The second release of VMware free virtualization platform, Server (known as GSX Server when it still was a commercial product), is finally approaching.
The company releases today the Release Candidate 1 build (101586) introducing a key feature that virtualization.info is advocating since the GSX server time: the support for Microsoft Volume Shadow Service (VSS).
This feature allows to take live snapshots of any Windows guest OS without provoking the unexpected shut down of the virtual machine (which can lead to corrupted data inside the virtual hard disk).
This capability greatly raise the overall value of this release, which, along with its price, suddenly becomes a very interesting platform for many SMBs.
The new beta also introduces some other interesting features like:
- the new Virtual Machine Communication Interface (VMCI) already seen in Workstation 6.5 beta 2
- the support for SCSI pass-through devices (e.g.: tapes)
- the capability to add new virtual hard drives to a running virtual machine
Enroll for the beta program here.
VMware is expected to release the RTM of Server 2.0 during the Q3 2008.