Microsoft Unveils Its Virtual Server

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced the general availability of its eagerly awaited Virtual Server 2005 software today, but data center managers will have to put their own systems under the microscope if they want to reap its benefits, warns one analyst.

Virtualization is a hot topic at the moment, enabling IT managers to improve how they provision their data centers -- allocating resources such as applications and files across their entire server infrastructures. According to Microsoft, some early adopters of Virtual Server 2005 have been able to cut their server provisioning time between 50 and 95 percent, while reducing their physical server counts between 50 and 80 percent.

Sounds impressive, but just how likely are these improvements? It is doable,” says Laura DiDio, senior industry analyst at The Yankee Group, “But it depends on the individual [data center environment] and what the workloads are. A lot will depend on whether you have correctly configured your system -- [for example] what are your WAN links? You have to make sure that it will work with your existing drivers and applications."

DiDio also warns that users should make sure that they have got sufficient horsepower to support all this -- namely the CPUs at the heart of their servers. As a result, they will have to do their homework if they want to deploy Virtual Server 2005, auditing their data center infrastructure and checking that their existing contracts are compliant.

”You have to do an asset management test in-house to ensure that your existing environment can handle this stuff,” she says.The guys over in Redmond are hyping Virtual Server 2005’s ability to reduce costs and improve efficiency in three specific areas: automation of software testing and development; rehosting legacy applications; and consolidating workloads on production servers. The last may include networking, directory infrastructure, or departmental applications.

This is all well and good, but many firms are simply not equipped to deal with this type of product, according to DiDio. “It’s not like it was 10 or 12 years ago when you could do a standalone upgrade. Now there are so many interdependencies between different network, software, hardware, and storage products," she says. "You have some enterprises that are as well prepared as Switzerland is for a nuclear war. Others are totally clueless and tempt fate by being remiss at getting their act together."

However, Microsoft is not the only player in the virtualization market, with EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) already well established following its acquisition of VMware Inc. earlier this year (see EMC Completes VMware Acquisition). Another competitor is Herndon, Va.'s SWsoft Inc. with its Virtuozzo product.

Microsoft’s entry into this market follows 18 months of development work. Virtual Server, which runs under Windows Server 2003, is based on technology pioneered by virtualization firm Connectix, which was acquired by Microsoft in February 2003.

Although the new virtualization product is only one part of the broader Microsoft empire, the software firm is expected to offer deals involving its other products as it attempts to take market share from the likes of EMC.— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-Gen Data Center Forum