Virtualization Launch Day - Summary

[Update - this post seemed to get lost so I'm posting again - apologies if you get it twice!]

I thought that I would try to summarise what we launched this week, pull together the case studies, 3rd party analysis, etc. The launch has been well blogged so I'll point to what others have already written, and the materials available on Microsoft.com. This is a pretty long post so I'll follow-up in coming days with a view into each of the Virtualisation technologies that we have.

First stop off for you should be to watch the launch event from here. The video is streamed using Silverlight (get the player from here) which is cool because you can easily get to sections. As an aside if you've not seen Deepzoom with Silverlight yet then visit the Hard Rock cafe memorabilia  site hit 'v' on your keyboard - try to guess what the image is as you zoom out :) Cool isn't it? Back to the event!

• The first presentation of note is an Analyst view of Virtualisation - Simon Yates, VP and Research Director of Forester Research provides a market view - starts at 07:50 into the video
• Next up is Bob Muglia, Senior VP @ Microsoft on "Virtualization & the Emergence of the DataCentre" - Video starts @ 32.27. So this is the Microsoft Vision for a virtualised data center. Some interesting observations:
  • First off Bob made the point the Microsoft's has a view of 'Dynamic IT' which is a road that we've been on for some years through our DSI initiative. You can see from this image that Virtualisation is only one component of this vision, other components such as the ability to 'model' infrastructure is discussed later in terms of the 'Oslo' work we are doing, but this is also available now in our management and Windows Server products through SML and DCM.
    
  • Next up is the interesting current stat of the reality of Virtualisation. I'm guessing that if you are not virtualised in your DC that you feel 'behind the curve'. But the truth is that whilst Virtualisation is coming fast less than 10% of all servers today are virtualised, and less that 1% of desktops. So don't go buying vendor hype - do the right thing for your users and business and virtualise for business benefit NOT because you've seen a flash demo!
  • At about 36.00 Bob talk about our 'Virtualization 360' strategy which means that we now have the technologies to virtualise pretty much anything - Server, desktop, application, presentation and data Virtualisation.
    
    One of the things that I am most excited about is Application Virtualisation and I'll write more about that later.
  • The next key bit is an explanation of how we see Dynamic IT fleshing out and becoming a reality. You really need to watch and listen to this at 48.00 into the video.
• Next on Stage is Shanen Boettcher, a Microsoft General Manager. Shannon discussed Windows Optimized Desktop and demonstrated the use of Bitlocker, Application Virtualization, and Data redirection to rapidly reprovision a client PC. He also demonstrates Presentation Virtualisation by running Windows fundamentals on a really old laptop to remote into a desktop session. This is demo based and well worth the watch and starts at 01.02.50

So that was the launch event. The essence of what was launched as John Howard blogged it was:

• Microsoft Hyper-V Server is coming within the next 30 days and will be free
• System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 (SCVMM) is coming within the next 30 days.
• Live migration will be in the next release of Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 codename "R2"

Microsoft Hyper-V Server
There's more information on Microsoft Hyper-V Server here as first announced back at TechEd last year. It will be available for free. Microsoft Hyper-V Server contains the same fundamental technology present in the Hyper-V role in Windows Server 2008, but Hyper-V is the only capability of Microsoft Hyper-V Server. It must be managed remotely. You may have noticed if you've watched the streaming media, the screenshot showed a command-line configuration utility - this is a simple way of configuring the server for things such as IP configuration, computer name, enabling remote desktop etc. More on that to follow soon.

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008
There's more information on SCVMM here. The main announcement today was that SCVMM 2008 will be available within 30 days. The demonstration showed SCVMM managing Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1; Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V; Microsoft Hyper-V Server and VMWare ESX 3.5.

Live Migration
This was the first time we've made any announcements about the feature set in Windows Server 2008 codename "R2". Live migration is the ability to move a running virtual machine from one physical server to another with little or no perceptible downtime from an end user perspective - today's keynote showed a video being played while the virtual machine on which Windows Media Player was running was "live-migrated". Although there are many more improvements in the next release that we've been working on for many months now, there will be a fuller disclosure at the PDC conference at the end of October this year, and also at WinHEC in November.

The main place for you to visit on an ongoing basis is https://www.microsoft.com/virtualization. Here you'll find a lot of case studies of companies that are already using Microsoft Virtualisation in production. Links to product information from an easy to consume picture, and an entire page of downloads so that you can research deeper and start to trial some of this technology for yourselves.

Finally, here's a list of videos from the day that you might want to watch:

Virtualization Strategy (07:12)
Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Server and Tools Business, and Scott Woodgate, director of the Windows Business Group, demonstrate the safety, power and best practices for Microsoft’s virtualization offerings. Bellevue, Wash., Sept. 8, 2008.
Download: Zune-quality (.wmv) | Broadcast-quality (.mpeg)

Virtualization in the Datacenter (03:14)
Bob Muglia discusses the benefits of virtualization in the datacenter. Bellevue, Wash., Sept. 8, 2008.
Download: Zune-quality (.wmv) | Broadcast-quality (.mpeg)

Hyper-V Live Migration Showcase, Part 1 (01:24)
Edwin Yuen, senior product manager for integrated virtualization, and Bob Muglia discuss migrating older platforms and non-Windows platforms to Hyper-V. Bellevue, Wash., Sept. 8, 2008.
Download: Zune-quality (.wmv) | Broadcast-quality (.mpeg)

Cloud Computing and Virtualization (01:32)
Bob Muglia notes key points around the importance of virtualization in cloud computing and software plus services. Bellevue, Wash., Sept. 8, 2008.
Download: Zune-quality (.wmv) | Broadcast-quality (.mpeg)

Switching From VMware (01:56)
Vito Forte, chief information officer of WorleyParsons Ltd., answers questions from Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner about the personal experience his business has had with Microsoft’s virtualization platform. Bellevue, Wash., Sept. 8, 2008.
Download: Zune-quality (.wmv) | Broadcast-quality (.mpeg)

Get Virtual Now Introduction: Steve Ballmer (01:45)
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer welcomes attendees to the “Get Virtual Now” event — Bellevue, Wash., Sept. 8, 2008
Download: Zune-quality (.wmv) | Broadcast-quality (.mpeg)

2008 Virtualization Keynote Intro (04:15)
Nine-year-old guitar phenom, Quinn Sullivan, and a virtual Buddy Guy kick off the Virtualization launch event in Bellevue, Wash. Sept. 8, 2008
Download: Zune-quality (.wmv) | Broadcast-quality (.mpeg)

Customer Solution: Equifax (02:26)
Bob Kelly, Corporate Vice President, Infrastructure Server Marketing, and Equifax’s Brian Garcia talk about TALX’s virtualization deployment and the benefits the company realized from Microsoft Virtualization solution. Bellevue, Wash., Sept. 8, 2008
Download: Zune-quality (.wmv) | Broadcast-quality (.mpeg)

Microsoft Virtualization Partners (01:54)
Bob Kelly discuses the value of Microsoft virtualization partners and their role in helping bring virtualization benefits to customers. Bellevue, Wash., Sept. 8, 2008
Download: Zune-quality (.wmv) | Broadcast-quality (.mpeg)