Chicago, Illinois - (Website Hosting Directory) - July 31, 2008 - Microsoft, at the just completed web hosting industry premiere event, HostingCon 2008, showcased the rapid adoption of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V by hosting providers.

Since its general availability, the platform has been validated as a leading virtualization technology for maximizing datacenter efficiency, scalability and manageability at a lower cost.

Key highlights include:

• With Hyper-V, Microsoft is enabling hosting providers to increase server efficiency and reduce many of the costs associated with running and managing datacenters by consolidating resources. In doing so, hosting providers are continuing to run heterogeneous environments by running both Windows and Linux on the same server using a single management interface.
• In just over a month, four hosting providers have already deployed Hyper-V, including Layered Technologies, Hostbasket, SoftCom and SoftLayer.
• The announcement also highlights hosting providers enrolled in the SQL Server 2008 Go Live program. To date, 16 hosting providers are enrolled in the program, and 10 have already extended live offers.

For more information, please see the Q and A with Microsoft executive John Zanni, General Manager of Worldwide Hosting, posted on the Microsoft PressPass website.

For more information about Microsoft, please visit: www.microsoft.com.