After some delay, Microsoft launched the updated version of its virtualisation platform on Monday, with some important updates.
Microsoft had originally planned to announce Virtual Server (VS) 2005, Release 2 (R2), Service Pack 1 (SP1) sometime in the first quarter of this year but instead settled for the second.
Virtual Server is Microsoft's answer to rival virtualisation technologies from companies such as VMware, the market leader.
Among the main features of VS SP1 are the changes to back-up and disaster recovery, which, in general, have been made more robust, Microsoft claims. One new feature is "volume shadowing", which allows for virtual machines to be backed up more easily.
Additional support is offered in SP1 for Novell Suse Linux Enterprise Server 10 and Solaris 10, which can be used as host operating systems. Microsoft says that Virtual Server 2005 now supports 11 non-Windows operating systems. The company also said that, in one year, it had 15,000 downloads of the Linux add-ins for Virtual Server 2005 R2.
As it tussles with virtualisation, Microsoft has reported various delays and issues. Last month the company said that it was pulling features from its "Viridian" hypervisor, which is intended for the next version of Windows Server, "Longhorn".
A hypervisor is a software tool that allows multiple virtual operating systems to run together.
Microsoft also said last month that it is leaving out three key features of its hypervisor technology to try to stick to its schedule of releasing Viridian within 180 days of completing its Windows Server Longhorn operating system, due to be finalised before the end of the year.
The features will be included in a future version of Viridian, formally called "Windows Server Virtualization", the company said.
Colin Barker of ZDNet UK reported from London.
