If you’re working with Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server 2008 you might be interested to know that Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server 2008 R2 Beta is available for DOWNLOAD. 

Couple of things to note:

1. This is a pre-release version of Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server 2008 R2 and NOT intended to be used in a production environment.
2. Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 beta is a 64-bit only technology and it is not supported on IA64 or x86 systems.

Also, check out the Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server 2008 R2 (beta) Overview and the Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server 2008 R2 (beta) Configuration Tool Guide!!!

So What’s New?

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. Here are some of the additional new features you’ve been asking for:

• Live migration
• Expanded processor support for host
• Expanded memory support for host

With Microsoft® Hyper-V™  you’ll be able to consolidate workloads onto a single physical server.  It’s also a great solution for organizations who are consolidating servers as well as for development and test environments.

How Does it Help?

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 enables companies to:

• Reduce costs
• Improve utilization
• Easily provision new servers.

And virtualization still lets you leverage existing patching, provisioning, management and support tools and processes.

What are the System Requirements for Hyper-V Server 2008?

1. Processor : x64 compatible processor with Intel VT or AMD-V technology enabled.
2. Hardware Data Execution Prevention (DEP): specifically Intel XD bit (execute disable bit) or AMD NX bit (no execute bit), must be available and enabled.
3. Minimum CPU speed : 1.4 GHz; Recommended: 2 GHz or faster
4. RAM : Minimum: 1 GB RAM; Recommended: 2+ GB RAM; Maximum 1 TB
5. Required Available disk space : 4GB of available hard disk space (additional disk space needed for each guest operating system)
6. Required Input Device: DVD ROM drive
7. Display : Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution monitor
8. Other : Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device