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Windows Server 2016 delivers a more flexible and cost-efficient OS for your datacenter, using
software-defined compute, storage, and network virtualization features inspired by Azure.


Software-defined compute
The following list presents just some of the amazing new features that fall under the software-defined
compute stack for Windows Server 2016:

 Minimize attack surface, increase availability, and reduce resource usage with just-enough OS
using the Nano Server deployment option, which is 25 times smaller than Windows Server while
still providing a desktop experience.

 Make the move to the cloud easier by running your workloads in Microsoft Hyper-V, the same
hypervisor that runs Azure and Azure Stack.

 Deploy applications on multiple operating systems with best-in-class support for Linux on
Hyper-V.

 Upgrade infrastructure clusters to Windows Server 2016 with zero downtime for your
application/workload, and without requiring new hardware, using mixed-mode cluster upgrades.
Support.

 Increase application availability with improved cluster resiliency to transient failures in the network
and storage.

 Add incremental resiliency to your clusters by using Cloud Witness to connect to resources in
Azure.

 Automate server management with native tools such as Desired State Configuration and Windows
PowerShell 5.0.

 Manage Windows servers from anywhere by using the new web-based GUI—Server management
tool—a service running in Azure. Especially useful for managing headless deployment options
such as Nano Server and Server Core.


Software-defined storage
The following list introduces some of the enterprise grade storage features coming in Windows
Server 2016:

 Build highly available and scalable software-defined storage at a fraction of the cost of a Storage-
Area Network (SAN) or Network-Attached Storage (NAS). Storage Spaces Direct uses standard
servers with local storage to create converged or hyper-converged storage architectures.

 Create affordable business continuity and disaster recovery among datacenters with Storage
Replica synchronous storage replication.

 Ensure that users of business-critical applications have priority access to storage resources using
Storage Quality of Service (QoS) features.


Software-defined networking
The following lists some of the new features around software-defined networking coming in Windows
Server 2016:

 Deploy complex workloads with hundreds of networking policies (isolation, QoS, security, load
balancing, switching, routing, gateway, DNS, etc.) using a scalable network controller in a matter
of seconds, similar to how we do it in Azure.

 Dynamically segment your network based on workload needs using an Azure-inspired distributed
firewall and network security groups to apply rich policies within and across segments. Route or
mirror traffic to third-party virtual appliances for even higher levels of security.

 Offer greater service availability with software-based scale-out and scale-up resiliency for both the
infrastructure (host, software load balancer, gateway, network controller) and the workloads.

 Take control of your hybrid workloads, including running them in containers, and move them
across servers, racks, and clouds utilizing the power of VXLAN and NVGRE based virtual
networking and multitenanted hybrid gateways.

 Optimize your cost/performance when you converge Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) and
tenant traffic on the same teamed Network Interface Cards (NICs), thereby driving down cost
while providing needed performance guarantees at 40G and beyond.

Soure of Information : Microsoft Inroduction Windows Server 2016