Microsoft has announced the availability of its third technical preview of Windows Server 2016. This server includes built-in support for a new feature – “Windows Server Containers” that are used to create a highly responsive Windows Server environment, supporting to accelerate the DevOps process to efficiently build and deploy modern applications.
Windows Server Containers in Windows Server 2016
The announcement is a followup to the promise that Microsoft made at DockerCon this year. Mark Russinovich, CTO of Microsoft Azure, had then demonstrated the first ever application built using code running in both a Windows Server Container and a Linux container connected together. So now with the release of first preview of Windows Server Containers millions of Windows developers will be able to experience the benefits of containers for the first time using the languages of their choice – whether .NET, ASP.NET, PowerShell or Python, Ruby on Rails, Java and many others.
Microsoft has partnered with Docker, the fast-growing open platform for distributed applications, to offer container and DevOps benefits to Linux and Windows Server users alike. Windows Server Containers are now part of the Docker open source project, and they can be deployed and managed either using the Docker client or PowerShell.
Microsoft has also updated the preview of Visual Studio Tools for Docker to include support for today’s preview of Windows Server Containers. Hence, users will be able to create a Windows Server Container host in Azure, publish ASP.NET web or console apps into containers and deploy their apps to a container host.
Microsoft is also working on a future preview of Windows Server 2016 that will include Hyper-V Containers, a second container deployment option that will provide higher isolation using an optimized virtualization and Windows Server operating system that separates containers from each other and from the host operating system. This higher level of isolation expands the possibilities for deploying containers in lower trust or mixed operational environments where developers may not have control of the platform
Other notable features included in this Windows Server preview are,
- Enhanced Nano Server functionality to view and fix your networking configuration directly from the Nano Server console
- A scalable network controller, for centralized network configuration as well as a software load balancer for high availability and performance.
- Shielded VMs, which enable isolation between the underlying host and virtual machines, help protect resources in shared environment
- System Center feature enhancements make it easier for you to manage virtualized environments
Visit TechNet to download the Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3.
