Microsoft Machine Learning Server 9.4 is now available

Today we’re excited to announce our latest Microsoft Machine Learning Server 9.4 release, which addresses popular customer requests as well as developments in the R and Python community.

Microsoft Machine Learning Server is your flexible enterprise platform for analyzing data at scale, building intelligent apps, and discovering valuable insights across your business with full support for Python and R. Machine Learning Server meets the needs of all constituents of the process – from data engineers and data scientists to line-of-business programmers and IT professionals. It offers a choice of languages and features and algorithmic innovation that brings the best of open source and proprietary worlds together.

This release is a continuation of the R and Python value that you have come to see as part of Microsoft R and previous releases of Microsoft Machine Learning Server. Machine Learning Server supports the full data science lifecycle of your R and Python-based analytics. Additionally, Machine Learning Server enables operationalization support so you can deploy your models to a scalable grid for both batch and real-time scoring.

What’s new in Machine Learning Server 9.4

We’ve released Microsoft R Open 3.5.2 and 3.5.3 across various supported platforms. Please find more about Microsoft R Open on the Microsoft R Application Network.

New in Machine Learning Server 9.4:

  • Based on Microsoft R Open 3.5.2 and Python 3.7.1.
  • Support for Spark 2.4. Check out the comprehensive list of supported platforms.
  •  Added an option to specify which server type needs to be installed in either R, Python, or both.
  • Upgrading to version 9.4 is easier than ever if you already have an older version of Machine Learning Server installed.

Key features of Machine Learning Server

In addition to the new capabilities outlined above, this release has all the familiar value propositions of Machine Learning Server. Microsoft Machine Learning Server includes:

R and Python enabled

Microsoft Machine Learning Server 9.4 includes specialized R packages and Python modules for developing and operationalizing solutions written in R and Python. Machine Learning Server 9.4 comes with version 3.5.2 of the open source R language engine and a run-time infrastructure for R script execution. On the Python side, it comes with an open source distribution of Python and run-time infrastructure for script execution. Machine Learning Server 9.4 also includes a rich set of highly-scalable algorithms such as RevoScaleRrevoscalepy, and microsoftML that can work on data sizes larger than the size of physical memory, and run on a wide variety of platforms in a distributed manner. Learn more about the collection of Microsoft’s custom R packages and Python packages included with the product.

Machine Learning Server bridges these Microsoft innovations and those coming from the open source community (R, Python and AI toolkits) all on top of a single enterprise-grade platform. Any R or Python open source machine learning package can work side by side with any proprietary innovation from Microsoft. Machine Learning Server runs on-premises and in the cloud on a variety of platforms, in a variety of deployments, and can support the need to have machine learning and analytics across multiple platforms, including clustered topologies for Apache Spark™ on Hadoop.

Deploy and consume

Machine Learning Server offers best-in-class operationalization. From the time a machine learning model is completed, it takes just a few clicks to generate web services APIs. These web services are hosted on a server grid on-premises or in the cloud and can then be easily integrated with line-of-business applications. Additionally, Machine Learning Server integrates seamlessly with Azure Active Directory and includes role-based access control to satisfy security and compliance needs of your enterprise. The ability to deploy to an elastic grid lets you scale seamlessly with the needs of your business, both for batch and real-time scoring.

Solution templates

We provide a number of solution templates for popular solutions in different industries such as healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and finance. We have made it easier to find and deploy templates than ever before. Deploying most of our solution templates to Azure is now just one click of a button – just look for the blue Deploy to Azure button.

Getting started

You can immediately download Microsoft Machine Learning Server 9.4 from Visual Studio Dev Essentials, provision it via Machine Learning Server virtual machines in Azure or get it from our Volume License Service Center. Microsoft Machine Learning Server comes packed with the power of the open source R and Python engines, making both R and Python ready for enterprise-class machine learning and advanced analytics. Check out the R Client for Windows, R Client for Linux, and the Machine Learning Server documentation, including installation instructions to learn more.