The much rumored minor update for ESX Server 3.0.1 has been finally confirmed: VMware announced ESX Server 3.0.1 will be released in October, but the only feature mentioned is 64bits support for some Windows, Linux and Solaris editions.
Rumors before this announcement revealed much more than 64bits support, including a brand new zero downtime migration feature.
Update: A virtualization.info reader shared link of VMware Infrastructure 3.0.1 Release Notes, which reveal the update is already in Release Candidate (RC) status.
Apart disclosed support for 64bits guest OSes, the document details other new features:
- Support for servers based on the AMD 2000/8000 series processors and Intel Xeon 7100 (codename Tulsa) series of processors
- A self-certification program for iSCSI arrays
- Support for iSCSI arrays such as EqualLogic PS300 and NetApp FAS3000
- Experimental support for iSCSI 4050/4052 HBA from Qlogic.
- Support for Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) on Windows XP virtual machines
- Improved upgrade support from Virtual Infrastructure 2 to VMware Infrastructure 3
The last feature links to the new Installation and Upgrade Guide, which details the new zero downtime migration capability:
The migration upgrade is more of a managed transition than a strict upgrade. The migration upgrade reduces virtual machine downtime to the bare minimum by moving virtual machines directly from a production host running ESX Server version 2 to a production host running ESX Server version 3.
If you are upgrading from a supported ESX Server 2.x version to ESX Server 3.0.1, you can migrate powered�]on virtual machines from an ESX Server 2.x host to an ESX Server 3.0.1 host while simultaneously relocating the virtual machine files from a VMFS2 to a VMFS3 datastore. This allows you to completely avoid virtual machine downtime associated with the host and datastore upgrade.
Read the whole Release Notes at source.