Microsoft delivers new storage-appliance code

On May 5, Microsoft announced the release to manufacturing of its latest storage-appliance code, which it is now rolling out to its partners for inclusion in upcoming products.

The new release, Windows Storage Server 2008 (WSS08), is built on top of Windows Server 2008. According to a blog post on the Windows Server blog, WSS08 includes a new file de-duplication capability, and an ISCSI software target for unified file- and block-based storage.

Microsoft officials said its OEM partners will be announcing new appliances based on WSS08 over the "next several weeks." Announced WSS08 partners include Dell, NEC and Transtec.