14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft might very well claim that Windows 7 Server Beta is designed to be deployed exclusively for testing and not production environments, but the company has an entirely different set of rules when it comes down to its own infrastructure. While letting the world test drive Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta, the software giant has already deployed the operating system, along with Internet Information Services 7.5 on the servers running Microsoft.com. The Redmond giant is referring to the process of adopting its own technology even in pre-release versions as dogfooding.
And just as it was the case with previous releases of Windows Server, Microsoft.com has completed the transition to Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta and to IIS 7.5, according to Netcraft. The company debuted the migration early in January 2009, just as it was gearing up to make the first Beta of Windows 7 Server available for download to the general public. By the end of the past month, it appears that all the requests on Microsoft.com are handled by IIS 7.5.
When Windows Server 2008 was still in beta stage, the software giant did not hesitate to put the server into production environments. The move was made both to test the operating system in real life scenarios, and to offer proof to potential customers that the product could have been deployed even before its was finalized. Following the RTM of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft moved its entire infrastructure, which was previously based on Windows Server 2003 to the latest Windows server operating system. Now, it’s the turn of Windows Server R2 and IIS 7.5, the successor of IIS 7.0 that shipped with Windows Server 2008.
“Windows Server 2008 R2 includes many enhancements that make this release the most robust Windows Server Web application platform yet. It offers an updated Web server role, Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5, and greater support for .NET on Server Core. Design goals for IIS 7.5 concentrated on improvements that enable Web administrators to more easily deploy and manage Web applications, and that increase both reliability and scalability. Additionally, IIS 7.5 has streamlined management capabilities and provides more ways than ever to customize your Web serving environment,” Microsoft revealed.
Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta (Windows 7 Server Beta) is available for download here.