Enterprise Server Strategies for the CIOIn this week’s server news roundup, we explore the latest on SQL Server 2012 and Microsoft’s just-announced Hadoop integration, discuss the increasingly intense hypervisor competition, and point out the latest patches and service packs that should be on your radar.
Microsoft moves forward with SQL Server 2012, joins forces with Hadoop
At the
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PASS Summit in Seattle on Wednesday,
Microsoft announced that SQL Server 2012 (previously code-named “Denali”) will be released in the
first half of next year. Redmond Mag writes about the key features,
including a data mashup tool called Power View and a data sharing tool Data Explorer.
Also announced: Hadoop-based distributions for Windows Server and Windows Azure (via GeekWire). The open-source, Apache-based data framework will be integrated tightly with SQL Server. Ars Technica writes that this move to tackle big data fits in with Microsoft’s overall strategy for the Windows Azure Marketplace, and ReadWriteWeb sheds light on the partnership with HortonWorks that makes this possible.
Meanwhile, Mr. Denny notes that the Hadoop-to-SQL-Server connector previewed in August was released
last week, calling it a “big game changer.”
More on Hadoop and Microsoft: Q&A with
database platform specialist Mark Kromer, SQL Server blog
Living in a multi-hypervisor world
VMware is no longer the only virtualization game in town – and that’s a good
thing, wrote Veeam’s Rick Vanover on the Direct2Dell blog on the eve of DellWorld 2011. Many
shops are adding alternative hypervisors atop their current solution; as Interop attendees told
SearchServerVirtualization last week, sticking to just one vendor can leave you in a vulnerable
position when it comes to cost.
This interest in alternative hypervisors extends to open source options
like Citrix XenServer and the Kernel-based Virtual Machine, as well as Hyper-V, which Microsoft
Server & Cloud GM Mike Neil discussed in detail this week on the
TechNet Blog.
More on virtualization trends: Hyper-V gaining
on VMware, Q&A with Mike
Neil
It’s patching time again
In case you missed it, Microsoft unleashed its latest Patch Tuesday
announcement, with eight security bulletins addressing 23 vulnerabilities.
The company has also recently released a few service packs, including one for the
soon-to-be-dead Forefront Threat
Management Gateway (TMG) edge-protection software.
More on Windows patch management: The new Cluster-Aware
Update Wizard
IIS on its way out?
The world of Web servers is hosting its own competition. Most Windows shops have traditionally used
Internet Information Services (IIS), while others have used Apache. But ZDNet notes the emergence
of open-source server
NGINX, even predicting it could overtake IIS by 2012. So much for that IIS smartphone
app…
More: IIS updates, Picking the right Web
server
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