Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) upcoming Windows Server 8 operating system is a cloud-enabled platform that will include support for advanced capabilities and high-availability features for building advanced, large-scale virtualization systems. Apparently this includes a stunning array of enhancements to Hyper-V, which will support Live Migration of non-clustered hosts with nothing more than cheap direct-attached storage and a crossover cable.

In addition, virtual machines will support up to four Fibre Channel HBAs, unlimited simultaneous migration of VMs and support for up to 32 virtual processors and 512GB of memory per VM.

Another much-welcomed enhancement will be network interface cards (NIC) teaming across multiple cards to boost network access speeds. According to Computerworld, a throughput of more than 2 gigabits per second was achieved using four gigabit NICs. In addition, PowerShell 3.0 will be vastly expanded to more than 2,300 cmdlets from the current 300, for easier and more secure remote management.

Under the hood, memory deduplication allows identical pages of memory to be shared for greater efficiency, while storage deduplication achieves the same for data stored on disk. In all, there are more than 300 new features in Windows Server 8.

At this week's BUILD 2011 conference, Satya Nadella, Microsoft's president for server and tools said that Windows Server 8 will be "one of our broadest, deepest releases." 

Writing on Windows IT Pro, reviewer Sean Deuby agreed when he spelled out his two-day preview of Windows Server 8 this way: "It's safe to say it exceeded the expectations of all the reviewers, and I think you'll reach the same conclusion." Microsoft has not offered a final release date for Windows Server 8, which will replace Windows Server 2008.

For more:
- check out this article at Computerworld
- check out this article at Windows IT Pro
- check out this article at ZDNet
- check out this article at Ars Technica

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