Now don’t get this confused with “Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V”. This is “Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2” which is a separately installable product that:
- Gets installed on a server without any additional operating system
- Is NOT Windows Server but rather the hypervisor element alone for managing Virtual Machines that are installed on top of it
- Costs absolutely no money. 100% free.
The product exists because not everyone is licensed for “Windows Server 2008 R2” and thus doesn’t have the ability to use the Hyper-V technology within it. This provides our high performance hypervisor to individuals that only have the licensing for:
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows XP/Vista
- Linux (non-Windows operating systems)
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[taken from the download page]
Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server 2008 R2 is a stand-alone product that provides a reliable and optimized virtualization solution enabling organizations to improve server utilization and reduce costs. With the addition of new features such as live migration and expanded processor and memory support for host systems, it allows organizations to consolidate workloads onto a single physical server and is a good solution for organizations who are consolidating servers as well as for development and test environments.
By having the ability to plug into existing IT infrastructures Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 enables companies to reduce costs, improve utilization and provision new servers. It allows IT professionals to leverage existing patching, provisioning, management and support tools and processes. IT Professionals can continue to leverage their individual skills and the collective knowledge of Microsoft tools, minimizing the learning curve to manage Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2. In addition, with Microsoft providing comprehensive support for Microsoft applications and heterogeneous guest operating systems support, customers can virtualize with confidence and peace of mind.
Note: This is a pre-release version of Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server 2008 R2 and not intended to be used in a production environment.
DOWNLOAD:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fdac7be8-1847-4839-991d-f84be95a33a0&displayLang=en (1.2GB)
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