virtualization.info

At its PDC 2008 Conference Microsoft hinted at a list of features expected with Hyper-V 2.0.
The second version of the hypervisor should appear in 2010, as part of Windows Server 2008 R2 (even if many rumors of these days suggest that the OS may arrive a little earlier than the virtualization platform).

Now Microsoft formalizes the list of features through a whitepaper: the Windows Server 2008 R2 Reviewers Guide.

Additionally, the document exposes the upcoming strategy about VDI, unveiled just few days ago:

• Live Migration
  Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 includes the much-anticipated Live Migration feature, which allows you to move a virtual machine between two virtualization host servers without any interruption of service. The users connected to the virtual machine being moved might notice only a slight slowing in performance for a few moments. Otherwise, they will be unaware that the virtual machine was moved from one physical computer to another.
  …
  Live Migration uses the new Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) feature within Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2008 R2. The CSV volumes enable multiple nodes in the same failover cluster to concurrently access the same logical unit number (LUN). From a VM’s perspective, each VM appears to actually own a LUN; however, the .vhd files for each VM are stored on the same CSV volume…
• Virtual disks hot plug
  …administrators can now add and remove vhd files, as well as pass-through disks attached to a virtual SCSI controller on a running VM, without requiring a reboot…
• Core Parking and CPU power consumption control
  The Core Parking feature allows Windows Server 2008 R2 to consolidate processing onto the fewest number of possible processor cores, and suspends inactive processor cores…
  Windows Server 2008 R2 has the ability to adjust the ACPI “P-states” of processors and subsequently adjust server power consumption. ACPI “P-states” are the processor performance states within the ACPI specification. Depending on the processor architecture, Windows Server 2008 R2 can adjust the “P-states” of individual processors and provide very fine control over power consumption…
• Support for Second Level Address Translation (SLAT)
  Hyper-V now supports Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), which uses new features on today’s CPUs to improve VM performance while reducing processing load on the Windows Hypervisor.
• Support for TCP/IP Offload Engines (TOEs) and Jumbo Frames
  TCP Offload allows a VM to dump its network processing load onto the NIC of the host computer. This works the same as in a physical TCP Offload scenario, Hyper-V now simply extends this functionality into the virtual world. This benefits both CPU and overall network throughput performance, and it’s fully supported by Live Migration.
  Like TCP Offloading, support for Jumbo Frames was also introduced with Windows Server 2008. Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 simply extends this capability to VMs. So just like in physical network scenarios, Jumbo Frames add the same basic performance enhancements to virtual networking. That includes up to 6 times larger payloads per packet, which improves not only overall throughput but also reduces CPU utilization for large file transfers.
• Support for VDI
  The in-box Remote Desktop Services capability is targeted at low-complexity deployments and as a platform for partner solutions, which can extend scalability and manageability to address the needs of more demanding enterprise deployments. VDI includes the following technologies to provide a comprehensive solution:
• Hyper-V
• Live Migration
• System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008
• Microsoft Application Virtualization version 4.5 in Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP).
• Vista Enterprise VECD licensing

Unfortunately Microsoft continues to stay mum about its plans for client-side desktop virtualization (aka hosted virtualization).
Customers are still wondering if there will ever be a successor of Virtual PC or if the company will embed a version of Hyper-V into the upcoming Windows 7.