Nano Server is a deeply refactored version of Windows Server with a small footprint and remotely managed installation, optimized for the cloud and a DevOps workflow. It is designed for fewer patch and update events, faster restarts, better resource utilization and tighter security. Informed directly by our learning’s from building and managing some of the world’s largest hyper scale cloud environments, and available in the next version of Windows Server, Nano Server focuses on two scenarios:
- Born-in-the-cloud applications – support for multiple programming languages and runtimes. (e.g. C#, Java, Node.js, Python, etc.) running in containers, virtual machines, or on physical servers.
- Microsoft Cloud Platform infrastructure – support for compute clusters running Hyper-V and storage clusters running Scale-out File Server.
Nano Server will allow customers to install just the components they require and nothing more. The initial results are promising. Based on the current builds, compared to Server, Nano Server has:
- 93 percent lower VHD size
- 92 percent fewer critical bulletins
- 80 percent fewer reboots
To try out Nano Server, download the Windows Server Technical Preview 2 ISO
