Special Features:
MICROSOFT AND HP DEVELOP DYNAMIC
DATA CENTER PROTOTYPE
In his keynote address at the 12th annual Windows Hardware Engineering
Conference (WinHEC), Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect at
Microsoft Corp. , will showcase a concept of a Dynamic Data Center (DDC)
jointly developed with HP. This DDC features a combination of HP servers,
software, storage and networking hardware connected based on a prescribed
network architecture. Microsoft software dynamically assigns, provisions and
centrally manages the DDC resources. The software driving the DDC will enable
customers to automatically deploy a distributed application; provision the
associated server, storage and networking resources required for that
application; and dynamically allocate resources to grow and shrink based on
business and workload demands. The concept is a significant milestone in
Microsoft's Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI) and represents the companies'
long-term collaboration to enable customers to harness the power of industry-
standard hardware, maximize the value of their information technology systems,
and achieve new levels of simplicity and automation.
"The software architecture underlying the Dynamic Data Center is a critical
innovation that can greatly simplify IT operations while helping customers use
high-volume, low-cost, industry-standard hardware more effectively," said Jim
Allchin, group vice president of the Platforms Division at Microsoft. "Larger
workloads can get additional resources on the fly, and smaller ones only
consume the resources they need. We are committed to leading the charge on the
Dynamic Systems Initiative, and we're very happy to have industry-leading
vendors like HP alongside us to help deliver integrated hardware and software
solutions supporting this effort."
Shane Robison, executive vice president and chief strategy and technology
officer at HP, echoed the sentiment: "This is an exciting day for us -- and
for the industry overall -- as the Dynamic Data Center is a key step forward
for the Dynamic Systems Initiative. We are very pleased with the joint efforts
that have taken place with Microsoft, and we look forward to continuing this
collaboration well into the future."
Collaboration to Create the First Dynamic Data Center
This concept Dynamic Data Center from Microsoft and HP is the result of
more
than a year of collaborative efforts between the two companies in support of
the DSI and the underlying System Definition Model (SDM). The SDM, a
fundamental building block of the DSI architecture, is a live, Extensible
Markup Language (XML) blueprint that provides a common software contract
between development, deployment and operations.
Collaborating around the SDM, both Microsoft and HP contributed innovations
throughout the DDC development process. The Windows Server Group at
Microsoft first developed a prototype of a future version of Automated
Deployment Services (ADS) -- a powerful server provisioning and administration
tool for Windows Server 2003 -- extending its support for the SDM. This future
version of ADS will enable centralized provisioning and management of a
prescribed set of industry-standard servers, storage and networking
hardware.
HP contributed innovations in hardware, including prototypical development
of
an Authenticated Identity for its ProLiant servers to better enhance server
boot security. HP also developed prototype SDM-enabled software providers,
which allow Microsoft's software to provision and manage HP ProLiant Servers,
HP ProCurve switches and HP StorageWorks disk arrays. Microsoft also
collaborates with HP due in part to HP's expertise in datacenter
innovation.
Broader Collaboration in Support of the Dynamic Systems Initiative
Joint development around the Dynamic Data Center is just one facet of a
much
broader collaboration effort between Microsoft and HP in support of the
Dynamic Systems Initiative. HP's combination of management software, services,
storage and server assets will enable it to provide a complete set of DSI-
compliant solutions including these:
- Integrated software and hardware DDC solutions through HP's Factory
Integration Services and Global Services
- Powerful new management solutions for the Dynamic Data Center that
leverage the SDM
- Integration of ADS for the provisioning of Windows Servers within HP's
Utility Data Center offering now, and of Dynamic Data Center systems in the
future
About the Dynamic Systems Initiative
The Dynamic Systems Initiative is a broad Microsoft and industry effort
that
unifies hardware, software and service vendors around a new software
architecture that will enable customers to harness the power of industry-
standard hardware and will dramatically simplify and automate how customers
build, deploy and operate highly scalable applications. Core to this new
architecture is the System Definition Model, a live XML blueprint that
provides a common software contract between development, deployment and
operations. The SDM will be supported by application development tools,
operating systems, server applications, management solutions and industry-
standard hardware, resulting in a new generation of dynamic systems.
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