Server Virtualization Race Underway. Do You Care?

From a virtualization perspective, the Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 release to manufacturing is not a big deal to me. Make no mistake -- I am quite happy with the Windows 7 beta, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be a great server operating system.

Hyper-V and the collective virtualization offering, however, don't really get me too excited for server consolidation. I find that other virtualization categories are of interest with Microsoft's offering, namely application and desktop virtualization. In the server space, Hyper-V R2 has been literally "hyped" a lot, almost as much as VMware's vSphere if I had to quantify it. The race is on and that is good.

I was speaking with a peer and the question came up if Citrix or VMware should be concerned about Microsoft's R2 release of Windows Server 2008. While they should definitely be concerned, I don't really see R2 as a game-changer. Citrix and VMware shouldn't slow down for any reason, including Microsoft's R2. It's yet to be see whether it'll make a market share impression.

One thing is for sure: Virtualization administrators and environments are somewhat loyal. You pretty much are where you are right now. While it may seem easy to switch platforms, has anyone done it? I've not come across anyone who has ripped out one hypervisor for another with the exception of Virtual Server 2005.

It's game on, don't get me wrong. But, I am not expecting Microsoft to make much of a dent in the coveted VMware market share.

Your thoughts? E-mail me or share a comment below.

Posted by Rick Vanover on 08/07/2009 at 12:47 PM