Microsoft has introduced HDInsight Server, which is the first beta release of Hadoop distribution for Windows operating system.
The company also introduced the third release of its Azure cloud-based Hadoop service, now known as Windows Azure HDInsight Service.
Microsoft said that the new previews will deliver Apache Hadoop compatibility for the enterprise and simplify deployment of Hadoop-based solutions.
According to the company, delivering these capabilities on the Windows Server and Azure platforms will allow customers to use the tools of Excel, PowerPivot for Excel and Power View to extract actionable insights from the data.
Microsoft technical fellow David Campbell said that big data should be providing answers for business, and not complexity for IT.
"Providing Hadoop compatibility on Windows Server and Azure dramatically lowers the barriers to setup and deployment and enables customers to pull insights from any data, any size, on-premises or in the cloud," Campbell said.
HDInsight Server and Windows Azure HDInsight Service were developed in partnership with Hadoop software developer and distributor Hortonworks.
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Microsoft has also expanded its partnership with Hortonworks to give customers access to an enterprise-ready distribution of Hadoop with the newly released solutions.
Hortonworks CEO Rob Bearden said: "Our expanded partnership with Microsoft empowers customers to build and deploy on platforms that are fully compatible with Apache Hadoop."
