Microsoft Virtual Server
Encyclopedia
Microsoft Virtual Server is a virtualization solution that facilitates the creation of virtual machines on the Windows XP
, Windows Vista
and Windows Server 2003
operating systems. Originally developed by Connectix
, it was acquired by Microsoft
prior to release. Virtual PC
is Microsoft's related desktop virtualization software package.
Virtual machine
s are created and managed through an IIS
web-based interface or through a Windows client application tool called VMRCplus.
The current version is Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. New features in R2 SP1 include Linux
guest operating system support, Virtual Disk Precompactor, SMP
(but not for the Guest OS), x86-64
(x64) Host OS support (but not Guest OS support), the ability to mount virtual hard drives on the host OS and additional operating systems, including Windows Vista
. It also provides a Volume Shadow Copy writer which enables live backups of the Guest OS on a Windows Server 2003
or Windows Server 2008 Host. A utility to mount VHD images is also included since SP1. Virtual Machine Additions for Linux are downloadable here. Officially supported Linux guest operating systems include Red Hat Enterprise Linux
versions 2.1-5.0, Red Hat Linux
9.0, SUSE Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
versions 9 and 10.
Virtual Server has been superseded by Hyper-V
.
The initial release of Microsoft's Virtual Server, general availability, was announced on September 13, 2004.
Virtual Server 2005, was available in two editions: Standard and Enterprise. The Enterprise edition supported more processors.
On 2006-04-03, Microsoft made Virtual Server 2005 R2 Enterprise Edition a free download, in order to better compete with the free virtualization offerings from VMware
and Xen
, and discontinued the Standard Edition.
Microsoft Virtual Server R2 SP1 added support for both Intel VT (IVT) and AMD Virtualization (AMD-V).
Testing software updates and patches
To solve compatibility issues between software packages
To solve software legacy issues
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
and Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005...
operating systems. Originally developed by Connectix
Connectix
Connectix Corporation was a software and hardware company, noted for having released innovative products that were either made obsolete as Apple Computer incorporated the ideas into system software, or were sold to other companies once they become popular...
, it was acquired by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
prior to release. Virtual PC
Microsoft Virtual PC
Windows Virtual PC is a virtualization program for Microsoft Windows. In July 2006 Microsoft released the Windows-hosted version as a free product...
is Microsoft's related desktop virtualization software package.
Virtual machine
Virtual machine
A virtual machine is a "completely isolated guest operating system installation within a normal host operating system". Modern virtual machines are implemented with either software emulation or hardware virtualization or both together.-VM Definitions:A virtual machine is a software...
s are created and managed through an IIS
Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
web-based interface or through a Windows client application tool called VMRCplus.
The current version is Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. New features in R2 SP1 include Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
guest operating system support, Virtual Disk Precompactor, SMP
Symmetric multiprocessing
In computing, symmetric multiprocessing involves a multiprocessor computer hardware architecture where two or more identical processors are connected to a single shared main memory and are controlled by a single OS instance. Most common multiprocessor systems today use an SMP architecture...
(but not for the Guest OS), x86-64
X86-64
x86-64 is an extension of the x86 instruction set. It supports vastly larger virtual and physical address spaces than are possible on x86, thereby allowing programmers to conveniently work with much larger data sets. x86-64 also provides 64-bit general purpose registers and numerous other...
(x64) Host OS support (but not Guest OS support), the ability to mount virtual hard drives on the host OS and additional operating systems, including Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
. It also provides a Volume Shadow Copy writer which enables live backups of the Guest OS on a Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005...
or Windows Server 2008 Host. A utility to mount VHD images is also included since SP1. Virtual Machine Additions for Linux are downloadable here. Officially supported Linux guest operating systems include Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...
versions 2.1-5.0, Red Hat Linux
Red Hat Linux
Red Hat Linux, assembled by the company Red Hat, was a popular Linux based operating system until its discontinuation in 2004.Red Hat Linux 1.0 was released on November 3, 1994...
9.0, SUSE Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is a Linux distribution supplied by SUSE and targeted at the business market. It is targeted for servers, mainframes, and workstations but can be installed on desktop computers for testing as well. New major versions are released at an interval of 3-4 years, while...
versions 9 and 10.
Virtual Server has been superseded by Hyper-V
Hyper-V
Microsoft Hyper-V, codenamed Viridian and formerly known as Windows Server Virtualization, is a hypervisor-based virtualization system for x86-64 systems. A beta version of Hyper-V was shipped with certain x86-64 editions of Windows Server 2008, and the finalized version was released on June 26,...
.
Version history
Microsoft acquired an unreleased Virtual Server from Connectix in February 2003.The initial release of Microsoft's Virtual Server, general availability, was announced on September 13, 2004.
Virtual Server 2005, was available in two editions: Standard and Enterprise. The Enterprise edition supported more processors.
On 2006-04-03, Microsoft made Virtual Server 2005 R2 Enterprise Edition a free download, in order to better compete with the free virtualization offerings from VMware
VMware
VMware, Inc. is a company providing virtualization software founded in 1998 and based in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2004, and operates as a separate software subsidiary ....
and Xen
Xen
Xen is a virtual-machine monitor providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently....
, and discontinued the Standard Edition.
Microsoft Virtual Server R2 SP1 added support for both Intel VT (IVT) and AMD Virtualization (AMD-V).
Benefits of using Microsoft virtual server:
Rolling out new software to check for compatibility issuesTesting software updates and patches
To solve compatibility issues between software packages
To solve software legacy issues
Limitations
Known limitations of Virtual Server, , include the following:- Although Virtual Server 2005 R2 can run on hosts with x86-64X86-64x86-64 is an extension of the x86 instruction set. It supports vastly larger virtual and physical address spaces than are possible on x86, thereby allowing programmers to conveniently work with much larger data sets. x86-64 also provides 64-bit general purpose registers and numerous other...
processors, it cannot run x64 guests that require x86-64 processors (guests cannot be 64-bit). - It also makes use of SMPSymmetric multiprocessingIn computing, symmetric multiprocessing involves a multiprocessor computer hardware architecture where two or more identical processors are connected to a single shared main memory and are controlled by a single OS instance. Most common multiprocessor systems today use an SMP architecture...
, but does not virtualize it (it does not currently allow guests to use more than 1 CPU each). - Performance may suffer due to the way the instruction set is virtualized in this platform, with very limited direct interaction with the host hardware.
See also
- HypervisorHypervisorIn computing, a hypervisor, also called virtual machine manager , is one of many hardware virtualization techniques that allow multiple operating systems, termed guests, to run concurrently on a host computer. It is so named because it is conceptually one level higher than a supervisory program...
- Virtual disk imageVirtual disk imageA virtual disk image is a file on a physical disk, which has a well-defined, published or proprietary, format and is interpreted by a Virtual Machine Monitor as a hard disk. IT administrators and software developers administer them through offline operations using built-in or third-party tools...
- Virtual applianceVirtual applianceA virtual appliance is a virtual machine image designed to run on a virtualization platform ....
- x86 virtualizationX86 virtualizationIn computing, x86 virtualization is the facility that allows multiple operating systems to simultaneously share x86 processor resources in a safe and efficient manner, a facility generically known as hardware virtualization...
External links
- Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1
- System requirements for Microsoft Virtual Server 2005
- Benchmarking VMware ESX Server 2.5 vs Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 Enterprise Edition
- HyperAdmin: Microsoft Virtual Server Management
- System Center Virtual Machine Manager
- Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Resource Kit Book
- Benchmarking Microsoft Virtual Server 2005
- Microsoft Server Virtualization for government agencies