MS is sure making it hard to write a “current” book on Hyper-V virtualization.
VMMSSP 2.0 RC
A release candidate has appeared for a V2.0 VMM Self-Service Portal.
“VMMSSP (also referred to as the self-service portal) is a fully supported, partner-extensible solution built on top of Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V, and System Center VMM. You can use it to pool, allocate, and manage resources to offer infrastructure as a service and to deliver the foundation for a private cloud platform inside your datacenter. VMMSSP includes a pre-built web-based user interface that has sections for both the datacenter managers and the business unit IT consumers, with role-based access control. VMMSSP also includes a dynamic provisioning engine. VMMSSP reduces the time needed to provision infrastructures and their components by offering business unit “on-boarding,” infrastructure request and change management. The VMMSSP package also includes detailed guidance on how to implement VMMSSP inside your environment.
Important: VMMSSP is not an upgrade to the existing VMM 2008 R2 self-service portal. You can choose to deploy and use one or both self-service portals depending on your requirements”.
My chapter on VMM was completed a while ago. *sigh*
Service Pack 1 Beta
A public beta for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 was launched today. This includes RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory.
Ben Armstrong has blogged to confirm the supported guest operating systems for Dynamic Memory (as I posted here a while back based on the TechEd announcement and Ben’s TechEd presentation).
Windows Azure Appliance
We also have had the announcement of Windows Azure Appliance coming at some point in the future. This will be supported on specific hardware. It’s hardly surprising that Dell was on the stage; Azure runs on Dell hardware, at least in Dublin. EBay and Fujitsu were on stage.
This product has been uber-secret, with nary a whisper. Some of us expected a different announcement – a traditional VM hosting solution based on Azure. I missed everything after the appliance announcement – the keynote was waaaay too long and I was well hammered cos I was playing the “Bob Muglia cloud drinking game” (I’m kidding – I didn’t have any booze with me). I’m left wondering a few things:
- Where does this leave Hyper-V? MS’s pitch for hosting is that Azure is the only thing to develop on. Is that true of the private cloud now? Is MS killing Windows Server?
- Has MS muddied up their offering, making it confusing for the purchaser? Have they just frozen Hyper-V sales with the promise of something “better”?
- Azure Appliance sounds like it might have a limited HCL. Without knowing the architecture, are we straying into VMware territory?
Yeah, I’m being a bit cynical. But I tend to approach new things from a critical point of view. You can pretty much take it that I am then genuine if I claim to like something.
BTW, Steve Ballmer said that if you’re not interested in “The Cloud” then MS wants nothing to do with you. Oh-Kay then! I wonder if the shareholders are comfortable with him adlibbing?