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Changes Ahead for Microsoft's Virtual Server

Posted on: Tuesday, 6 September 2005, 03:01 CDT

Microsoft last week scrubbed the Service Pack tag off the next release of its Virtual Server and said the software would now be released as a new product that will carry a licensing fee for some users.

The company also reaffirmed its road map for Virtual Server, saying it will continue as a separate product. It will run on Longhorn after Microsoft directly builds virtualization technology into Longhorn Server, which is set to ship in 2007. And it will take on the role of managing multiple virtual machines running on a single box.

Virtual server technology lets multiple operating systems, called guests, run on one physical machine with a single host operating system.Virtual Server 2005 runs Windows Server 2003 as its host operating system.

What was introduced in April as Virtual Server 2005 Service Pack 1 is now being renamed Virtual Server 2005 R2. Microsoft uses the R2 nomenclature to signify an interim product upgrade.

While Virtual Server 2005 Service Pack 1 would have been made available at no-cost via download, users without Software Assurance service contracts will now have to buy an entirely new license for R2. Microsoft did not say what the cost would be for that license.

Company officials say they considered the free vs. cost issue and found that the majority of Virtual Server 2005 customers were on Software Assurance support.

"We agonized over that question," says Zane Adam, director of marketing for the Windows server division. "Since this product sells in the enterprise segment and has only been out since [fall], the potential of a having a large customer base looking for Service Pack 1 is not really existent. If this was a two- or three-year cycle we would have suffered a bit more."

Virtual Server reality check

Adam confirmed that the feature set for this next release of Virtual Server has not changed since the company released Service Pack 1 in April. Features include support for non-Windows virtual machines such as Linux; the ability to use x64 editions of Windows Server 2003 as a host operating system; clustering technology; and support for guest operating system installation via a network.

What has changed,Adam says, is Microsoft's long-term commitment to invest in and continue developing Virtual Server.

"Having a virtual server product separate from the OS makes sense,"says Gordon Haff,an analyst with Illuminata. "Going forward, basic virtualization capabilities will be built into Windows, Linux and other operating systems so these other products become less about splitting up a server and more about controlling and managing the virtual machines on that server"

Microsoft says the build-up to that inevitability would include a beta release of another full version upgrade of Virtual Server in the first half of next year with final shipment at the end of the year. The release will represent the transition point to the Longhorn virtualization technology that will include hypervisor, an optimized operating system, or microkernel, built into the virtualization platform designed to provide better performance and scalability.

Copyright Network World Inc. Aug 29, 2005

Source: Network World

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