Windows Storage Server 2012 seems to deliver more enterprise-grade features than previous editions, including highlighting network attached storage. The latest version of Windows Storage Server is suited for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as large companies.
Storage Server is a storage-focused operating system built on the technology of Windows Server 2012. It is designed for network attached storage as well as iSCSI storage systems sold by OEMs. Some highlights include data deduplication, a Resilient File System that enables scalability, improvements to the Server Message Block 3.0 protocol and failover between multiple nodes.
Tech giants like IBM (News - Alert), HP and Dell have all constructed network attached storage systems based on Windows Storage Server 2012, and more than 60 partners are selling network attached storage systems based on this OS.
According to analysts at Gartner, the solution is not going to be a magic bullet for Microsoft (News - Alert) to gain market share in this competitive area.
"It's an important release from Microsoft, but in the general purpose file server market, they're just going to have a tough time getting significant share," Werner Zurcher, a research director for storage-oriented technologies at Gartner (News - Alert), told TechTarget. "The reason they're at 2.1 percent market share is because this availability stuff has taken so long to get there. Microsoft had once upon a time a predominant position, and there are now a lot of competitors that have taken it upon themselves to get their own offerings."
Edited by Braden Becker