Microsoft Hyper-V Server RTM's.......But isn't it out already??
Microsoft Hyper-V Server has RTM'd and is available at the link below. That link also provides all the information you'll ever need on the topic, as well as when to use what version etc.
But, just to clear up any questions like "I thought Hyper-V was already released?"
You're right, it has......BUT......in a nutshell Microsoft Hyper-V Server and Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V are separate products. The final version of Hyper-V as part of Windows Server 2008 was released a few months back whereas Microsoft Hyper-V Server was only released to web on Oct 1.
The primary difference is that Microsoft Hyper-V Server is a bare metal virtualization platform containing only the Windows Hypervisor, Windows Server driver model and virtualization components.
So if you're looking for something to provide a basic and simplified virtualization solution for consolidating servers as well as for development and test environments, you should look no further. As it offers the most basic of virtualization features it's a good fit for:
- Test and Development
- Basic Server Consolidation
- Branch Office Consolidation
- Hosted Desktop Virtualization (VDI)
Should you want more features....scalability, clustering etc you should look to Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V.
Check out the link below to find out more details.