Partners Announce Support for Windows Server 2012

Microsoft partners Dell, NetApp, Supermicro, Brocade and CA came out in support the Windows Server 2012 announcement from Microsoft.

Dell: Dell announced its innovations in the PowerEdge 12th generation servers that enable customers to take immediate advantage of key advancements in Microsoft's Windows Server 2012. Dell solutions that empower Windows Server 2012 include embedded PowerEdge server management, Dell lifecycle controller integration, an end-to-end Desktop Virtualization Solutions offering a combination of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), and the Dell converged blad data center. “For decades, Dell has worked with Microsoft to deliver real solutions to customer challenges. This strong partnership has resulted in innovations that accelerate systems deployment and provisioning, and now with agent-free monitoring through the OpenManage Integration Suite for Systems Center 2012,” said Forrest Norrod, vice president and general manager, Dell Server Solutions. “With the latest, award-winning Dell PowerEdge 12th generation servers, customers can take immediate advantage of the ground-breaking advancements of Microsoft Windows Server 2012 – like high density PowerEdge servers that enable the new increased scalability of clusters and Windows Server Hyper-V.”

NetApp: NetApp (NTAP) announced support for Windows Server 2012 with storage solutions for server and desktop virtualization, storage and availability, Web and application platform development, and private cloud deployment. NetApp FAS and V-Series storage systems have been thoroughly tested, and are fully supported with Windows Server 2012. NetApp Snapshot. based backup and recovery with SnapManager for Hyper-V 1.2 and SnapDrive for Windows 6.5 have achieved Windows Server 2012 logo certification. "Windows Server 2012 is the category benchmark for organizations looking to migrate rapidly to cloud-ready infrastructures for application and service delivery," said Phil Brotherton, vice president, Enterprise Software Ecosystem, NetApp. "To help organizations realize the full value of their Microsoft technology investments, we continue to align our solution delivery roadmaps to address the critical challenges our mutual customers are facing, from increasing storage efficiency to maintaining high availability of servers, applications, and services."

Supermicro: Supermicro announced it will support Microsoft’s Windows Server 2012 on its server and storage platforms. The collaborative effort between the two companies addresses the growing demand for high-performance, cost effective public and private cloud computing solutions sought by enterprise IT, business and service providers. Supermicro SuperServer and SuperStorage solutions offer high-density computing and cost effective, high capacity, high availability (HA) storage in a wide variety of modular, scalable form factors. “The strategic relationship with Microsoft enhances Supermicro’s Server Building Block Solutions and provides our customers with new, robust platforms to architect scalable and easily managed cloud based solutions,” said Wally Liaw, Vice President of Sales, International, at Supermicro. “With Supermicro’s Windows 2012 certified servers and storage solutions, our customers can place priority on expanding their business and services with new application development and minimize the tasks of building and validating infrastructure.”

Brocade: Storage networking provider Brocade (BRCD) said it will offer support of Windows Server 2012 across all product lines.  Brocade has implemented enhancements across its SAN and Ethernet fabric switching and adapter products that help enable new features such as Virtual Fibre Channel, Dynamic Circuit Network, and Network Virtualization using generic routing encapsulation. "To support next-generation cloud environments, many new networking technologies require support in the operating system to help organizations realize the full benefit of highly virtualized IT architectures," said Jason Nolet, vice president, Data Center Networking Group, at Brocade. "By working closely with the Microsoft engineering team in the early stages of the new OS's development, we have ensured that Brocade Ethernet and Fibre Channel fabric solutions work seamlessly with Windows Server 2012 as well as deliver innovative new networking functionality for highly virtualized, cloud-based data centers."

CA:. CA Technologies (CA) today announced support for Windows Server 2012 Dynamic Access Control. Integrating CA DataMinder Classification with Windows Server 2012 gives customers more precise access control of their data stored on Windows Server, helping to improve information security, reduce risk and meet compliance mandates. “Windows Server 2012 Dynamic Access Control lets customers define central access policies at the organizational level and lets customers control access to data and achieve regulatory compliance,” said Andrew Conway, Director, Product Marketing, Enterprise Client, at Microsoft. “CA DataMinder Classification addresses the dynamic nature of data. By combining the content classification from CA DataMinder with the access policies set in Windows Server 2012, customers can better protect critical information from inappropriate use or disclosure.”