Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Beta 2 Download link and availability

Following on a previous entry in April, within the last hour, Beta 2 of Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 has been made available for public release. For more information, sign up at https://connect.microsoft.com

Beta 2 introduces support for AMD Virtualization Technology (formerly Pacifica) for hardware assisted vitualization. Beta 1 previously introduced this support for Intel VT. If, on the host, you are running an x64 version of Windows on an AMD machine, you will need to install a hotfix _before_ installing Beta 2. More information is in the release notes.

Beta 2 also introduces VSS support, a long asked for capability to be able to perform snapshot backups, and support for mounting of Virtual Hard Disks.

As always, please remember to take all the normal precautions - NOT deploying Beta software in your production environment, limiting it to test use only and reading the release notes carefully. Oh, and don't forget to shutdown (not save the state of) your VMs before upgrading to this build. Otherwise, enjoy!

More information can be found here.

Cheers,
John.

PS - No, I haven't forgotten the Secure Wireless Network stuff - just I'm extra busy right now... Normal service will be resumed shortly :)