A critical component of the IT manager’s toolkit should be virtualization software.
In our mostly heterogeneous Windows™ server and client environments, we use Microsoft’s Virtual PC and Virtual Server products.
In fact, virtual machines (VMs) containing server images and default client desktops for each client are part of the tools out technical consultants take with them on site visits. For service and technical support, the ability to roll back a server, or client for that matter, to an earlier, more stable image is a blessing.
In x64, R2 SP1 form, Virtual Server is capable of running 512 virtual machines and supporting up to 256 GB of memory when operated on Windows Server 2003 x64. Yes, not a typo! 256 GB of memory! 512 virtual machines! Talk about taking advantage of the performance allowed by 64-bit addressing!
Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 can be downloaded from here, and Microsoft Virtual PC download is here. Microsoft has also made available a library of ready-to-use virtual hard disks, or VHDs, containing time-bombed OS installs. These VHDs cover almost the entire gamut of Microsoft offerings.
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