Window Server for Embedded Systems now available to take on the most critical challenges

On Friday Windows Server 2012 R2 for Embedded Systems became generally available.

“We think this is going to become the product for purpose-built, next-generation, enterprise class server appliances,” said Partha Srinivasan, product manager, Windows Embedded Server and SQL Products in a post on the Windows Embedded Blog. “With this edition, enterprises and OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] now have a lot more capabilities and a host of improvements they can leverage to enhance performance, save space and ensure nearly constant uptime.”

For one thing, he noted, the Windows Embedded team has substantially improved the product’s virtualization capabilities. This is good news for OEMs in particular, which have been utilizing virtualization to consolidate the physical architecture of their solutions and improve the return on investment of their products.

“R2 also features a host of upgrades designed to improve performance in a day-to-day, real-world way,” Srinivasan said. “The time it takes to complete a live migration has been cut in half. We’ve increased data transfer rates to 10 gigabits per second, greatly enhancing speed. We’ve also added support for USB access in guest VMs, making it easier to perform software deployment and file management. These improvements will enable OEMs to offer better products to support real world scenarios where optimized load balancing and live migration are critical.”

The combination of those two areas means that not only can you run a smaller number of server appliances, but you can do so at a higher capacity. This should result in some very interesting scenarios for operating high-performance solutions in reduced-space environments. Lufthansa Systems has already developed a small-footprint server appliance for use in airplanes, to facilitate in-flight entertainment.

Head on over to Srinivasan’s post for more on the R2 release, including its improved Storage Tiers feature, security and SMD Failover Cluster feature, which has been optimized to where total recovery time is less than 20 seconds between the system going down to being completely back online. You’ll find out how critical that is for OEM partners like Motorola Solutions, whose PremierOne computer-aided dispatch system — based on Windows Server 2008 R2 for Embedded Systems — is transforming the way 911 operators communicate with officers and first responders in the field.

To read more about Windows Server 2012 R2 for Embedded Systems, visit the product page and Srinivasan's previous blogs.

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Steve Clarke
Microsoft News Center Staff