Microsoft Hyper-V

Hyper-V RC1 Release Made Available on Microsoft Download Center

May 20, 2008 by Robin Wauters 2 Comments

Taylor Brown of the Microsoft Hyper-V Test Team has formally announced the availability of Hyper-V RC1 on Microsoft Download Center in a post on the Windows Virtualization Product Group team blog.

There’s a Hyper-V RC1 package for Windows Server 2008 x64, which must be installed on Hyper-V server’s (physical machines). It includes the Hyper-V Server components for Full and Core installs, the Hyper-V Integration Components for Server 2008 x64 and the Hyper-V Management Components for Full Windows installs.

Microsoft also released the Hyper-V RC1 package for Windows Server 2008 x86. This package includes only the Hyper-V Management Components for Full Windows installs and the Hyper-V Integration Components for Server 2008 x86. It does not contain the Hyper-V Server components (Hyper-V is x64 only).

More here.

Marathon Technologies Releases everRun Software

April 30, 2008 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

We’ve covered the beta launch of Marathon Technologies’ everRun software a little over a month ago, and now the company has officially released the product.

Customers can download a free 15-day trial of everRun VM. The latest version of Citrix XenServer 4.1 is also available as a trial edition. everRun VM suggested retail pricing is $2000 per server (perpetual license) for customers that have Citrix XenServer Enterprise Edition. everRun VM with Citrix XenServer 4.1 Enterprise Edition is $4500 per server for a perpetual license.

Microsoft Management Summit 2008: Birth Of System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2008 Beta

April 30, 2008 by Robin Wauters 2 Comments

At the Microsoft Management Summit 2008 in Las Vegas, the Redmond-based software giant released its virtualization management platform, now named System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, into public beta testing. The release comes well within the 60 to 90 day window Microsoft promised after the public beta delivery of its ‘Viridian hypervisor’, now formally known as Hyper-V. So where’s the beef?

The new platform enables customers to configure and deploy new virtual machines and to centrally manage their virtualized infrastructure, whether running on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 or VMware ESX Server.

Microsoft’s hypervisor and virtualization management platform will likely be used predominantly by Microsoft-centric customers in Windows-centric environments (for your reference: Microsoft owns about half of the server OS space so that’s not too bad a proposition), but support for VMware ESX will be welcomed by many as well (VMM 2008 connects to Virtual Center’s public web service APIs to provide support for most day-to-day administrative tasks on VMware, including VMotion), although most critics are already pointing to the lack of live migration capabilities in SCVMM 2008.

A number of partners, including Brocade, Dell, EMC, Emulex, HP, NetQOS, QLogic and Quest, announced they will deliver management packs enabled for PRO. These management packs enable partners and customers to integrate their domain-specific knowledge directly into Virtual Machine Manager and further integrate physical and virtual management.

[Source: Virtualization Review]

Neterion 10 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter Drivers Embedded In Windows Server 2008

April 28, 2008 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

Neterion, maker of 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) adapters for server and storage environments, announced today that drivers for its 10 GbE adapters are embedded in the initial release of Windows Server 2008.

Neterion is one of only two 10 GbE adapter vendors to be included in this release (the other being Intel). In addition, Neterion’s adapters are supported in the beta release of Microsoft Hyper-V, the hypervisor software for server virtualization that will be available with various versions of Windows Server 2008.

From the press release:

“Built with enhanced Web and virtualization capabilities, Windows Server 2008 is designed to increase the reliability and flexibility of server infrastructures while helping to save time and reduce costs by consolidating applications with virtualization licensing rights. Neterion 10 GbE adapters include advanced silicon based I/O Virtualization (IOV) capabilities that eliminate I/O bottlenecks within virtualized servers.”

“Neterion’s 10 GbE native driver support for Windows Server 2008 will add new levels of performance and flexibility for an enterprise-class server platform,” said Sandeep Singhal, director of program management at Microsoft. “Furthermore, Neterion’s native IOV support for Hyper-V will enable IT managers to achieve optimal performance and manageability of their hardware resources.”

The Neterion 10 GbE Xframe drivers and adapters are certified to provide native support for several Server 2008 configurations including Windows Server 2008 Standard, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Windows Server 2008 Datacenter. Each configuration offers a platform for deploying business-critical application and large scale virtualization on small and large servers.

Windows Server 2008 was announced on February 27th and Hyper-V is currently in beta testing and will be officially launched later this year.

[Source: Marketwire]

Microsoft Puts Forth System Management As Key Differentiator In Virtualization Technology

April 22, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

Microsoft is targeting system management as a way to differentiate itself from competitors in the virtualization market, the company reportedly stated today, as reported by PC World.

Anticipating that the market for virtualization software, such as Microsoft’s Hyper-V, eventually will be commoditized, the company sees management as the key revenue opportunity for competitors offering server virtualization, said Windows Enterprise and Management Division General Manager Larry Orecklin, speaking to reporters on Microsoft’s campus Tuesday.

Microsoft is apparently so keen on making management the corner stone of its virtualization strategy that it plans to open up management for other virtualization platforms, such as VMware and XenSource, with its System center Virtual Machine Manager tool, which it released last September.

Also interesting to note:

Microsoft plans to outline its virtualization strategy further at its Microsoft Management Summit next week, said Orecklin, who suggested Tuesday that a beta of Virtual Machine Manager with support for Hyper-V and VMware ESX also will be available at that time.

[Source: PC World]

What Should We Ask Steve Ballmer?

April 21, 2008 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

Upcoming thursday, we’re sitting down with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for a short Q&A session. We have some questions in mind for the man, but we thought it might be a good opportunity to ask you for feedback on what we should ask as well. Anything goes, but please avoid questions that could make him go crazy.

So give it us: what would you ask Steve Ballmer if you had the chance?

Post your question in the comments or get in touch directly.