Staying Ahead of the Pack

Our last post focused on the threats to VMWare. Here’s how they’re staying ahead of the pack!

Just last month, VMware unveiled VMware Server 2, the next generation of the company’s easy-to-use, free-of-charge virtualization product.

VMware Server 2 beta is feature-packed with the following new capabilities:

• Intuitive web-based management interface: VMware Server 2 provides a simple, flexible, intuitive and productive management experience. Features include an embedded virtual machine console, full management functionality and the ability to create customized remote console URLs for virtual machine users.
  
  
• Expanded operating system support: VMware Server 2 now supports more than 30 types of guest operating systems, including Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 (beta), Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and Ubuntu 7.10.
  
  
• Virtual Machine Interface (VMI) support: VMware Server 2 includes support for transparent paravirtualization through VMI, enabling enhanced communication between virtualized operating systems and the virtualization layer.
  
  
• Support for high-speed USB 2.0 devices: The USB 2.0 support provided by VMware Server 2 allows for increased flexibility for customers using peripheral devices in virtualized environments.
  
  
• Enhanced memory and processor support: VMware Server 2 now supports up to 8 GB of RAM per virtual machine and up to 2 Virtual SMP processors. The product also features support for 64-bit guest operating systems on 64-bit compatible processors for improved performance and scalability.
  
  

More than 3 million copies of VMware Server have been downloaded to date, with approximately 70 percent of these downloads coming from companies typically categorized as small and medium businesses.

VMware Server 2 beta for Linux and Windows hosts is available for immediate download at http://www.vmware.com/go/server2_beta.

“We've tried other solutions, but nothing matches the stability and ease of use we get with VMware Server,” said Justin Patten, technical analyst at api software, inc., a provider of labor resource management solutions for healthcare organizations. “The software has already provided tremendous value to our organization with minimal investment, and the new Web-based management interface and APIs in the new version will make it even easier for us to increase the overall efficiency of our IT operations.”