Microsoft Takes Bigger Steps Into Virtualization

At its fourth annual Management Summit last week in Las Vegas, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the beta release of Virtual Server 2005 Service Pack 1 as well as plans to license the VHD format and introduce "smaller, thinner Hypervisor" virtualization technology into the Longhorn version of Windows.

The Redmond, Wash., vendor also announced it would support Intel virtualization technology and Advanced Micro Devices' Pacifica virtualization specifications for processors. Microsoft's move comes shortly after Intel and AMD publicly backed a popular open-source project known as Xen that develops open-source Hypervisor virtualization technology, which is planned to be integrated into the Linux kernel.

"Enhancements to virtualization will be a key enabler of our enterprise management suite for driving the cost of ownership out of the Microsoft platforms," Ballmer said. Microsoft would not say if the Virtual Server 2005 SP1 due in the fourth quarter will be the only update of Virtual Server 2005. Still, the company said its plans to "broadly license" the VHD format will help transition customers to the Hypervisor technology planned for Windows.

Rival VMware is prepping for battle. "It's interesting that Microsoft is abandoning the Virtual Server architecture," according to a statement issued by the Palo Alto, Calif., company last week. "What Microsoft is announcing in Longhorn matches what VMware shipped four years ago."

Virtual Server 2005 SP1 offers support for x64 host operating systems, iSCSI clustering and significant performance improvements. Microsoft also announced availability of the Microsoft Operations Manager Management Pack for Virtual Server 2005 that allows administrators to manage physical and virtual machines from a single console.

One customer said it's good for Microsoft to expand its footprint into the enterprise, but SMB customers also benefit since virtualization offers a conduit for server consolidation and maximizing IT resources.

"Small business does not mean small amounts of data," said Stephen Forte, CTO of Corzen, a financial services company in New York. "Virtualization is an economical way to reduce hardware investments."