Dugie’s Pensieve

Ok so we all know Microsoft Exchange 2007 got a nifty wallpaper/logo combination.  Maybe this is a sign that Microsoft Virtualization will get a cool logo and maybe even it’s own visio icon as well? 

By now all good sources, except me will have blogged that the Virtualization Website got an overhaul.  The Virtualization website is now the central spot for anything with the Virtualization moniker: Storage, Application, Server, Network, Desktop, Presentation – personally I hope that the marketing hype to add ‘virtualization‘ to a product line doesn’t confuse even more.  Only time will tell.

Anyway there are also dedicated sections for both Development/Testing and  Server Consolidation (P2V)/Provisioning.  There is also Virtualization Resources page with links to blogs, downloads and whitepapers.

Hmmm, is it a sign of more visual eye candy to come?

Here are a few snippets of posts in recent weeks I thought were interesting enough to share:

• MS07-049 - Vulnerability in Virtual PC and Virtual Server - does not affect Virtual PC 2007 or Virtual Server SP1
• Windows Virtualization Team Blog  Virtual Server Maximums - Upper limits to current VHD Virtual Machine limits
•  VolkerW’s WebLog  An OS is an OS is an OS - made me smile, I hear you Volker!
• VMRCplus  Unattended setup of VMRCplus 
• How to tell it’s Patch Tuesday - istartedsomething - Made me giggle like a school girl.  Even Apple (virtualization) users can share in the joys of patching Tuesday :)
• Warning! Virtualization Is Addictive To Management - Article from ToutVirtual, made me smile. Been there and my head is still spinning.
• VMware working on a new community portal - I’m expecting big things from this guys; don’t let me down  :)
• P2V blues: Physical-to-virtual migration mishaps - Keeps popping up, therefore I can only assume lots of people keep having problems
• PowerGUI: Graphical User Interface for PowerShell - allows you to use the PowerShell in a familiar and intuitive GUI front end
• Useful Registry Changes During Build Creation/Image Deployment - Like it says, usefull reg hacks for [VM] Images
• Virtual Server with PowerShell - create an ISO file comprising of a given set of files
• VIDEO: Mr T does Hitachi Virtualization Disk Arrays - Mr. T says he’s the “T” in IT, and we have Hitachi to thank for this one?

 I wanted to blog some more on recent chats I had at TechEd, particularly with some confusion with Windows Server Virtualization (aka Viridian).  There was a common misconception that Microsoft Virtualization was “very fat“.  So in an attempt to compare ‘apples to oranges‘ I thought I’d put some numbers out there, and put a loose perspective on things.

Firstly Windows Virtualization is not the same as Virtual Server.  Sure they both run Virtual Machines, but I’ll use the analogy of comparing SQL and Microsoft Access.  …you can use your imagination to decide which is which :)

Anyway, at the moment we all know that Virtual Server is installed on top of Windows 2003.  So your install footprint consumes ~2 Gb.  Then your Virtual Machines, run on top Virtual Server.  As per the diagram to your right.  >

So lets fast forward a little bit.  Windows 2008 CTP (aka Longhorn) has an install footprint of ~4.4 Gb.  But we don’t need most of that install base to run Windows Virtualization.

So Windows 2008 can also be installed in a mode called ’Windows Server Core‘.  Windows Core is a lean and mean install of Windows without any of the ’bells and whistles‘.  Core has an install footprint of ~1.3 Gb.  Then we need to add the hypervisor and Windows Virtualization role.

The hypervisor is super thin, and installed under Windows.  Although I don’t have numbers I can publish at the moment, think Potato Crisp thin.  Once the hypervisor is installed, your VMs essentially run beside your installation of Windows Core.   again see the diagram above. ^

So an install footprint of Windows Core (1.3 Gb) is comparable to an install footprint of VMware ESX 3.0 which is about ~1.6 Gb.  Now this is the install footprint.  I haven’t gone into memory requirements or architecture, just the space consumed on the disk after an install.

If this has tantalized your tastebuds, and you’d like to know a little more about architectures check out Massimo Re Ferre’s post: A brief architecture overview of VMware ESX, XEN and MS Viridian or the WinHEC slidedeck Virtualization Stack, and Device Virtualization Architectures.

Just wanted to give everyone the heads up that Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-049 was release for Virtual PC and Virtual Server.  The vulnerability is a elevation of privilege that could allow a guest operating system user to run code on the host.

This vulnerability does not affect the latest editions of Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 or Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1. (see the section Non-Affected Software in MS07-049)

A snippet of the Heap Overflow Vulnerability is below:

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Microsoft Virtual PC and Microsoft Virtual Server that could allow a user with administrator permissions to the guest operating system to run code on the host operating system or other guest operating systems. An attacker with administrator permissions to the guest operating system, could exploit the vulnerability by running specially crafted code on the guest operating system. This could result in a heap overflow on the host or other guest operating systems. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system.

To view this vulnerability as a standard entry in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list, see CVE-2007-0948.

After a bit of a dry spell, I’m back to blogging.  The main reasons for the drop in signal was TechED related travel.    …TechEd Aust and NZ were both great!  I got to chat to lots of people about their experiences and expectation with Virtualization.  I’ll share more on that in a day or two.

I didn’t get a chance to go for that bike ride I wanted to, I got a killer migraine the day I had to leave — I was pretty bummed about that.

So more posts and photos as I clear out my inbox and feeds ..and all those ideas rattling around in my head. :)

System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM)  is expected to RTM at the end of August, which is 2 weeks away.  So shortly after that I guess it should start to show up in price lists, and be available for download — and install!!

I meant to blog this a few days ago but Steve Lamb beat me to it  (-:

You can read more info in Larry Orecklin’s post “Virtualization Big Opportunities” and a snippet is below:

We believe that Microsoft and its large partner ecosystem will help accelerate this market bringing low-cost, high-value, high-volume virtualization products to mainstream customers. It is important to look beyond machine virtualization, enabling customers to take advantage of their existing platform investments, while at the same time utilizing their existing support skills and infrastructure to reduce costs associated with implementing virtualized environments…

…we’re expecting the RTM of our Virtual Machine Manager at the end of the month. And that’s just the beginning; you will see additional product news from us as the quarter progresses.

How cool is this?!  back in June KB 842301 announced BizTalk is fully supported when inside a VM.   Now you can download the BizTalk 2006 VHD from Microsoft Downloads.  It is a 11 part download totalling 7.3 Gb.

Here at TechED at the moment, but I’m taking a moment to blog that the Windows 2008 VHD is now on Microsoft Downloads

It’s a 5 part download totalling 2.8Gb — Gotta run to a session, but I’ll post back in a couple of days.

I’m here at Tech.ED with all the usual suspects, gotta go AB is here with MickB !

Yes, that’s right read it again:  Apple iPhone support for Windows XP on a Mac.  Not only does an iPhone blend, but you can force it to play nicely with the rest of the world.  Perfectly normal when you think about it, sync your iPhone with Outlook connected to your corporate Exchange.

You can read more with Ben Rudolph’s post New Parallels Desktop Beta. 

Anyway, I’m really impressed with these guys, they are seriously ‘pushing the envelope‘ when it comes to virtualization at the desktop.  Personal I agree with their thinking.  Virtualization is far more than raw thumping performance, its all about presentation and management.   …and these guys have not only nailed it ever so nicely, but continue to deliver more coolness.

The last line of BenR’s post has me in fits of giggles:

Also, I wanted to say “hello” to our new competition in Mac virtualization space:  Welcome to the party, guys. We’ve been waiting for you.