Microsoft offers first preview of Windows Server Containers

Nano Server can now be installed on physical hosts or in virtual machines, and it can deployed servers and managed through PowerShell.

Developers have been begging for container support in Windows Server for some time now, and the introduction of this feature could be the start of Microsoft offering up some serious competition to Linux server software.

Developers may flock to containers for the simple reason they can work in just about whatever language they like best, including.NET, ASP.NET, and PowerShell or Python, Ruby on Rails, or Java.

Microsoft today released its third technical preview of Windows Server 2016 and Systems Center 2016, bringing with them the first public preview of Windows Server Containers. That’s obviously a major win for Docker but also for developers who have to deploy their applications on Windows Server.

This would have been an nearly unbelievable scenario even five years ago, given Microsoft’s traditional approach, treating Linux and open-source technologies as a threat to Windows.

It’s worth noting, though, that you won’t be able to take a Linux container and run it on Windows Server (or visa versa). What you can do, however, is use the same Docker client to manage both kinds of containers. Microsoft officials said the Hyper-V containers will be available in some future preview build, but wouldn’t commit to a particular time frame. These types of containers will offer higher isolation between containers by running their own copy of the Windows kernel and having memory assigned directly to them. Shielded VMs strive to protect the contents of the virtual machine from the system administrator. Windows Server, of course, is a version of Windows that runs atop servers.

As Schutz noted, numerous container technologies, as well as some of the software-defined networking technologies the company is launching with this preview, were built from the same technologies the company developed for its Azure platform.

“Windows Server Containers create a highly agile Windows Server environment, enabling you to build modern applications that enable the DevOps process”, Microsoft Windows Server and System Center corporate vice president Mike Neil wrote in a blog post. “This higher level of isolation expands the possibilities for deploying containers in lower trust or mixed operational environments where developers may not have control of the platform”.

Also, Microsoft is planning to test Microsoft Edge extensions and a new Messaging application in upcoming Windows 10 preview releases in the coming weeks. You can find a full list of new features here.