Microsoft presents Hyper-V?
Bob Kelly, Microsoft’s corporate VP of Infrastructure Server Marketing, informed the audience at TechEd IT Forum 2007 that final name for codename:Viridian would not be Windows Server Virtualization, rather Hyper-V server. Personally I am not a big fan of the name change, but it is just a name. I am excited to see what the end result of all this work will be. Currently the beta of Hyper-V will be available by the end of January 2008
Now similar to the licensing with 2003, 2008 will allow for the following licenses for virtual instances:
Standard Edition: One Virtual instance per physical instance
Enterprise Edition: Four Virtual Instances per physical instance
Datacenter Edition: Unlimited Virtual Instances
But be careful when choosing your version of Windows Server 2008, as now there are eight different versions and only the three 64-bit version above will support Hyper-V.
Microsoft is also releasing H-V as a standalone product, Hyper-V Server, that OEMs will be able to take advantage of in their product offering. This version will load Windows Server 2008 Core, rather than the full blown OS.
Microsoft Hyper-V Server
Microsoft Hyper-V Server, a hypervisor-based server virtualization product, complements the Hyper-V technology within Windows Server 2008, allowing customers to consolidate workloads onto a single physical server. In addition, Microsoft Hyper-V Server will increase original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners’ ability to offer customers simplified, reliable and cost-effective virtualization solutions that can easily plug in to their existing infrastructure. Partners including Dell Inc., Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., HP, IBM Corp., Lenovo, NEC Corp. and Unisys are already committed to working with Microsoft to offer solutions based on Microsoft Hyper-V Server once it is available. The estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) for Microsoft Hyper-V Server is $28 (U.S.).
“The combination of Microsoft Hyper-V Server, industry-leading HP ProLiant and BladeSystem servers, and our comprehensive services portfolio provides customers with an adaptive infrastructure that is simple to operate, reliable and cost effective,” said Scott Farrand, vice president of Industry Standard Server Software at HP. “HP plans to support customers in the adoption of Microsoft Hyper-V Server by delivering solutions that help them realize the benefits of a virtualized environment.”
Server Virtualization Validation Program
In response to industry and customer demands for more comprehensive technical support of virtual machines, Kelly also announced the Server Virtualization Validation Program. Beginning in June 2008, vendors will be able to self-test and validate certain technical requirements of their server virtualization software running Windows Server 2008 and prior versions. The program will enable Microsoft to offer cooperative technical support to customers running Windows Server on validated, non-Windows server virtualization software.
“Microsoft has worked with industry partners to create a technical support model that will meet customers’ growing demands,” Kelly said. “As more customers deploy and virtualize Windows-based applications on Windows Server 2008 or other server virtualization software, this program will help ensure that customers receive a joint support experience for their physical and virtual infrastructure deployments.”
“Technical support of virtualized images is an industrywide challenge,” said Roger Levy, senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions for Novell. “Our relationship with Microsoft provides us with a jointly supported solution today. Novell and Microsoft continue to collaborate to optimize bidirectional virtualization between Windows and SUSE Linux Enterprise with Xen. Microsoft’s server virtualization validation program provides customers with additional peace of mind when they run Windows as a guest in a validated environment such as SUSE Linux Enterprise.”
