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Virtualizing Linux on Microsoft Hyper-V

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If you are not aware, Microsoft supports running Linux on Hyper-V platform, though at this time only SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1 is supported.

Microsoft has recently got into an agreement with Red Hat and working with Red Hat Hardware Certification program and Red Hat is joining the Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) , Once Hyper-V is a validated platform under the certification program, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) will be a supported guest on Hyper-V.

All those customers who are running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and Windows Server 2008 RTM can download the Integration Components for Linux from Microsoft download page.

The Linux integration components support the following guest operating systems:

  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2 x86.
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2 x64

The Linux Integration Components for Hyper-V provide the following functionality:

  • Driver support for synthetic devices: The Linux integration components include support for both the synthetic network controller and synthetic storage controller that have been developed specifically for Hyper-V. These components take advantage of the new high-speed bus, VMBus, which was developed for Hyper-V.
  • Hypercall adapter: The Hypercall adapter is a thin layer of software that translates the Xen-specific virtualization function calls from a Xen-enabled Linux kernel to Microsoft Hyper-V hypercalls. This results in improved performance for the Linux virtual machine.
  • Fastpath Boot Support: Boot devices now take advantage of the storage VSC to provide enhanced performance.

And if you are evaluating Windows Server 2008 R2 with Linux VMs, you can download the Integration Components for Linux Beta from the Microsoft Connect site.

Its great to see Hyper-V evolving as a Virtualization platform for where customer has choice of running the OS of their choice, I know its just the beginning and much more to come..

Stay tuned..

Let me know what you think..

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