Virtualization
This site contains a collection of articles and useful links to various virtualization technical documents. If you are new to Microsoft virtualization technlogies, here you will find useful resources to help jumpstart your learning in the areas of Hyper-V, Virtual PC, and Virtual Server.
Introduction
Virtualization refers to the movement of an operating system (or application, in the case of App-V) from a physical computer to a Virtual Machine(VM) that performs the same role. This is done for a number of reasons:
- Ease of management - Monitor multiple VMs from the same console, backup/replication is simple since each VM is just a set of files
- Efficient use of resources - Multiple VMs can be run on the same physical machine
- Cost savings - In addition to needing fewer physical servers, you also spend less on licensing since Microsoft has generous virtualized licensing policies
Comparison
Here is a quick comparison of Microsoft hardware virtualization technologies:
| | Virtual PC | Virtual Server | Hyper-V |
| Host CPU Architecture | 32 or 64-bit | 32 or 64-bit | 64-bit (must support Virtualization Extentions) |
| Guest OS Architecture | 32-bit | 32-bit | 32 or 64-bit |
| User Interface | Local program | Web based | MMC Plugin, can be run on remote computers |
| Max CPUs for Guest VM | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Max RAM for Guest VM | 3.6GB | 3.6GB | 64GB |
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