TOKYO, May 7, 2001 — Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corp., today kicked off the Microsoft® Windows® Embedded Developers Conference 2001 Tokyo with a keynote address highlighting the release to manufacturing of the Microsoft Server Appliance Kit (SAK) 2.0 for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) building server appliances. The Server Appliance Kit 2.0 enables OEMs to quickly bring to market industry-leading appliances based on the Windows 2000 operating system by delivering turnkey solutions for Web server and network attached storage (NAS) appliances. In addition, the Server Appliance Kit 2.0 delivers a simple and intuitive task-based user interface (UI), allowing customers to rapidly deploy and easily administer their Windows Powered server appliances. Also today, RLX Technologies Inc. announced the RLX System 324, the first Web ServerBlade solution based on Server Appliance Kit 2.0, continuing the strong momentum Microsoft has seen over the last six months for Windows Powered server appliances.
“The Server Appliance Kit 2.0 gives OEMs the tools and technologies they need to quickly and easily build cutting-edge server appliances based on the Windows 2000 platform,”
said Bill Veghte, vice president of the Embedded and Appliance Platforms Group at Microsoft.
“With the SAK 2.0, OEMs have a solution that is more beneficial for them and their customers than any other solution on the market today.”
Over the past year, Microsoft has seen rapid adoption of the Server Appliance Kit as an increasing number of major OEMs have built Windows Powered server appliances. RLX Technologies, with its innovative high-density, low-power server technology, is the first to deliver a Windows Powered Web ServerBlade solution based on Server Appliance Kit 2.0. Other examples of Windows Powered server appliances include Compaq Computer Corp.’s TaskSmart N2400 NAS, Compaq’s TaskSmart N-Series Cluster for NAS, Dell Computer Corp.’s PowerVault 735N NAS, Dell’s PowerApp.web 120, IBM Corp.’s eServer x130 Web Server Appliance, Maxtor Corp.’s MaxAttach 4100 NAS, and NEC USA Inc.’s Express 5800/Storage Server series.
“As the first to market with a high-density, low-power Web ServerBlade solution, it is critical that RLX provide a complete Web server solution for our customers,”
said Gary Stimac, CEO of RLX Technologies.
“We selected Windows 2000 with the Server Appliance Kit 2.0 to power the RLX System 324 Web server because it offers the performance, reliability, and ease of deployment and administration that customers demand.”
About the Microsoft Server Appliance Kit 2.0
The Server Appliance Kit 2.0 includes a hardware reference specification, a device driver kit (DDK), software components for NAS and Web appliance configurations, a software development kit (SDK), and build documentation. Because SAK 2.0 is based on Windows 2000, OEMs can utilize the proven interoperability, reliability and scalability of the Windows 2000 operating system. In addition, the Server Appliance Kit 2.0 offers a wide variety of new and enhanced features:
-
Turnkey solutions. The Server Appliance Kit 2.0 offers OEMs a turnkey Web server and NAS solution that automates the process of optimizing the operating system for these scenarios, shortening and simplifying the development process and decreasing time to market.
-
Ease of use. Server Appliance Kit 2.0 includes a new task-based, Web-based UI that simplifies the deployment and administration of Windows Powered server appliances. The Web-based UI also features remote administration functionality that allows IT staff to administer the appliance from any workstation.
-
Enhanced reliability. The Server Appliance Kit 2.0 builds on the reliability of Windows 2000 by including a
“watchdog”
timer and reliability framework to ensure the continuous availability of Windows Powered server appliances. Furthermore, e-mail alerts and notices can be included to notify administrators of any problems.
In the future, the Server Appliance Kit will be included as part of the embedded server operating system and toolset, which is currently in development and code-named
“Whistler Embedded Server.”
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software –
any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages.
