI), which supports delegated management of the Web UI. In addition, industry-leading original equipment manufacturers including Compaq Computer Corp., Dell Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Maxtor Corp., RLX Technologies Inc. and Transtec AG announced their plans to ship Windows® Powered server appliance products based on SAK 2.0 with the Add-On Pack.
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``Customers have told us that both ease of use and management capabilities are key requirements for reducing the deployment and support costs for appliances in the IT server infrastructure,'' said Keith White, senior director of the Windows Embedded Appliance and Platform Group at Microsoft. ``Multiple Device Manager and Role-Based User Interface are great examples of the continuous innovation we're making to ensure that Windows Powered server appliances continue to lead the industry and drive down the cost of ownership for customers.''
Windows Powered Server Appliances Continue Strong Momentum
Industry-leading OEMs including Compaq, Dell, IBM, Maxtor, NEC, RLX Technologies Inc. and Transtec are already building highly reliable Windows Powered server appliances that offer unparalleled administration, manageability and price performance. Adding to the list of OEMs, HP announced earlier this month its decision to start building its next-generation standards-based server appliance products on Windows 2000 with the SAK. In particular, NAS and Web server appliances are two of the fastest growing, with International Data Corp. (IDC) forecasting that in 2005 worldwide NAS sales will amount to $5.6 billion, with a 31.2 percent compound annual growth rate. IDC sees Windows Powered server appliances gaining strong momentum in the server appliance industry.
``Windows Powered server appliance solutions for NAS are experiencing a strong adoption rate among customers. Over the past few quarters, we've seen a strong upward trend in the number of shipments by OEMs offering Windows Powered NAS products,'' said Mark Melenovsky, research manager for the Internet Infrastructure Hardware Program at IDC. ``Important to IT administrators are strong management and ease-of-use capabilities, and we think the innovation coming from Microsoft demonstrates that it is committed to helping lower the total cost of ownership for customers.''
Companies such as Continental Airlines Inc. are deploying NAS devices based on the Windows 2000 operating system because of their industry-leading price performance, ease of use and reduced IT management cost advantages.
``With Windows Powered NAS appliances, we were able to add storage that integrates seamlessly into Continental's corporate IT environment and Active Directory(TM) infrastructure, significantly reducing our deployment costs,'' said Bob Edwards, staff vice president of Systems Technology at Continental Airlines. ``A key benefit of having Windows Powered NAS devices is that, from an administrator's view, you don't have to learn new management tools, you manage the NAS servers just as you would any other Windows 2000 Server-based system, and overall administration costs are reduced for the IT infrastructure.''
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