Big news coming out of Redmond (by way of San Francisco) as Microsoft announces a host of new technology to play with in the upcoming months. Here are a few of the highlights.
G-Series Virtual Machine Sizes
One of the big announcements was the new sizes of virtual machine sizes that are coming out. Microsoft is calling these devices the G-Series and is claiming enhanced performance for “your most demanding applications.” They are upping the stakes by providing a variety of choices in processor cores, ram, and Solid State storage.
The smallest of the group, called the G1, starts out with 2 cores, 28 gigs of ram and 406 Gigs of SSD storage. The list is topped with the G5 that has a whopping 32 cores, 448 gigs of ram and over six terabytes of storage.
They are a bit vague with the release dates on the hardware stating “later this year” for release. If you are looking for hardware that can handle intensive applications, keep an eye out for these beasts.
Cloud in a Box
While not quite a snappy song title, cloud in a box may finally come to be something other than a rumor. Next month Microsoft is going to deliver a fully integrated hardware/software cloud solution that you can install for your very own.
Microsoft is uniquely positioned to leverage the cloud experience and promises to deliver with the CPS or Cloud Platform System. Redmond is partnering with Dell to deliver the system, including Azure and Windows server as part of the package. This will allow you to implement the cloud on your network on your terms.
The intent here is not to just have an isolated cloud. CPS is going to provide single signon and is designed to work with developer’s needs. It will provide full support for a wide variety of devices, even Linux.
Cloudera
On the BI news front, Cloudera Enterprise was demonstrated on Azure connected to Microsoft Power BI. This partnering should allow quick and easy Cloudera Enterprise deployments. Cloudera will be officially certified to run in Azure Marketplace by the end of 2014.
Azure Marketplace
Along with the release of Azure, Azure marketplace is being released to allow startups and ISVs deliver solutions more easily and effectively. While no specific partners were mentioned (they should be announced later this month) the idea is to allow quick deployment of enterprise solutions through the marketplace.
Azure Premium Storage
Along with Azure and the marketplace is a new storage type based on SSD hardware with intensive I/O Workloads. The solution allows stripping across several persistent disks on a virtual machine. Premium storage will also allow you to provision persistent disks along with fully customizable size and performance characteristics.
Looks like big things coming from Microsoft. We will keep our eyes and ears open in the coming months to keep you updated with all the great developments heading out for us.
