RightScale has started supporting Windows apps running in the cloud claiming it can keeps Windows users from getting locked in to any one cloud region, provider or type - public or private. It must be thinking mostly Amazon.

It says that with the latest release of its Cloud Management Platform, Windows servers can be dynamically configured without user interaction, enabling true automation and orchestration of system behavior.

The company claims that its ServerTemplate methodology overcomes common challenges specific to launching and running Windows programs in the cloud, challenges that make portability and automation difficult and it ticks off issues like licensing that prohibits images from running on multiple clouds, requirements for user interaction at installation, installation of large software packages and the constant flow of patches and updates.

The company points out that it's biting off a big piece of the market with this move. CTO Thorsten von Eicken says, "We've seen growing demand for Windows support over the last year, especially among our enterprise customers and prospects. Windows applications, which are often developed with custom stacks, can present unique challenges when deployed in the cloud."

RightScale's rules-based automation integrates directly with Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and other custom monitoring tools. Systems administrators can view, monitor and manage entire systems, groups of servers architected to work together.

It says its pre-configured ServerTemplates and RightImages widgetry lets Windows users get started in the cloud in minutes, instead of days or weeks.

RightScale has added a .NET All-in-One Developer ServerTemplate. Users can also build their own ServerTemplates using RightScale's multi-cloud Windows RightImages or use existing cloud images.

RightScale's made-for-Windows RightImages includes 32- and 64-bit versions of a base Windows image, Windows with SQL Server Express and Windows with SQL Server that support multiple cloud regions. A RightLink Starter ServerTemplate for customers with existing cloud images is also available.

ServerTemplates let customers bundle common server components into one base configuration, a RightImage can be used across different server types. The methodology delivers portability across multiple clouds, supports automation, and significantly reduces the number of images that need to be maintained.

RightScale has been working on Windows 2003 and 2008 support for close to a year. With a bit of a whimper in his voice Von Eicken explains what was involved at http://blog.rightscale.com/. Among other things it seems Windows boots in the cloud quite differently than Linux or the "normal" world and takes twice as long as it should.

He says "Hopefully Microsoft can be sensitized to the notion that fast boot times are an important asset in the cloud because they enable a lot of automation that is very painful if one has to wait so long for additional capacity or replacement servers to come online."