Microsoft Corp yesterday added new services to Windows NT 4.0 that the company claims will improve the clustering capabilities of the software for high-end e-commerce environments. Redmond says its Windows NT load-balancing service expands and enhances the scalability and reliability of TCP/IP-based network services and applications hosted on the NT 4.0 enterprise edition. The improvements are designed for customers building mission-critical web-based solutions, particularly e-commerce applications. Specifically, the service allows customers to cluster their network services across 32 systems, which then appear as a single, logical TCP/IP address space. It also enables them to perform maintenance and upgrades without interrupting service, key to companies with e-commerce web sites. The service is available now and is included in new Windows NT server enterprise edition licenses; existing NT 4.0 customers can upgrade the software for free from www.microsoft.com/ntserverenterprise.
