GoGrid Blog

Many of you have been waiting in anticipation for this moment…well now it is here! This week we have launched Windows Server 2008 in GoGrid. GoGrid continues to trail blaze the way in the Cloud Computing marketplace and leapfrog others in the space. Windows Server 2008 in the Cloud is something that others don’t provide to this extent, at least, not that I have found. We already have a huge unique list of Cloud Hosting features (e.g., free load balancing, free static IPs, public and private VLANs, free support – offering true “Control in the Cloud”) and the addition of Windows Server 2008 as an Operating System is just another check in the box.

Now, starting at just $0.19 per GB RAM hour and with NO up-front commitment nor capital expenditure, you can try and deploy Windows Server 2008 in the GoGrid Cloud. For just cents on the dollar, you can do a variety of things including:

• Deploy a full .NET environment
• Educate yourself on the latest and greatest technology from Microsoft
• Set up a development or QA environment using the Microsoft framework
• Just play around with Windows Server 2008

So, why is Windows Server 2008 such an important OS? Here are just a few highlights:

• IIS 7.0 – it comes with the latest and greatest version of Internet Information Services (IIS 7.0) which has improved administration via the IIS Manager graphical tool, modular design and installation, and full set of diagnostic and troubleshooting tools.
• New Server Manager -  this is a new single MMC console that allows admins to view and manage the tools that affect server productivity. Roles and Features can be easily added or removed via the Manager and include several streamlined wizards to help with some common server management tasks. There is also an easy way to remotely manage the server over firewall-friendly ports.
• Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC) – provides a replica of the database in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and is designed to be installed in locations where physical security for the Domain Controller (DC) cannot be guaranteed. It also allows for local authentication for users in remote location and provide local and Active Directory Integrated DNS and Global Catalog (GC) services.
• Network Access Protection (NAP) – this new feature prevents non-compliant computers from accessing and compromising an organization’s network and allows for admins to create “health policies” for clients (e.g., firewall-enabled virus software).

More details can be found on the “Windows Server 2008: Why Upgrade to Windows Server 2008?” page on the Windows Server 2008 website.

GoGrid offers the following Windows Server 2008 32-bit configurations currently (64-bit will be added shortly):

• Windows Server 2008 Standard with Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS 7)
• Windows Server 2008 Standard with IIS 7 and SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Standard with IIS 7, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition and ASP.NET

These images include Terminal Services Gateway, Remote Desktop Client for Terminal Services, Application Server, Active Directory Domain Services, DHCP Server, DNS Server and SMTP (remember, you must officially request to have port 25 unblocked on GoGrid in order to send/receive email).

We continue to offer 32 and 64 bit cloud servers for Windows Server 2008, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS with a variety of pre-configured templates (mySQL, PostgreSQL, LAMP stack, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 editions, and Ruby On Rails). More exciting features are coming soon so stay tuned!