Introducing Hyper-V

Microsoft's virtualization strategy is slowly beginning to have a well-defined contour. The TechEd IT Forum 2007 in Barcelona, Spain was the stage where the Redmond company unveiled details related to its new virtualization offerings. In this manner Hyper-V has taken shape. Microsoft's increasing focus on virtualization technology is well exemplified by the effort poured into making the Viridian hypervisor an integer part of Windows Server 2008. A hypervisor is essentially a thin layer that sits between the hardware and the operating system."Hyper-V is the official name of the server virtualization technology within Windows Server 2008 that was previously code-named "Viridian." Microsoft also announced Hyper-V Server, a standalone hypervisor-based server virtualization product that complements the Hyper-V technology in Windows Server 2008 and allows customers to virtualize workloads onto a single physical server," Microsoft informed. At the same time, Microsoft has also announced Hyper-V Server, an offering designed to extend on the Hyper-V technology integrated by default into Windows Server 2008. The company's own description of the Hyper-V Server reveals intentions to deliver a product focused on hypervisor-based server virtualization. Currently, the Redmond company estimates the price of the Hyper-V Server at $28, also announcing a list of hardware partners including Dell Inc., Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., HP, IBM Corp., Lenovo, NEC Corp. and Unisys. "Earlier this year, we introduced our vision for Dynamic IT, which aims to make IT a stronger partner to the business by bringing together the capabilities of core infrastructure, application and development platforms. At TechEd IT Forum, we are demonstrating how that vision is coming to life for customers as IT is streamlined across the full spectrum of our software and technology offerings, including through exciting new developments with Windows Server, Microsoft System Center, Microsoft SQL Server and the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack. The response from customers has been strong as we move toward the worldwide February 2008 launch of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008," revealed Bob Kelly, corporate vice president in Microsoft's Server and Tools Business.