Server Platforms

This section covers Server platform products including the SQL Server database management system, the Exchange e-mail and collaboration software, the Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server firewall and caching product, e-commerce products such as BizTalk Server, and systems management products such as Systems Management Server. Not all Microsoft server products are described in this chapter. See the “Windows” chapter for products that support interoperability between Windows and other platforms, and for feature packs and other add-ons to Windows Server that lack separate server licenses. See the “Information Worker” chapter for server products such as SharePoint Portal Server and Project Server that are designed to support collaboration by business PC users (“information workers”) and released on a coordinated schedule with client applications.

The central event for Microsoft’s server platforms will be the release of SQL Server Yukon, the next generation of Microsoft’s database management and on-line analytic processing (OLAP) product. Yukon is planned for the end of 2004. The Yukon project is also developing data storage components that are required by many future releases of Microsoft products including Windows, Exchange, and Visual Studio.