The company's Hyper-V virtualization technology will be included in three versions.BARCELONA—Microsoft will release eight versions of Windows Server 2008 when it ships in late February 2008, three of which will include its hypervisor technology, Hyper-V.
The Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter versions of Windows Server 2008 will be offered with and without Hyper-V, both in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, Brad Anderson, general manager for the Windows and Enterprise management division, said at a press conference at the TechEd IT Forum event here Nov. 12.
Andersons comments came ahead of the conferences opening keynote address by Bob Kelly, corporate vice president of infrastructure server marketing.
The Windows Server 2008 Standard product with Hyper-V will cost $999 and include five CALs (Client Access Licenses) and $971 without Hyper-V. The Enterprise version with Hyper-V will cost $3,999 and comes with 25 CALs and retail for $3,971 without the hypervisor, while the Datacenter edition will cost $2,999 per processor including Hyper-V and $2,971 without, Anderson said.
Windows Web Server 2008, designed as a single purpose Web server, will cost $469, and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based systems, which is optimized for large databases and line-of-business and custom applications, will cost $2,999 a processor.
Read more here about the release candidate for Windows Server 2008.
Neither of these products include Hyper-V, Anderson said, noting that there will only be a 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based systems.
"When Windows Server 2008 ships next February, those versions that have Hyper-V will include the beta bits for that, and those will be updated to the final version when that ships within 180 days," he said.
Microsoft will also release Hyper-V server, a standalone hypervisor-based server virtualization product that complements the Hyper-V technology in Windows Server 2008 and allows customers to virtualize workloads onto a single physical server, Anderson said. That will retail for $28.
The software maker is also rolling out a new server virtualization validation program to enable vendors to test and validate virtualization software running Windows Server 2008 as well as earlier versions of the software.
To read more about why the hypervisor is a huge draw for Windows Server 2008, click here.
"This program will also help Microsoft offer cooperative technical support to customers running Windows Server on validated, non-Windows server virtualization software," Anderson said, noting that Microsoft was also making a set of free guidance resources and tools available that can help IT professionals effectively plan and deploy virtualization technologies.
The initial release of this includes the Infrastructure Planning and Design series and the Assessment and Planning tool beta program.
The company also announced the general availability of three new products in the System Center family of system management solutions, including System Center Configuration Manager 2007, System Center Data Protection Manager 2007, and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007.
"These products can enable organizations to optimize a variety of scenarios, including server and software deployment, compliance and configuration management, backup and restore, and virtualization management," Anderson said.
Read more here about the reshaping of the virtualization market.
Microsoft will also debut the System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise Edition license, which helps enable customers to manage their entire server life cycle with one purchase and can provide better value for managing both physical and virtual server environments.
Microsoft also announced the System Center Alliance program, which provides detailed guidance and resources to help partners deliver tools and products that can work with Microsoft System Center management solutions.
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