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Contents 
Virtual servers
MS Virtual Server 2005
VMware GSX Server 3
Specifications
How we tested
Editor's choice
About RMIT |
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It feels very strange saying this but Microsoft's product is mean and lean compared to VMware's package. We have been so used to Microsoft launching bloated products in the past, this came as quite a surprise. Of course Virtual Server 2005 is by its origins not a Microsoft product; its core technology was acquired when Microsoft bought out Connectix last year. The release candidate installation file is a skinny 17.6MB compared to VMware's GSX Server at 88MB and the admin application VirtualCenter at 66MB.
Microsoft had originally promised to deliver the ready-to-manufacture (RTM) version of Virtual Server 2005 in time for this review, but the company didn't meet its original RTM date, so we reviewed the release candidate version instead. Please keep in mind that although the differences are likely to be minor, there may be some changes in the feature set and performance in the final version.
Installing Virtual Server is a very simple and quick process, but when you start creating and configuring virtual machines (VMs), you begin to cast fond eyes on VMware's much chunkier package. The Microsoft product performs no hand holding at all, while VMware has Wizards for just about everything. Virtual Server throws you in the deep end. Want a Windows 2000 Server VM? How much memory should you assign? The default for Virtual Server is 128MB, which is inadequate. By contrast, VMware suggests a minimum, maximum, and recommended memory setting based on your host system's configuration and the OS you intend to install.
Virtual Server 2005 also has other niggles. For instance, you need to add an agent, Virtual Server Remote Control Client, to allow you to click on the thumbnail of a VM to view its display. This should be a given. The default setting for the CD-ROM drive is that it contains "no media", so the VM does not see discs placed in the drive until you configure it to see them.
Yes it is picky, but it was the difference between having a VM running and fully functional in a matter of minutes with VMware and head scratches and searching for little configuration items to have the Microsoft VM to the same stage.
Once you overcome the initial annoyance at the lack of hand holding, Virtual Server is actually pretty sweet. The administrative interface is browser based and has the major functions located in a strip down the left side. These features include management of the VMs, creation and configuration of VMs, creation and management of virtual disks, creation and configuration of virtual networks, and resource allocation and event viewing.
On the right side of the browser is a Host Status window that displays the status of any VMs on the host, with nifty thumbnail views of each VM's screen and CPU usage. The lower half of the window displays the most recent events; it's all quite well arranged.
The VM configuration window is quite informative, with a detailed status of the VM in question in the top section of the display and configurable items such memory, drives, network adaptors, SCSI adaptors, and comms ports. While USB ports are available in the VM, only USB devices such as keyboards and mouse are supported; VMware has more general USB device support.
The VM window includes a single menu item at the top that sends special key sequences to the VM such as CTRL-ALT-DEL. There are a group of menu shortcuts below the VM window for controlling the machine's state, powering on and off, and jumping to the configuration screen.
In operation, we found the Microsoft product to be slower than VMware's. Screen updates were not as fast and a quick-and-dirty disk performance test (see page 86) showed that the VM disk had only around 60 percent of the host server's disk performance. This was the case even after the Virtual Machine Additions, which improve the VM's overall performance, were installed.
Virtual Server supports four different virtual disk configurations, fixed size, dynamically expanding, differencing, and linked.
Virtual Server has a snapshot function called "Save State". Among other advantages, this allows the user to experiment on the VM, and if things go awry, it's a simple matter to load the previous state and try something different.
| Product | Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 |
| Price | $TBA in September |
| Vendor | Microsoft |
| Phone | 132 058 |
| Web | www.microsoft.com/australia |
| Interoperability |  ½ |
| Runs on a very limited range of host OSes; only a small range of client OSes supported although many others will run. | |
| Futureproofing |  |
| Good management tools and VMs can be managed by third-party software that sees the VM as a physical machine. | |
| ROI | No rating |
| Pricing to be announced in September. | |
| Service |  |
| Variety of support contracts available. | |
| Rating |  |
4%
2%
Your excellent web article refers to your test results which i can't find a link to anywhere in the article.
As the test results are referenced as being "on on page 86, I guess this is an oversight.
Could you provide the URL to the test results?
Many thanks,
Ravi cabral