14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, I was telling you that the second Beta of Windows Server AppFabric was available for download. After the bits went live on the Microsoft Download Center, the Redmond company provided additional details related to the most recent development milestone, as well as the technology’s future. According to the software giant, Windows Server AppFabric is right on track for general availability in the second half of 2010, and has already enjoyed a consistent amount of success.
“We prepare to release the final version of Windows Server AppFabric to be delivered by Q3 of 2010,” a member of the Windows Server team stated. “To date, more than 8,000 developers have downloaded the Beta 1 version of Windows Server AppFabric. Customers, including, Associated Press, Bentley, and Jettainer are already seeing strong benefits that include significantly increased performance, simplified development and management, and improved availability and reliability for their most demanding applications.”
With Beta 2 available for download since the start of the week, Microsoft is recommending that both developers and IT professionals looking to push their applications into the Cloud grab the release and start testing. Of course, in order to leverage Windows Server AppFabric, customers would need to have already embraced Windows Server and .NET Framework 4. AppFabric is defined by the software giant as a collection of services designed to extend applications into the Cloud in terms of performance, scalability, and management.
It is critical to note that the services delivered for on-premises applications via Windows Server AppFabric can be leveraged in concert with the Windows Azure platform AppFabric’s connectivity services. Developers that are taking their apps into the Cloud can turn to what were once .NET Services. The Service Bus and Access Control services enable composite applications, which can be expanded into the Cloud. Microsoft has envisioned devs taking advantage of Windows Server AppFabric in conjunction with Windows Azure platform AppFabric for apps, which span both Windows Azure and Windows Server.
Microsoft enumerated some of the benefits that come with “using Windows Server AppFabric:
“- Faster Web Apps Made Easy: Windows Server AppFabric helps developers improve the speed and availability of web applications through distributed in-memory caching and replication technology that works with current ASP.NET applications.
“- Simplified Composite Apps: Developers can simplify the development of composite applications with the pre-built application services in Windows Server AppFabric, used in conjunction with Visual Studio tools and .NET Framework capabilities (ASP.NET, WCF and WF). IT Pros can also simplify the deployment, monitoring, and management of composite applications with configuration and monitoring capabilities that are integrated with familiar tools (PowerShell, IIS Manager, and System Center).
“- Enterprise Performance and Availability: An enterprise’s most important and demanding applications can achieve elastic scale, performance, availability, and reliability (benefits often associated with the cloud) with the help of Windows Server AppFabric. These and countless other benefits from an unparalleled partner ecosystem utilize familiar skills from the .NET Framework and Windows Server.”
Windows Server AppFabric Beta 2 is available for download here.