New Microsoft betas push "private cloud" strategy

Microsoft Thursday released the beta of BizTalk Server 2010 and the release candidate of Windows Server AppFabric, two products that help developers produce scalable applications and services. These products form key elements of Redmond's plans to enable cloud-like scale-out capabilities to privately hosted and deployed systems.

BizTalk Server 2010 is the latest release of Microsoft's enterprise service bus product, used for integrating and connecting disparate enterprise applications. It makes it easier for applications to access each other's data, even when using different formats and data stores.

The new version provides broader platform support, enabling BizTalk to be used on Windows Server 2008 R2 and with SQL Server 2008 R2; broader application connectivity, including Oracle eBS 12.1 and SAP 7; and richer management options, with a unified management dashboard and support for compressed backups and transparent data encryption.

The beta is available now, with a final release due during the third quarter.

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