With virtualization taking over the computing world, enterprises everywhere are finding that virtual machines spread across an organization need to be managed as much as their physical computers are. Companies are also figuring out that these virtual machines have special needs and requirements that can multiply very quickly as servers are added, moved, changed or removed.
On Tuesday, Microsoft released to manufacturing System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008. The final code will be shipped on November 1. The company bills the software as one-stop organization, allowing administrators to set up and deploy new virtual machines and manage hosts and other virtual infrastructure elements from one console.
There has been a dearth of conveniently packaged servers for the midsize market. HP decided to try to change that with the introduction of the HP BladeSystem c3000. I recently tested a well-equipped unit, and overall, my impressions are positive.
Recently, Microsoft released its second release candidate build, RC1, of Windows Essential Business Server, or EBS, a midmarket server solution for businesses with 50 to 300 users and computers.
Last week, Microsoft released its virtualization product, Hyper-V, to manufacturing. Previously, the company had promised to make a production-supported version of Hyper-V available to Windows Server 2008 customers within 180 days of the official release of the operating system itself. By releasing Hyper-V in late June, Microsoft beat its self-imposed deadline by about a month, although delivering less than was originally promised.
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 has been released in a staggered fashion to a variety of channels, and Windows XP Service Pack 3 is right around the corner. So why should you care if you're also considering adopting Windows Server 2008? How do the respective service packs fit into the overall design?
Windows has never enjoyed the powerful shell scripting environments that its Unix rivals have long included. That's changed now with the inclusion of PowerShell, Microsoft's command-line shell and scripting language, in Windows Server 2008 and a passel of other Microsoft server products as well.
Since Windows Vista has been released to the public, there has been a lot of confusion and hype surrounding some of the licensing decisions and restrictions with which Microsoft Corp. saddled the operating system and its many versions. Additionally, there's a new type of product key and a volume key management system that you might not know about. In this article, I'll take a look at five distinct points about Vista licensing and key management and give you the most current answers to what I've found are the most common questions about those topics.
With the recent initial public offering of VMware being greeted with a resounding cheer from investors, it's clear that virtualization is increasingly important to businesses. Corporations are working virtualization strategies into their budgets and plans, and suppliers have responded with a number of products. In fact, two major players in the industry, VMware and Microsoft, are offering their previously for-pay server products for free, presumably to foster demand for their more-expensive and more-capable enterprise systems.
The most recent Community Technology Preview, or CTP, of the newly renamed Windows Server 2008 (formerly Windows "Longhorn") was released on June 26 to very little fanfare. That could be because users are asking, "What's new in this release?"
