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Microsoft (News - Alert) has released Windows Server 2012 Essentials to manufacturing, in preparation for its release to the public at the start of November. The SMB-oriented product is the replacement of the Windows Small Business Server that Microsoft has termed as a big aid to nudging small businesses into embracing cloud computing.

The solution is designed to help protect data while allowing for encrypted access of data from anywhere, while on the go from almost any device through a flexible wide range of applications and services, deployable either from the cloud or from on-premises infrastructure.

Excitement on the release of this new product has been skyrocketing with more than 23,000 downloads pegged in the mere eight-week public preview window.

Windows Server 2012 Essentials lets users choose between running apps regardless of their hosting place (on-premises or in the cloud) and features integration with the expected online productivity software suite, Office 365. With its new Storage Spaces feature, customers can pool resources from underused hard drives to create extra storage for system backups and restore points.



The Server also has the power to keep records of its own performance, as well as the status of any nodes it is managing that are running windows 7, Windows 8 and Mac Os x versions 10.5+.

“It is designed to help you protect business data, [securely access] the information you need from virtually anywhere … and to offer the flexibility to choose which applications and services you want to run on-premises and in the cloud,” said Sinead O’Donovan, director of program management on the Windows Server Essentials team.

In a blog post, O’Donovan said the product will get to Microsoft’s hardware and ecosystem partners and that it will be available in all channels on November 1, with OEM partners targeting to start shipping the server systems by the end of the year.

Microsoft is definitely going to stand squarely in the limelight with several of its products scheduled for release in the near future. The list features Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, Windows Phone (News - Alert) 8, Xbox Music and Office 365.

Let’s see what the software giant has in store in the coming weeks.