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Microsoft Updates Web Hosting Platform |
| Reinforcing its commitment to the Web hosting space, Microsoft (microsoft.com) announced on Tuesday that it had released version 3.5 of the Microsoft Solution for Windows-based Hosting. Microsofts hosting platform uses software from the Windows Server System and provides tools, scripts, code samples, case studies and services to help Web hosts deploy and operate hosted offerings on Windows. The solution is targeted at hosts offering shared or discount dedicated hosting services.
Takes the Windows Server System and it puts those products through testing scenarios,” says Mark Jewett, product manager for the hosting group at Microsoft. “We document the configuration and how to use those products, we add to it different management packs and scripts. What we are doing is saying ‘here is a Windows Server system and here’s how to use it in a hosted environment."
In its fourth update since being launched five years ago, the solution consists of eight integrated modules, including server and service provisioning, centralized management, monitoring and reporting, and update management, along with components for Web, data and Windows SharePoint Services hosting.
Microsoft says version 3.5 is designed to lower operational costs and increase revenue per user through improved management capabilities. The solution was developed with feedback from its hosting provider customers, whose main concern was reducing operational costs while still maximizing the number of customers housed on a single shared server, says Jewett.
"They asked us in this release … to make sure that we really focused on the economics around Windows Server 2003 as a shared Web hosting platform."
Lowering costs and generating more revenue is also achieved by adding new features to Web hosts’ offerings, Microsoft says, and was another area that hosts asked Microsoft to focus on.
"[Hosts asked us] to make sure that we were providing rich alternatives on the Windows platform so that they could add those to their offers," says Jewett.
In response to the requests, Microsoft worked with its developer community partners and added Web Site Starters for Windows, a set of third-party applications hosts can add to their Windows-based offerings.
The two applications introduced are DotNetNuke (dotnetnuke.com) and Telligent (telligentsystems.com) Community Server. DotNetNuke, produced by Perpetual Motion, is an open source portal Web site builder, with over 200 integrated modules. Tellignet Community Server provides blog, forum and photo album applications. Go Daddy (godaddy.com) has tested the applications and is offering them to its Windows hosting customers.
Jewett says Microsoft is doing everything it can to offer rich hosting offerings, ultimately helping hosts generate revenues. "We are enabling people to launch new services or make their existing services more compelling, so they get new customers." And the solution is equally well suited for hosts working in dedicated hosting environments, he says.
The other side of the update, says Jewett, is support for the latest Microsoft product releases. These include Microsoft Operations Manager 2005, Windows Server Update Services and an updated version of the Microsoft Provisioning System. Importantly, it also supports Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, which features a number of security and performance enhancements.
Each version of the solution is cumulative, says Shawn Nandi, product manger for the Web platforms and tools group at Microsoft. "Nothing is taken away in ongoing versions of the solution."
In addition to all the development tools, Microsoft is offering programs designed to help hosts succeed with their Windows hosting offerings while building a sense of community. The Windows Web Hoster Program provides hosts free access to technical resources such as Webcasts, live training seminars and an online information library. Currently the program has 6,000 members and is growing by about 100 per week.
Jewett calls it “a primary venue” for getting technical hosting information from Microsoft. The company is also focusing on developing participation in its Web hosting forums, where its hosting experts devote time each week to answer posted questions. Jewett says there have seen 2,000 posts since its launched last November with participation growing rapidly.
Version 3.5 builds on the momentum of version 3.0, which was released just last November. According to Jewett, there are now approximately 400-450 deployments of the solution.
Microsofts efforts to raise the bar in hosting could help it in its battle against Linux as many hosts have stuck with the open source platform because of its better performance and security reputation, and the greater number of applications that can be built onto its platform.
Microsoft will be touring the United States, Canada and Europe in May and June to promote the product through a series of one-day technical seminars focusing on showing service providers how to set up and implement the Windows hosting platform.
To access the hosting solution, customers are required to sign up for the Windows Web Hoster Program and enter into Microsoft’s Service Provider Licensing Agreement.
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