Chances are you have already heard or seen the word “server virtualization.” Virtualization lets you consolidate multiple servers and operating systems on to a single computer. A major benefit is that instead of using a dedicated server for every application and service you require, you can run the applications and services in virtual server instances on a single computer. This allows you to continue to isolate applications and services while making better use of existing hardware.

Virtual Server 2005 R2 is Microsoft’s latest release of the virtualization software and includes new capabilities and enhancements over its predecessor. The following series of articles will introduce just a few of the new things that you can look forward to seeing in the latest release of Virtual Server.

Supported Operating Systems
Virtual Server 2005 R2 supports several host and guest operating systems. You can install Virtual Server R2 on several different operating systems (also referred to as host operating systems). Along with the same hosts supported in VS2005, the latest version includes support for:

• Windows XP Pro SP2
• Windows Server 2003 (SP1, R2)
• Windows XP/Windows Server 2003 x64

The guest operating systems are those that you can run inside a virtual machine. The guest operating systems supported by R2 are the same as those supported in the previous version and includes:

• Windows XP Pro SP2
• Windows Server 2003 (SP1/R2)
• Linux (9x distros)

X64-bit Host Operating Systems
Virtual Server 2005 R2 is able to run on x64-bit Windows host operating systems. This lets you take advantage of increased performance and provides greater memory scalability.

You can install Virtual Server 2005 R2 on any of the following 64-bit host operating systems:

• Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition
• Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition
• Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

Tags: virtual server 2005, windows, xp, virtualization