Virtual Server 2005: Solution

Virtual Server 2005, also referenced as Virtual Server and VS, is the Microsoft virtualization solution. An understanding of VS requires familiarity with terms such as physical computer, host, Virtual Machine, Virtual Server and Virtual Guest:

Physical Computer

A physical computer is a physically distinct host computer, or machine, that provides resources and capabilities including I/O, processing or compute, memory, storage and networking.

Virtual Server Host

The Virtual Server (VS) Host is the physical computer that hosts, or runs, the Virtual Server service. A single VS Host is a server that can simultaneously host multiple Virtual Machines. If necessary, each VM can run a different operating system. For example, a Virtual Server 2005 host can simultaneously support one VM running Windows 2003 Server™ one running Windows NT® 4.0 and one running Windows 2000 Server™, with each VM fully isolated from the others.

Virtual Machine

Also referenced as a Virtual Guest, a Virtual Machine (VM) is a logical computer, hosted within the confines of a physical server running the Virtual Server service. Comprising an operating system, configuration information and one or more virtual disk files, a VM emulates a complete physical computer, including I/O, processor, operating system, memory, storage and network interface card (NIC) or network adapter. A number of applications and services can reside on a single VM. A number of VMs can reside on a single VS host, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Physical Servers virtualized as Virtual Guests residing on a single physical Virtual Host

Virtual Server Hosting Scenarios

VS deployments may take two forms: self-hosted and utility-hosted. The self-hosted form describes a scenario in which the application owner also owns the physical host server, the VS configuration and the associated VM allocations. The server could be situated locally or in a data center. In either case, the owner retains all burdens of ownership. The utility form describes a scenario in which a centralized group is chartered to provide VS services to the application owners. The VS Utility (VSU) owns the physical host computers and the VS software configuration, and allocates the VMs residing on the machines on behalf of the application owners. While the clients retain administrative access to the VMs, the burden of administering the centralized physical computers and the VS software configuration shifts to the VSU.

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