Hyper-V

Virtual Machine Manager reaches RTM – but not VMworld

Microsoft ‘s System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 (now that’s a mouthful!) was released to manufacturing this week and is set for general availability on the first of October. Just don’t expect to see it next week in San Francisco.

According to Peter O’Rourke via Microsoft’s Virtualization Team Blog, “It’s their show, it’s not an industry show, and they set the rules.” In other words, don’t expect a demo.
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Microsoft and VMware go toe-to-toe over server virtualization

There has been a LOT of talk lately about the “war between VMware and Microsoft” for virtualization supremacy.

Obviously, this has been a topic of conversation ever since details of Hyper-V began to emerge a couple of years ago. Still, the question of how big a dent Microsoft could make in the virtualization market always seemed – at least on some level – hypothetical.

Now, however, (especially with the addition of Live Migration to Hyper-V) the question has become, if this really is a “war” – can Microsoft actually win?
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News Roundup: Windows 7, R2 hit RTM

The folks at Microsoft had said both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 would be released to manufacturing before the end of the month, and they were true to their word, getting both in with just about a week to spare yesterday.
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New storage optimization tools launch for Hyper-V

Hyper-V users who are looking to standardize their virtual and non-virtual environments just got a little help. V3.co.uk (formerly Vnunet) is reporting that European firm Diskeeper has just launched a new platform designed to optimize storage for environments running Hyper-V with Windows Server 2008.
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Windows 7 and R2 make headlines at TechEd 2009

This is the first time in three years that I didn’t attend TechEd (though apparently I’m not alone in that regard). Some of my colleagues, however, are still out in L.A. this week pounding the pavement and covering all of the big announcements.

Here are a few links to some of the big stories out of TechEd this year, including the announcement that R2 will now be out before the end of year, as opposed to 2010:
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The long-lost Hyper-V interview with Greg Shields

Toward the end of the year, I recorded a short podcast with Microsoft MVP Greg Shields on Hyper-V, that mysteriously never saw the light of day. Unacceptable, right? As anyone who’s spoken with Greg knows, he’s one of the most articulate and enthusiastic people in the IT community. Below is the transcript of our conversation.

There is some basics stuff included here, but a lot of it is really insightful — especially the sections on ensuring a successful migration and specific “gotchas” to be aware of.

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Hyper-V to stay free, along with live migration in R2

The beta for Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 is currently available as a free download, and it looks like it’s going to stay that way. Recent news has the standalone hypervisor technology set to remain free even after its official release, just like its predecessor.

Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 will have all the functionality of the version included with the Windows 2008 R2 operating system, most notably the live migration capability that was previously absent.
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