Recruitment agency Reed is usingWindows Server 2008to support the
growth of itswebsite.
The company said that offering more services over the web was
easier with Server 2008, which it described as "more stable" than
the 2003 package.
The move to Server 2008 was part of an IT refresh that also
involved new hardware and a new hosting provider.
Reed technical director Mark Ridley said many of the features on
the site that were previously only available to signed-up customers
would soon be available to everyone.
One of the benefits of the new system was better integration
with in-house development code. Ridley said, "We use
.Net in-house for development, and with Server 2008, there is
tighter integration between the code we are writing and the server
itself."
Ridley said the biggest IT challenge was finding enough time to
test the new servers. Preparation was made easier by using the old
Windows Server 2003 servers at the same time. The company continued
to run the old servers as it was preparing to use the new system,
which went live in November last year.
Reed also used testing software from
Scivisum to help develop
real-world examples of how users would use the site.
Ridley said, "The 2008 servers don't really change the way the
website works. They just give us more answers to the problems that
we face. With Windows Server 2003 we were relying on not
particularly stable third-party components and we really wanted to
replace those."
Reed targets power savings with thin clients >>
Enterprise apps not ready for Server 2008 >>
IT directors in no rush for Server 2008 >>