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Software-defined datacenter 
Windows Server 2016 delivers a more flexible and cost-efficient OS for your datacenter, using 
software-defined compute, storage, and network virtualization features inspired by Azure. 

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CHAPTER 1 | Introduction to Microsoft Windows Server 2016 
Software-defined compute 
The following list presents just some of the amazing new features that fall under the software-defined 
compute stack for Windows Server 2016: 

Minimize attack surface, increase availability, and reduce resource usage with just-enough OS 
using the Nano Server deployment option, which is 25 times smaller than Windows Server while 
still providing a desktop experience. 

Make the move to the cloud easier by running your workloads in Microsoft Hyper-V, the same 
hypervisor that runs Azure and Azure Stack. 

Deploy applications on multiple operating systems with best-in-class support for Linux on 
Hyper-V. 

Upgrade infrastructure clusters to Windows Server 2016 with zero downtime for your 
application/workload, and without requiring new hardware, using mixed-mode cluster upgrades. 
Support. 

Increase application availability with improved cluster resiliency to transient failures in the network 
and storage. 

Add incremental resiliency to your clusters by using Cloud Witness to connect to resources in 
Azure. 

Automate server management with native tools such as Desired State Configuration and Windows 
PowerShell 5.0. 

Manage Windows servers from anywhere by using the new web-based GUI—Server management 
tool—a service running in Azure. Especially useful for managing headless deployment options 
such as Nano Server and Server Core. 
Software-defined storage 
The following list introduces some of the enterprise grade storage features coming in Windows 
Server 2016: 

Build highly available and scalable software-defined storage at a fraction of the cost of a Storage-
Area Network (SAN) or Network-Attached Storage (NAS). Storage Spaces Direct uses standard 
servers with local storage to create converged or hyper-converged storage architectures. 

Create affordable business continuity and disaster recovery among datacenters with Storage 
Replica synchronous storage replication. 

Ensure that users of business-critical applications have priority access to storage resources using 
Storage Quality of Service (QoS) features.