Tech giant Microsoft announced on Aug. 19, Wednesday, that it will release the third technical preview of the Windows Server 2016 operating system. The company is making history as it is the first preview to have Windows Container support.
In an official statement picked up by TechNet, Microsoft said, "Today, in our third Technical Preview of Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016, we are releasing the first public preview of Windows Server Containers to bring these benefits to our customers."
According to ZDNet, Microsoft Windows Server containers can provide users an alternative way for them to run their applications totally isolated from the rest of their operating environment. The report added that the Windows Server Containers are part of the bigger Docker open source project.
All these containers have the flexibility to be deployed and managed by using either a Docker container and deployment client or PowerShell.
Despite the added container support, the new preview of Windows Server 2016 still does not support Hyper-V containers. Microsoft said that it will support Hyper-V containers in the near future but due did not provide a specific time frame.
Aside from Windows Container support, the new preview also includes an update for the Nano Server deployment mode. A new feature called Emergency Management Console allow users to access and fix all of their network configuration straight from the Nano Server's console.
The Nano Server deployment option can give users the option to run Windows Server 2016 in a very lightweight form. The Nano Server is roughly 20 times smaller than the Windows Server Core and only incorporates essential components like Hyper-V, Core CLR, Clustering and Storage. This form is lightweight since it does not have user-interface.