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Microsoft delivers Hyper-V Server 2008 R2

Aug. 31, 2009 Paul Thurrott | Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows

Microsoft shipped the free version of its second-generation hypervisor virtualization platform, Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, and if you look over the docs, you’ll see that this thing is vastly improved compared to the first version. In fact, it appears to pick up the most important capabilities and functionality of its Hyper-V cousin (the version in Windows Server 2008 R2). So it features Live Migration (where the original didn’t even support quick migration), as well as some pretty heady hardware support (up to 8 physical processors, up from 4; up to 64 processor cores in virtual machines, up from 24; up to 1 TB of RAM; up from 32 GB; and so on). Pretty amazing. Did I mention it was free?

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 is a stand-alone product that provides a reliable and optimized virtualization solution enabling organizations to improve server utilization and reduce costs. With the addition of new features such as live migration and expanded processor and memory support for host systems, it allows organizations to consolidate workloads onto a single physical server and is a good solution for organizations who are consolidating servers as well as for development and test environments.

By having the ability to plug into existing IT infrastructures Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 enables companies to reduce costs, improve utilization and provision new servers. It allows IT professionals to leverage existing patching, provisioning, management and support tools and processes. IT Professionals can continue to leverage their individual skills and the collective knowledge of Microsoft tools, minimizing the learning curve to manage Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2. In addition, with Microsoft providing comprehensive support for Microsoft applications and heterogeneous guest operating systems support, customers can virtualize with confidence and peace of mind.

I'm sure the release of this on the eve of VMWare's VMWorld show is coincidental. :)

Discuss this Article 27

Lindy
on Aug 31, 2009
Cant it boot from a 32meg jump drive like ESXi? How does it free management tools compare to ESXi management tools?
Ocean
on Aug 31, 2009
I liked this: "We have another example of how Apple's is unique in the realm of mainstream consumer operating systems: OS X gets faster and more powerful each time without significantly upping its hardware requirements. In the age of Windows Vista, this seems incredible." "Each successive release of OS X has gotten lighter and more efficient. It hasn't introduced bloat that forces users to upgrade their systems. Quite the opposite: It's gotten leaner while getting more powerful. It's not clear that Microsoft will ever feel compelled to work the same way. It's got too much riding on it now that the entire PC ecosystem seems to be counting on Windows 7 to drive new a new crop of PC sales." http://blog.internetnews.com/csaunders/2009/08/apples-snow-leopard-puts-...
Waethorn
on Aug 31, 2009
I'm not sure I get where this product fits in. Windows Server 2008 Standard includes Hyper-V in a Core install, and yet you have a license to run Windows Server 2008 as a full OS under itself, running Hyper-V. This product doesn't really meet the needs for small business users either, since Small Business Server Premium would be the best match, and it includes the full (1x physical+1x virtual) license of Windows Server 2008 Standard as well. I could only imagine that this would be an OS that would be used by somebody that's trying to virtualize multiple disparate OS's (*nix and legacy Windows Server 2003/2000) on a single piece of hardware. For the Windows Server 2008 realm, it doesn't make a lot of sense to go this route.
Ocean
on Aug 31, 2009
"Most have noted that Snow Leopard offers a few new features, performs a little quicker and then go on to spend a few hundred words delivering the written equivalent of a shrug." "Here's the breakthrough: Apple's OS X, Snow Leopard, which goes on sale Friday, uses less code than its predecessor to do the same job. It's a remarkable act of discipline that has broken a decades-long trend toward ever more bloated operating system software." http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/27/apple-operating-system-technology-enter...
ggolcher
on Aug 31, 2009
Ocean, can you please stay on topic, for crying out loud?
EricoF3
on Aug 31, 2009
@Ocean: What is your point? You seems to be off topic... Isn't it?
EricoF3
on Aug 31, 2009
@Ocean: We all know that you like Apple... But know you can stop because you just make a foul of yourself... We respect you Apple preference, so stop this off topic things...
gfryesc1
on Aug 31, 2009
I think Ocean is trying to counter what Paul glosses over with his blinders on when he talks about how 'sexy' windows 7 is. and how boring snow leopard is. That's fair of him.
Dipsh t Admin
on Aug 31, 2009
"Apple's OS X, Snow Leopard, which goes on sale Friday, uses less code than its predecessor to do the same job." At the expense of PowerPC users. Sorry for feeding the troll known as Ocean.
EricoF3
on Aug 31, 2009
We all like OSX here ... It is a really cute OS.... but now be serious ... This is a Windows blog, isn't it?
Ocean
on Aug 31, 2009
"At the expense of PowerPC users." Nope. "Among the top software developers, who else has a reputation for successive, major releases that work better and run faster without raising platform requirements? Think about this and let me know. I bet you'll find it's a pretty short list." "What's telling, however, is what Apple didn't do: It didn't load up its new operating system with new features. " http://blog.internetnews.com/csaunders/2009/08/apples-snow-leopard-puts-... http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/27/apple-operating-system-technology-enter...
Ocean
on Aug 31, 2009
"It is a really cute OS" Paul says: "Snow Leopard, like Leopard before it, is a fine OS, a rock-solid and capable computing foundation" Question: Are gaining new features the only reason to upgrade your OS? Should hardware upgrades be the most common way of gaining performance upgrades?
Delmont
on Aug 31, 2009
I come here to read on a server o/s. Yet, once again I see the immature child Ocean taking us all off topic. So, let the call go out again to have Ocean bounced.
Waethorn
on Aug 31, 2009
"Among the top software developers, who else has a reputation for successive, major releases that work better and run faster without raising platform requirements?" Obviously not Apple. They *raised* system requirements, which is probably surprising to you for some reason: a) It requires more RAM than its predecessor (Leopard only requires 512MB, Snow Leopard requires 1GB) b) It requires a faster processor than Leopard (Leopard ran on an 867MHz processor, Tiger ran on a 333) c) It requires an Intel processor (Leopard requires a G4 or higher for PPC, Tiger ran on a G3 but required that it have built-in Firewire)
de Silentio
on Aug 31, 2009
@Waethorn: "I could only imagine that this would be an OS that would be used by somebody that's trying to virtualize multiple disparate OS's" It's not an OS, it's a Hyper Visor. "Windows Server 2008 Standard includes Hyper-V in a Core install, and yet you have a license to run Windows Server 2008 as a full OS under itself, running Hyper-V." I have never used Hyper-V, so I may not know what I'm talking about, but from what I understand, with Server 2008 you have to install Windows Server 2008 itself, then run the Hyper-V as a Role, making Windows Server 2008 the Hyper Visor. WIth the stand alone, that is not the case, Hyper-V is the Hyper Visor. This reduces the "hyper visor" tax on the hardware resources.
Waethorn
on Aug 31, 2009
I'd like to know what the differences are between Server Core w/ only the Hyper-V role enabled, and Hyper-V Server.
Waethorn
on Aug 31, 2009
@de Silentio See my last question. Hyper-V Server 2008 appears to be identical to Windows Server 2008 Core w/ the Hyper-V role installed, and has more license restrictions. You also can't install additional roles. There may be other differences, such as less installed code needed for Hyper-V because of the fact that no other roles can be installed, etc. Besides possible licensing and hardware support (number of CPU's, RAM, etc), are there any differences performance wise or functionality wise? If you saw them side-by-side on the same hardware, would there be a difference, besides some synthetic restrictions?
mikegalos@msn.com
on Aug 31, 2009
Waethorn "Obviously not Apple. They *raised* system requirements" Now that's not entirely fair, Ocean didn't ask about reality. He asked "who has a reputation". And Apple's reputation among their fans would qualify despite that reputation and those fans being totally detached from reality.
Waethorn
on Aug 31, 2009
"I have never used Hyper-V, so I may not know what I'm talking about, but from what I understand, with Server 2008 you have to install Windows Server 2008 itself, then run the Hyper-V as a Role, making Windows Server 2008 the Hyper Visor." That's not correct. The OS sits on top of the hypervisor. Hyper-V uses a hardware partitioning scheme where the initial Windows Server 2008 install becomes the parent OS partition, and the others are considered child OS partitions. The Server 2008 manages the child partitions, as well as some of the hardware used by the child partitions. The parent is also used to create the child partitions. Hyper-V Server 2008 is similar to Windows Server Core 2008 with the Hyper-V role enabled, but there are other synthetic restrictions with Hyper-V Server. With Server 2008 (Core or Full) you can run instances of Server 2008, virtualized under the parent OS. The parent OS should only be used for managing child partitions, but when you buy a license for Server 2008 Standard, you get an additional license for running the virtualized version of Server 2008 to run your normal roles. Enterprise comes with 4 child OS licenses for Server 08, and Datacenter comes with unlimited child OS licenses. Hyper-V offers no additional licenses to run the OS as a child (you can't do anything with Hyper-V except run the VM management anyway, so it's useless as a child OS).
Dipsh t Admin
on Aug 31, 2009
""At the expense of PowerPC users." Nope." It's at the expense of PowerPC users since they will need to purchase a new machine in order to take advantage of the newer features. I don't see how that statement garners a "nope". "What's telling, however, is what Apple didn't do: It didn't load up its new operating system with new features." Wow, I love all of the backpedaling from the Apple camp. Previously, when Cupertino told users to please buy the new OS since it had "300" new features, the Mac fans went crazy for it and all of the enhancements, even the new mail stationary. Now Apple releases an OS that, according to some, doesn't really have any new features, and that is now viewed as revolutionary. I was not going to call SL a service pack before, because I honestly thought that the operating system would have some substantive changes that users would notice, so I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. However, in the light that reviewers are talking about SL, it IS a service pack that they are charging for. FWIW, I do believe that the modern OS in all major flavors has reached a certain level of sophistication, and the advent of blockbuster changes is being replaced by evolutionary upgrades.
Waethorn
on Aug 31, 2009
"He asked "who has a reputation". And Apple's reputation among their fans would qualify" Remember the base of the word "reputation" is "repute". Encarta has a good explanation: [Mid-16th century. Directly or via French< Latin reputare "think repeatedly" < putare "think"] So Apple's slogan should be "Think Different, but Think it Repeatedly". ;) Did you know that the root of the word goes back even further, and has more in common with the word "refute" than you might know? "refute" is the negative, loosely meaning "to challenge", whereas "repute" is the positive, loosely meaning "to accept" (original roots are in verb form too, whereas the English norm is a noun).
Ocean
on Aug 31, 2009
"They *raised* system requirements..." ...and all the while made the OS smaller, faster and more responsive on older systems that don't meet those requirements.
mikegalos@msn.com
on Aug 31, 2009
Ocean Which, I guess in some wierd Mac Fanboi way is measured by worse benchmark performance in all the test run so far?
panache1023
on Aug 31, 2009
Dipshit, Really...quite interesting... So, what do YOU think differentiates an update vs a service pack? I think a new 64-bit kernel, new support built in for Exchange, new GUI features (some may be minor), support for new GPGPU APIs (open standard OpenCL built in to OS), and a new thread scheduler would count. The hypocricy on this site never ceases to amaze me.
Dipsh t Admin
on Aug 31, 2009
"So, what do YOU think differentiates an update vs a service pack?" Well, a service pack is a compilation of updates. ;) But seriously, I assume you mean UPGRADE. I don't know where the line is drawn, and as I made relatively clear, given the general tone of reviews and the sudden infatuation of not needing new features in an upgraded OS, I was really only referring to the reviewers views on the situation. Is it more than a service pack? Probably, but not much more. And even RJ and Cupertino think so. And those added features you mention are really very weak. OK, I'll give you the GUI features and the (finally!) true 64-bit support, but to call Exchange support a new feature that *most* users would be willing to pay for is kind of stretching it. And a new thread scheduler and API's are also very limited in scope. Given the mantra of OS X to be that it just works, adding such things are trivial, and the loss of PowerPC users should be troubling to some. The hypocrisy of some users never ceases to amaze me.
Delmont
on Aug 31, 2009
For me, compare SP1 back on WinXP. Compare SP1 for VIsta. Compare 10.6 to OS X. If anything this 10.6 has less technical updates at the core level than both first service packs to WinXP and Vista. Now I'll just sit back and have the morons of Ocean flame me from their mother's basement with PR quotes from apple.com
anonymous
on Sep 28, 2009
Fluent NHibernate 1.0 RTM : Excelente alternativa al NHibernate que emplea fluent interfaces en lugar

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