I just posted two scripts from John Kelbley, a technical specialist at Microsoft. They are examples of scripts you can write to perform a warm backup of your virtual machines and restore them to a different instance of Virtual Server. You'll find them...

I just posted a new article: a draft whitepaper that I'm writing to compare Virtual Server and Virtual PC ( http://blogs.technet.com/megand/articles/category/8232.aspx ). If you read it, I'd appreciate hearing your comments and suggestions. Update...

This Management Pack is an add-on for Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005. It monitors the health, availability, and performance of Virtual Server. You can download it from the Microsoft Web site at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx...

I just posted an article on figuring out how much system capacity a host computer will need in order to run a given set of virtual machines. You can find it in the Deployment section ( http://blogs.technet.com/megand/articles/category/8299.aspx ). ...

TechEd 2005 is coming right up, from June 5 - 10 in Orlando, FL, US. Register before April 15 to save $300. The following are some breakout sessions and hands-on labs where you can learn more about using Virtual Server and Virtual PC: Consolidating...

As you may know, Windows Server 2003 SP1 has been released, and a lot of people will be rushing to upgrade their virtual machines. If you're thinking about doing this, though, plan on postponing it for a bit. Virtual Server 2005 was released many months...

Mikko wants to know about best practices for backing up virtual machines. Well Mikko, according to Jeff Woolsey, a Virtual Server Program Manager, there are two ways to backup a virtual machine. Both have pros and cons, so you'll need to determine which...

You may have noticed that this blog is now published on TechNet rather than MSDN. It has been moved so it will be more discoverable by IT Pro readers. You may also have noticed that there have been a few minor glitches in the transition. The biggest one...

Eric sent me this question: "Do you know if it's possible to migrate a virtual machine to a physical one using ADS or any other tool?" Unfortunately, I don't know of an easy way to migrate a virtual machine to a physical one, Eric, nor do I know of...

Windows Server User Assistance and TechNet are proud to announce the launch of the Windows Server 2003 TechCenter! http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003 We have designed the new Windows Server 2003 TechCenter to improve...

Sorry to have been out of communication so long. Two family members were hospitalized with life-threatening health problems, so with that going on, it was a challenge just to keep up with my "real job." Thank goodness, everyone is on the road to good...

So far, I've been scanning internal and external newsgroups to figure out what the "hot" topics are to cover in this blog. But judging by the consistent number of visitors I'm getting, this blog has quite a few regular readers. So I'd like to find out...

You might want to create a “base” virtual machine with an operating system and applications, and then copy its .vhd file to use for other virtual machines. Before you make copies of the .vhd, however, it’s important to run Sysprep in the guest operating...

I learned how to do this at TechEd 2004 in a lab led by Robert Larson, one of our resident Virtual Server gurus. You can create a “base” virtual machine with the operating system and applications you want, and then copy its .vhd file to use for other...

I know this is slightly off topic, but Windows Server User Assistance has a number of openings for technical writers, and if we fill the positions, I'll have more time to write in this blog. To qualify, you need to have a strong background and preferably...

Using virtual machines for testing software and patches is really catching on at Microsoft, and for good reason. Find out why in my new article published under the Develpment and Test category ( http://blogs.technet.com/megand/articles/355668.aspx ).

Using virtual machines for software development, software testing, and patch testing is really catching on at Microsoft – and for good reason: Hardware goes farther: Using virtual machines instead of physical hardware allows you to do more testing with...

You probably already know that Virtual Server provides a complete set of COM interfaces for programmatic management (see Start > All Programs > Microsoft Virtual Server > Virtual Server Programmer's Guide). But did you know about the Virtual...

Here's what Kurt Schmucker, the program manager for Virtual Server 2005 Service Pack 1 says about the release: "As with typical service packs from Microsoft, Virtual Server 2005 Service Pack 1 will be primarily a rollup of fixes we have seen since...

You can attach each virtual machine running under the same instance of Virtual Server to a separate physical network and also isolate the virtual machine network traffic from the host, as follows: On the network adapters (NICs) to which you will attach...

HP is delivering a live Webinar on January 14, 2005 on Virtual Machine Management. Here's the description from HP: "Learn the advantages of virtual machine technology and understand how the Virtual Machine Management Pack allows you to manage and control...

John Howard has posted a series of blogcasts (e.g., video clips published on a blog) that walk you through the process of using VSMT to migrate a Windows NT 4.0 server into a virtual machine running under Virtual Server 2005. You can find them on his...

Although there are high-level instructions on performing a migration in the VSMT whitepaper ( http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/overview/vsmtwhitepaper.mspx ), if you're going to do a serious migration, you need to follow the...

I just listened in on a conference call between Ben Armstrong ( http://blogs.msdn.com/Virtual_PC_Guy ) and Barbara, an IT manager who’s considering deploying Virtual Server in her enterprise. I thought you all might be interested in the questions and...

I just listened in on a conference call between Ben Armstrong ( http://blogs.msdn.com/Virtual_PC_Guy ) and Barbara, an IT manager who’s considering deploying Virtual Server in her enterprise. I thought you all might be interested in the questions and...