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App-V, The “Microsoft Application Virtualization” Formerly Known As “SoftGrid”

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Microsoft Application Virtualization, the name the software giant has given the app virtualization solution it acquired when it bought Softricity back in 2006, got a new calling name today to match the Hyper-V branding: App-V (instead of SoftGrid).

From the SoftGrid App-V blog:

“Really it only matters to you because from now on we’re going to do our best to stop calling this product SoftGrid and start calling it App-V. Or Microsoft Application Virtualization if we’re feeling formal. This blog will eventually go from being the SoftGrid blog to the App-V blog, the SoftGrid forums will probably become the App-V forums, etc. and I want to make sure all of you are ahead of the curve just so there’s no confusion when you start seeing this name thrown around more and more over time.”

On a sidenote: looking for App-V references, we also found out a German snatched away the app-v.com domain name a few days ago.

[Source: ThinComputing.net]

Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Updated, Now Supports Hyper-V

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Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM), released in beta end of April, has been updated to enable it to function with Release Candidate 1 (RC1) to the Hyper-V role. Note that the VMM server and all of the hosts in your environment must be running Hyper-V RC1. After you install the update, you will not be able to add hosts running Hyper-V RC0 to your VMM environment.

[Source: Windows Virtualization Team blog]

Microsoft Officially Launches Server Virtualization Validation Program

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Microsoft‘s Server Virtualization Validation Program, which was first announced in November 2007, has become operational yesterday, with the patricipation of Citrix, Sun, Novell and Virtual Iron.

The Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) is open to any vendor who delivers a virtualization machine solution that hosts Windows Server 2008, Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 4 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 and subsequent service packs. The virtualization solution can either be hypervisor-based or a hosted solution.

The costs associated with joining the program include membership in TSAnet at Mission Critical level, so that the vendor and Microsoft can share support information, incremental costs, if any, to perform the validation tests, and a nominal expense (currently $250) to qualify each ‘configuration’ that is submitted for validation.

Jeff Woolsey and Scott Lowe Discuss Hyper-V

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IT pro and virtualization expert Scott Lowe had an interesting discussion with Jeff Woolsey, Senior Program Manager for Hyper-V at Microsoft. Scott posted a summary of their conversation on his blog, here’s an excerpt:

What are the key architectural advantages of Hyper-V as compared to Xen or ESX?

Jeff indicated that Hyper-V and Xen are architecturally very similar. Both use a privileged VM; Microsoft calls it the parent partition, Xen calls it dom0. In both cases, I/O is routed through this privileged partition and only the privileged partition has access to the physical hardware. Microsoft believes the hypervisor should be as thin as possible; Hyper-V is only about 600K worth of code. The networking stack and the storage stack are pushed up into the parent partition to keep drivers out of the hypervisor. Jeff referred me back to his session earlier in the day, where he discussed the need for the parent partition (my summary of that session is here). ESX puts all the drivers in the hypervisor, which means that they have a harder time providing support for new hardware (the example given was 4Gbps Fibre Channel HBAs vs. 8Gbps Fibre Channel HBAs). In talking about the placement of device drivers, our discussion naturally led us to the next question.

How would you respond to the concerns about the quality of the device drivers in the parent partition affecting the stability of the hypervisor?

Jeff doesn’t buy into this argument. Unlike desktops or workstations, administrators don’t typically go willy-nilly with drivers on production servers. Drivers are generally provided by the hardware vendors. In addition, because Hyper-V requires the x64 edition of Windows Server 2008, this is even less of an issue; it’s impossible to use unsigned drivers with x64 Windows. This means that any driver that can be used with Hyper-V will be WHQL-tested. Supposedly, this will keep out potentially faulty device drivers. Jeff pointed to the exclusive use of Hyper-V to power the MSDN and TechNet web sites at Microsoft as proof. I can see his point, but I still have to wonder if another level of qualification and validation shouldn’t have been established to ensure that everything works as expected with Hyper-V. It still seems possible to me that organizations stepping outside the “Big 3? server vendors—Dell, HP, and IBM—could run into issues.

Read the rest (3 more questions) here.

Microsoft Releases Windows Server 2008 Images For Hyper-V and Virtual Server

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Microsoft has released Windows Server 2008 images for both Hyper-V and Virtual Server (thanks to Andrew Dugdell for pointing that out).

VHD Images for Microsoft Virtual Server:

  • WS08_RTM_x86_EnterpriseVHD.zip (single file)
  • WS08_ServerCorex86_EnterpriseVHD.zip (single file)
  • or download the multi-part image: 2008 VHD Images for VS2005

VHD Images for Microsoft Hyper-V:

Fortisphere Joins Microsoft Startup Accelerator Program

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Fortisphere, a provider of policy-based virtualization management software, today announced that it has been selected to join the Microsoft Startup Accelerator Program. As a member of the program, Fortisphere will receive customized Microsoft support for its software development initiatives and increased access to internal Microsoft resources, ensuring that its policy-based virtualization management solutions are compatible with Microsoft virtualization platforms—including the upcoming release of Hyper-V.

Fortisphere

The Microsoft Startup Accelerator Program is designed to connect high-potential startups committed to the Microsoft platform to an extensive support network that provides access to Microsoft people and programs, guidance on future directions and support to accelerate their success. Fortisphere has also been named a Microsoft Certified Partner.

“Membership in the Microsoft Startup Accelerator Program will deepen our relationship with Microsoft and provide us with more access to its virtualization technology,” said Michael Harper, president and CEO, Fortisphere. “Organizations are deploying heterogeneous virtual infrastructures to take full advantage of the cost-saving benefits of virtualization. Fortisphere provides the tools required to more efficiently manage heterogeneous virtual environments and ensure smart virtualization growth.”