Server Management Technology and Service

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005, hosted on the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system and based on technology originally developed by Connectix, delivers the performance necessary to carry out consolidation, migration, and isolation tasks through virtualization technology in an enterprise-ready computing environment with advanced levels of scalability, manageability, and reliability. Microsoft has aimed Virtual Server 2005 at businesses wishing to improve operational efficiency in software test and development, legacy line of business application migration, and server consolidation scenarios.

Virtual Server 2005 R2 runs most major x86 operating systems in the virtual machine guest environment. Thus almost any 32-bit physical server can be run virtually on Virtual Server 2005. Virtual Server 2005 R2 makes use of industry-standard technologies like Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), RDP (terminal services), Extensible Markup Language (XML), and Performance Monitoring (PerfMon) to handle common management tasks. Virtual machine configurations are stored in XML files, and server monitoring and configuration is done through an HTTP/HTML interface. This makes it easy to integrate the management of the virtualization solution into any enterprise management toolset used in an IT organization.

Active Directory service allows the same directory management features for virtual machines as are provided for physical machines by using a centralized repository for hierarchical information about users and computers on the network. Active Directory incorporates significant improvements in management and performance in Windows Server 2003 which can be leveraged through virtual machines hosted by Virtual Server 2005 R2.

Microsoft Virtual Server Administration Website
You can manage Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 and the virtual systems running under it through the Virtual Server Administration Website. A remote view thumbnail image of running virtual machines provides administrators with an overview of the state of the server. A graphical depiction of CPU usage shows whether machines are running, stopped, stopping, or saved. An event log describes recent events. Events are also recorded in the host event log.

The Microsoft Virtual Server Administration Website makes it easy to configure Virtual Server management features to suit your company’s requirements. Virtual machines are created in Virtual Server 2005 through a simple form that allows the administrator to dictate the virtual operating environment for the machine. Virtual Server 2005 derives virtual machine properties from a combination of hardware specifications such as processor speed and physical network adapters, plus virtual settings such as hard disk size and memory allocation. Virtual Server 2005 includes the ability to select the bus type (IDE or SCSI) at the time of virtual machine creation.

Once created, individual virtual machines can be monitored and modified by viewing the Microsoft Virtual Server Administration Website's virtual machine configuration page. On a single page, all of the virtual machine’s current performance and configuration information is displayed. Virtual Server 2005 enables disk hierarchy, allowing multiple machines to run from the same base machine configuration, or parent virtual hard disk. Virtual Server 2005 saves the changes to the machine in a unique disk known as a differencing virtual hard disk. The differencing virtual hard disk is paired with the parent virtual hard disk to operate the virtual machine. Many differencing virtual hard disks can run concurrently in conjunction with a single parent virtual hard disk. Like other configurations, differencing virtual hard disks are easy to configure through one simple form on the Administration Website.

The virtual network settings interface allows the creation of an unlimited number of virtual networks. Virtual machines can support up to four virtual network connections.

Progent Offers Professional Support for Microsoft Virtual Server Technology
Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can maintain Microsoft Virtual Server and can also help you with a migration to Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V R2 or provide Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V 3.0 consulting services. To find out more about how Progent's virtual server consulting professionals can help you with Microsoft Virtual Server technology, call Progent at 800-993-9400 or send email to server-management-help@progent.com.