Hyper-V R2 Gains Live Migration

When Windows Server 2008 R2 is released in late 2009, it will include the second version of Hyper-V, Microsoft’s hypervisor-based virtualization server role that makes it possible for multiple, different OS and application instances to coexist on a single physical computer by putting each instance in a virtual machine (VM). The second version of Hyper-V will allow an administrator to move VMs from one physical host to another without interrupting users (called Live Migration), will perform faster, and will no longer require a post-installation download, but using the live migration feature will require careful server and storage selection.

Why Hypervisors Matter

Hypervisor-based server hardware virtualization is a key technology for large organizations because it offers the potential to increase both server hardware utilization and operational flexibility. The technology also has become important to Microsoft as it tries to compete with existing virtualization vendors, such as VMware and Xen, and furthers the concept of dynamic data centers.