Product specifications

1 – Introduction
Microsoft Virtual Server 2005
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Microsoft Virtual Server 2005
Microsoft currently offers Virtual Server 2005 R2 SPI, a cost-effective server
virtualization technology engineered for the Windows Server System™ platform.
As a key part of any server consolidation strategy, Virtual Server increases
hardware utilization and enables organizations to rapidly configure and deploy
new servers. Some of the key benefits of Virtual Server 2005 are:
 It improves operational efficiency by consolidating infrastructure,
applications, and branch office server workloads.
 It consolidates and re-hosts legacy applications.
 It automates and consolidates software test and development environments.
 It reduces disaster impact.
Detailed documentation on the benefits, architecture, and use cases, along with
deployment and administration guides, can be found by following the relevant
links on www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/
.
In the second half of 2008, Microsoft plans to offer Hyper-V (currently RC0)
hypervisor technology. This new hypervisor based technology will provide a more
scalable, secure, and highly available virtualization solution compared to Virtual
Server 2005. A new version of this guide, which details the step-by-step
deployment procedure for QLogic FC adapter NPIV solution on Hyper-V, will be
available on the QLogic web site (www.qlogic.com
) after the launch of Hyper-V.
N_Port ID Virtualization
N_Port ID Virtualization, or NPIV, is a Fibre Channel facility that allows multiple
N_Port IDs to share a single physical N_Port. N_Port sharing allows multiple Fibre
Channel initiators to utilize a single physical port, easing hardware requirements
in SAN design, especially where virtual SANs are used. NPIV is defined by the
Technical Committee T11 within the INCITS standards body.
NPIV allows end users to effectively virtualize the Fibre Channel HBA functionality
such that each Virtual Machine (VM) running on a server can share a pool of
HBAs, yet have independent access to its own protected storage. This sharing
enables administrators to leverage standard SAN management tools and best
practices, such as fabric zoning and LUN mapping/masking, and enables the full
use of fabric-based quality-of-service and accounting capabilities. It also provides
the most efficient utilization of the HBAs in the server while ensuring the highest
level of data protection available in the industry.