One of the nice advantages of server virtualization is the ability to run Linux and Windows on the same server. One of the headaches, though, is getting help when something goes wrong.
Microsoft and Novell on Thursday said they are going to try to make things a little easier. The pair announced that they will jointly support a virtualization scenario in which Suse Linux is running as a guest operating system under Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization.
The companies said partners such as Dell will test the setup at the joint lab the two companies have in Cambridge, Mass. It's the latest fruit of a nearly 2-year-old alliance between the two companies.
"The collaboration between Microsoft and Novell has been built by our desire to meet our customers' and partners' IT needs, and to deliver solutions that support customers' mixed-source environments," Microsoft Vice President Bob Kelly said in a statement. "For customers standardizing on Microsoft's hypervisor who also have a mixed-source IT environment, this virtualization solution gives that choice. For channel partners who need a cross-platform hypervisor offering, our work with Novell gives them an easy starting point."
Microsoft said on Monday that it now plans to offer its server virtualization product for free.
Ahead of a virtualization event in Redmond, Wash., Microsoft said that its Hyper-V Server 2008 will be released within 30 days and be available at no cost via the Web. The software maker had planned to charge $28 for the product.
Also on Monday, Microsoft plans to show off a live migration feature that will be part of the next version of its Hyper-V virtualization technology. Live migration allows companies to move a running virtual machine from one server to another.
The feature will be part of Windows Server R2, Microsoft said Monday. The software maker had originally intended to make Live Migration part of the first Hyper-V product, but pulled the feature in order to try to make its shipping deadline.
Microsoft also said that major computer makers note that nearly all of their customers who order Windows Server 2008-based systems are opting to include Hyper-V. Microsoft finalized the Hyper-V code back in June.
There wasn't a ton of news out of day 2 of Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference, but the company did announce a few product milestones.
Its small and midsize business server products have both hit the near-final "release candidate" stage. Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (formerly code-named Centro) and Small Business Server 2008 (nee Cougar) are scheduled to launch and be fully available on November 12.
Microsoft also said its recently completed Hyper-V virtualization hypervisor is now available via Windows Update, as expected. The product had been available since late last month, but only as a manual download.
The software maker said it distributed 1.5 million copies of the pre-release version, though if I'm not mistaken, every copy of Windows Server 2008 came with a pre-release version of Hyper-V.
And, as I noted on Tuesday, Microsoft also made available several new online tools for partners, including Digital Forum--a social-networking tool for partners to share tips, ideas, and war stories, as well as Microsoft PinPoint--an updated version of its online catalog of partner offerings.
In Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner is wary of building a baseball diamond on his farm, which is already near foreclosure. But a voice tells him, "If you build it, they will come."
Microsoft has the same vision for its virtualization technology. Several years in the making, Microsoft's Hyper-V officially entered on Thursday a field dominated by VMware and other competitors, including the open-source Xen product.
Microsoft Corporate Vice President Bill Laing told me that he understands his company faces an uphill battle in trying to win over customers that have been using VMware and Xen, in some cases for many years.
"I think we'll do best initially in 'green field' opportunities," Laing said. "Small business, I think, is a completely green field. In the enterprise, where customers haven't deployed (another virtualization technology), I think we'll do well."
Over time, Laing said he wants Microsoft find its way into data centers that already use VMware.
"I think it will take longer to rip and replace, but that's certainly our ambition," Laing said.
As expected, Microsoft announced on Thursday that it has finished work on Hyper-V. For now, Microsoft is making Hyper-V available for download via its Web site, though it plans on July 8 to make it an option via Windows Update. By releasing it now, the company is following through on its pledge to ship the virtualization hypervisor within 180 days of the release of Windows Server 2008.
Microsoft is expected this week to announce that it has completed work on Hyper-V, a virtualization technology that allows a single server to act as many separate servers.
ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley reported Tuesday that Microsoft is expected tomorrow to say it has released the product.
The move will allow Microsoft to fulfill its pledge of releasing Hyper-V within 180 days of the release of Windows Server 2008, which launched in February. The company issued a near-final "release candidate" version in March.
To make its target, however, Microsoft was forced last year to strip out several features from the product, including Live Migration.
Hyper-V will compete with a number of existing virtualization technologies, including a range of products from industry leader VMware.
For the second time in a week, Microsoft said a version of its software is ready sooner than expected. On Thursday, the software maker made available a beta version of its Hyper-V hypervisor technology, a release that had been scheduled for early next year.
(Credit:
Microsoft )
Microsoft didn't change its timing for the final release of the technology, which is due to ship within 180 days of the release of Windows Server 2008. (That product is slated to be wrapped up ahead of its formal launch on February 27.)
"We're hoping that getting it out and providing a nice little holiday present for our customers will give us more evaluation time," virtualization general manager Mike Neil said of the Hyper-V beta release. The beta version has several features not found in the Community Technology Preview version released in September, including a "quick migration" feature, as well as the ability to use Hyper-V as part of the slimmed-down Server Core role.
Earlier this year, Microsoft cut several server virtualization features in an effort to get Windows Server 2008 out the door this year. Despite the changes, Microsoft was still forced to delay the release to next year.
The software maker also made some virtualization-friendly changes to its licensing policy for Windows Server 2008. Microsoft has already expanded virtualization rights for the Datacenter and Enterprise versions of the operating system.
"We've seen big adoption of both of those products specifically because of those licensing rights," said Windows Server general manager Bill Hilf. "It is indicative of the direction that we are going."
Microsoft said Thursday that the Standard edition of Windows Server 2008 will allow users to run one physical and one virtual instance of the server. With Windows Server 2003, the Standard edition could be used for either a physical or virtual instance, but not both.
On Tuesday, Microsoft issued the first service pack for Office 2007, an update that hadn't been scheduled until the first quarter of next year.
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