Microsoft Launches Virtual Server 2005

September 13, 2004 - (HostReview.com) - Microsoft Corp. today announced the general availability and pricing of Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005. Available in both Standard and Enterprise editions, Virtual Server 2005 helps customers reduce hardware costs and increase operational efficiency in three key scenarios: automation of software test and development environments; rehosting of legacy applications; and consolidation of production server workloads such as networking, directory infrastructure or departmental applications.

"Our customers are looking for ways to cut infrastructure costs and make better use of their IT and development teams. They want to streamline application testing and development, consolidate to fewer servers and move legacy applications to new hardware running on the Windows Server (TM) 2003 platform," said Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Windows Server Division at Microsoft.

As part of Windows Server System (TM) , Microsoft's comprehensive family of server software, Virtual Server 2005 helps customers increase operational efficiencies associated with testing and deploying their solutions built on Windows Server 2003.

"Virtual Server 2005 will allow us to get out of the one-application, one-server paradigm when dealing with applications with low system requirements," said Eric Hart, senior network engineer at PING Golf. "We will be able to consolidate 77 percent of these applications in our datacenter. Now we have the ability to provide a scalable, fault-tolerant and hardware-independent solution for deploying single-server applications in a cost-effective manner."

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 includes simple installation and convenient Web-based management of virtual machines, as well as robust storage and networking features. In addition, physical server management tools from Microsoft and third-party management vendors have been updated to provide administrators with a seamless one-to-many management experience across a combination of physical and virtual servers.

Virtual Server 2005 Standard Edition supports up to four processors, with an estimated retail price of $499 (U.S.). Virtual Server 2005 Enterprise Edition supports up to 32 processors, with an estimated retail price of $999 (U.S.). Both versions will be available within 30 days through retail and volume licensing and will be licensed on a per-physical server basis.

Microsoft Windows Server System is an integrated and interoperable server infrastructure that reduces IT complexity to enable IT professionals to deliver innovative solutions that meet the changing needs of business.

With Windows Server 2003 at the foundation, Windows Server System is engineered from the ground up for XML Web services based on Microsoft .NET technologies to connect information, people, systems and devices.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.