MS Virtual Server 2005 R2 or VMware ESX Server 3.0

nazzeem

I have been using MS Virtual Server 2005 R5 in my lab running 3 x 2003 servers, 3 xp workstations and 1 x Windows Server 2008 Enterprise for study purposes. I think it is a good setup and MS is really pushing Virtual Server with the 2008 Server release. I allways see in job adverts that it would be beneficial if one knows VMWare ESX. I might have played a bit with VMWare workstation a year or two ago.

My questions are:

1.) According to experience which one of the two is a better product?
2.) In the real world, which one is the preferred product?
3.) Should I switch to using VMWare for running a virtual test lab?

Why I am asking is because I plan to do MCITP (which is 3 more exams to upgrade) after I finish this MCSE 2003 and I thought I should know MS Virtual Server fairly well to be able to manage Virtual Server in Windows Server 2008.

royal

They are not pushing Virtual Server with 2008's release. It's called Hyper-V, formerly known as Windows Server Virtualization. I haven't played much with ESX but have watched some webcasts/screencasts on Hyper-V, and it looks great. Hyper-V using it's native tools leaves much to be desired, but using Hyper-V with System Center Virtual Machine Manager unleashes its' true power.

nazzeem

I attended a 1-day Windows Server 2008 Product Overview Briefing they called it. What I understood about Hyper V, is it is the underlying technology that allows Virtual Machines to talk directly with the physical hardware. You can also buy Server 2008 without / with Hyper V which is I think $12 or $26 more expensive.

So I think then I should stick with MS Virtual Server 2005 R5 + VMM to run my Lab.

G1LL1US

I attended two ESX VI3 classes and started to notice the huge demand of experience needed with this product. I was pretty amazed to see the features VMWARE has to offer. My only problem is I have worked with the free version of VMWARE (server) but have no real hands on with ESX Virtual Infrastructure 3. ESX rides on top of Linux so you have to have experience with Linux to manage the whole thing. VMWARE even locks down their certification process. In order to be certified with them you have to attend their actual VMWARE class.

colebert

FYI: VMWare ESX will not install on just any hardware platform.

I tried to fiddle with a copy and put it on my Precision 390 and it wouldn't work. I looked into it and realized only certain platforms will work with it... I saw someone saying they got it to work with their Optiplex 745 (?) or something, but not other systems.

So keep this in mind when you start playing. You might need to lay out some serious $$$ to get a server platform it supports.