Windows Server Gains Support on the Google Cloud Platform
Users of the Google Cloud Platform now have official support of the Windows Server OS. For the longest time, Google Cloud Platform only supported Linux operating systems. Windows Server has been available in beta test format for quite sometime.
According to a blog post, Google Cloud Platform says that it has officially taken Windows Server out of beta test mode and that the platform officially supports the popular OS. Windows Server 2008 R2 and 2012 R2 have been named as being officially supported, while Google claims that they tweaked their underlying infrastructure throughout the beta process in order build a bulletproof platform for the operating systems to run upon.
“Making sure Google Cloud Platform is the best place to run your workloads is our top priority, so were happy that today Windows Server on Google Compute Engine graduates to General Availability, joining the growing list OSes we support,” says Alex Gaysinsky, Product Manager at Google.
“Were also introducing several enhancements for Windows Server users,” adds Gaysinsky.
Google mentions that some of the enhancements they’ve made to their platform to accommodate Windows Server include:
- Increased uptime as a result of transparent maintenance
- Affordable and predictability of block storage
- Nearline backup services
Google also says that organizations can deploy SharePoint, SQL Server and other popular MS apps on top of the servers you deploy at Google Cloud Platform. Organizations can easily move their existing server licensing into the cloud using the Microsoft License Mobility program.
With Windows Server gaining official support, organizations can now deploy their Microsoft infrastructure such as Active Directory and bridge their public and private clouds using a site to site VPN.
This type of hybrid setup allows organizations to spin up both Windows Server and Linux boxes in the cloud, affording organizations the ability to have some or all of their VMs hosted on the Google Cloud Platform.
