Server virtualization slims Microsoft Mediaroom model

Microsoft is in the process of improving its Mediaroom IPTV platform in a way that could prove to be hugely significant to small telcos and other service providers that may have balked in the past at the cost and server requirements of the platform. Using au courant server virtualization technology, the software giant claim to be able to reduce the platform's hardware requirements by more than 80 percent, according to a story at Multichannel News.

A Telephony story further states that the improvement means that 30,000 IPTV subscribers--surely a ceiling within the range of many small telcos--could run over fewer than 10 servers, cutting past requirements by a factor of six.

To date, Mediaroom has been very popular worldwide, though mostly among the largest service providers. Microsoft reportedly is testing the new approach and plans to release it as an upgrade in coming weeks.

For more:
- Multichannel News has this report
- Telephony has this story

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