Microsoft set to ship Virtual Server 2005

Microsoft Corp. next month will release Virtual Server 2005, its first foray into server virtualization and a key element of the broad management platform the company is creating for Windows.

The oft-delayed technology from Microsoft allows multiple operating systems to run side-by-side on a single physical machine. The technology will ship on Oct. 1, according to Microsoft officials. A 180-day evaluation copy will be available on Sept. 13.

Virtual Server 2005 runs on Windows Server 2003, which is called the "host" operating system and lets users create virtual machines that can run other operating systems, called the "guest" operating system, including Windows NT and 2000, Linux, Unix, and OS/2.

While users have been anticipating the release of the technology for more than a year, one burning question has been about the support policy for software running inside the virtual machine.

Microsoft said it is only offering support for Windows operating systems that run on the virtual machines and that virtual machines within Virtual Server will be optimized for Windows storage and networking performance.

Microsoft is targeting the virtualization technology at corporations looking to host legacy applications and migrate operating systems, most notably NT for which support concludes at the end of this year. Virtual Server 2005 also is targeted at companies looking to consolidate workloads within their infrastructure or in branch offices, such as directory services, DNS or DHCP. The technology also can be used to support development and testing environments.

"What we are seeing in terms of benefits is that customers are reducing their hardware costs by at least 50 percent and they are seeing big improvements from a productivity standpoint mostly around [server] provisioning time," says Eric Berg, group product manager for Windows at Microsoft. Berg said Allstate insurance, Jack-in-the-Box restaurants, and healthcare-provider Atlanticare are currently running Virtual Server 2005 in production environments.

Virtual Server 2005 also is a key element of Microsoft's Dynamic Systems Initiative, a multi-year project to create a self-managing Windows environment. Microsoft will use Virtual Server to add flexibility in provisioning server hardware resources in the datacenter.

Microsoft is competing with market-leader VMWare Inc., which has a similar product called GSX, which supports Windows 2000 and 2003 or Linux as the host operating system. GSX supports Windows server operating systems, Linux and Novell NetWare as the guest operating systems. VMWare also has a high performance virtual server called ESX, which runs on its own host operating system, a highly scalable architecture called Hypervisor.

"The analysts firms consistently say we are anywhere from 18 months to three years ahead of Microsoft," says Michael Mullany, vice president of marketing for VMWare. "There are a lot of features and a lot of work to be added to this virtualization layer over time to take the technology where it can be and we are trying to push the envelope in terms of technology innovation."

Other Microsoft competitors include SW-Soft, which develops a product called Virtuozzo and will deliver a version for Windows this month, the Xen open source project and User-Mode Linux.