C/D/H Talks Tech

Today was pre-conference day here at TechEd IT Professional’s week in Orlando.  The conference is just getting geared up, and the hardcore among the crowd was the approximately 1000 people that attended pre-conference sessions. 

My session for the day was a relatively deep dive into Windows Server 2008, which left me thoroughly impressed.  We’ve all heard about HYPER-V, NAP, Terminal Services, and Remote Access enhancements that come with this major update to Microsoft’s Windows Server… but seeing them all first hand in a fully functioning lab is really something.

Even though Microsoft’s virtualization offering is still in the Release Candidate status, you can quickly tell this is going to be HOT!  One of the subtle differences that I picked up, which isn’t quite so obvious in the currently released materials, is how this is actually architected.  Previous solutions from Microsoft have used an emulation mode for virtualization, allowing them to emulate hardware and share it across guest Operating Systems.  This emulation is great for compatibility, but bad for performance since emulation has always used the least common denominator approach… often emulating hardware that was grossly outdated to ensure compatibility.  This all changes with HYPER-V, although emulation mode is still an option that can be applied in certain circumstances. 

The presentations I attended showed HYPER-V emulating multiple processors, 64-bit OS’s, and multiple NIC’s to name a few.  The demonstrated network throughput is based on that of a 10 Gbps Switch; no longer an emulated hub… this alone provides a significant boost!  The other significant benefit to HYPER-V is that it uses the Windows driver model.  There are no proprietary drivers required for hardware like those required with other competing solutions. 

For those of you comparing virtualization solutions, here’s one key item from today.  Microsoft does not support a so called “instant” migration of virtual machines… nothing could be further from the truth.  In the demonstrations I saw, a virtual machine was rapidly moved from one host to another within a span of about 5 – 10 seconds… not instantly of course, but I would feel hard pressed to find a situation where this wasn’t good enough.