Introduction

Wes Miller analyzes and writes about Microsoft’s security, identity management, and systems management technologies. Before joining Directions on Microsoft, Wes... more

Windows Server 2016 delivers new capabilities for managing and securing software-defined data centers, as well as enhancements to some roles of Remote Desktop Services. Upgrading from Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 should require minimal effort, and customers running earlier versions of the OS will likely target it when their versions are no longer supported. However, some features of the new OS version will require new hardware and updated server applications. Significant licensing changes will affect future upgrades. The new version will arrive in Oct. 2016.

Software-Defined Data Center

Compared to past versions, Windows Server 2016 offers a better software-defined data-center platform, where server hardware and software can provide a scalable infrastructure for virtualization, Web applications, and other workloads.

Software-defined data centers use hypervisors, network virtualization, and storage virtualization to create an abstraction layer capable of running virtual machines and other services in a scalable and highly available manner.

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