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Windows Server virtualization Community Technology Preview now available

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As announced here: https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2007/sep07/09-24windowserverrc0.mspx Window Server 2008 Release Candidate 0 is now available for download (you can download it from here: https://www.microsoft.com/Windowsserver2008/audsel.mspx).  The best thing as though is that this release includes the Windows Server virtualization Community Technology Preview.

Now - a couple of notes here:

  1. This is a preview release. 

    Which means that performance / compatibility / stability is nowhere near what it will be by the time we ship the final release.  The real purpose of this release is to give you a preview - so don't expect everything to work off the bat.

  2. The following features are not present / supported in this release:

    1. Clustering of virtual machines
    2. Clustering of the physical servers
    3. Compacting of virtual hard disks
    4. Backing up guest operating systems using volume snapshot (VSS)

  3. Virtual machines are only supported if they configured as follows:

    1. For the guest operating system, install one of the following:
      1. The RC0 release of Windows Server 2008 with a maximum of 4 virtual processors. No other release of Windows Server 2008 is supported with this release of Windows Server virtualization. You can install either a 32-bit version or an x64-based version.
      2. The Windows Server 2003 operating system, with a maximum of 1 virtual processor. You can install either a 32-bit version or an x64-based version.
    2. Maximum of 64 GB memory.
    3. Maximum of one virtual SCSI controller per virtual machine.
    4. Maximum of one virtual network controller per virtual machine.
    5. Maximum of one legacy virtual network controller per virtual machine.

Okay - start downloading now and I will have more posts about using the CTP coming.

Cheers,
Ben

Comments

  • Anonymous
    September 24, 2007
    Is it available for download? The link you posted has said "Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate 0 will be available here shortly" for hours now.

  • Anonymous
    September 24, 2007
    downloading now... quite slow, even on a 100Mbit/sec connection, so I guess that it's very popular! can you tell us what the limit for virtual NICs will be on the release version?

  • Anonymous
    September 26, 2007
    Hmm ... I downloaded RC0 x64 from MSDN, and I can't see the Virtualization role to add. Perhaps the version in your link is different?

  • Anonymous
    September 26, 2007
    There is a WSV Customer Technology Preview (CTP) Setup Guide @ Virtualization Team blog

  • Anonymous
    September 27, 2007
    Can this be changed to use Transfer Manager? I just spent 2 hours not getting all of it.

  • Anonymous
    September 27, 2007
    Congrats on the release! Win2k8 server as a guest seems pretty slow.  How far is the CTP performance-wise from where the final release will be?

  • Anonymous
    September 27, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 29, 2007
    Ah-ha! There is more to it. You must do something for the role to appear. http://blogs.technet.com/jamesone/archive/2007/09/26/other-big-news-2008-rc-0-and-installing-windows-server-virtualization.aspx

  • Anonymous
    September 29, 2007
    Thanks for info I found on this blog. Can I use some info I found here at my site http://floreshti.com ?

  • Anonymous
    October 02, 2007
    Searching.... USB mention not found :(

  • Anonymous
    October 05, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    October 05, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    October 10, 2007
    I sent this question to the Windows Virtualization Team as well, maybe someone here has some thoughts.  If I create a VM with my license, how do I share it with people so they can use it with theirs?  This is a big issue in my opinion - it would be great to be able to create Windows based virtual appliances.

  • Anonymous
    October 16, 2007
    Hi , I want to install Windows 2003 server on a Virutal PC(for my work ofcourse), do i need to purchase license for it ? if no, the is there any Microsoft web site which says so. If yes, the can you provide me the details thanks Jaiganesh srinivasan

  • Anonymous
    October 23, 2007
    Hi All, Sorry for the delayed response - I have been out of action for a little bit. Anthony - The CTP is farily attrocious on performance.  Things will be much better by the time the beta release comes out. DosFreak - Harsh man, harsh. dar - go for it. Peter Bridger - Correct.  Still no USB support (sorry). Thor - You need an updated BIOS in order to use the F2 processor.  Contact your BIOS / Motherboard / System manufacturer to find out what their timeline is. Brutal American Soldier - I am sorry to hear you feel that way. Charles Toepfer - I believe someone should have got back to your email by now. Jaiganesh Srinivasan - Yes.  Virtual machines are licensed just like physical computers.  If you are doing this for development purposes you may want to look into the MSDN license. Cheers, Ben