Over the last two years virtualization.info has been constant in repeating that support is the most challenging issue in any virtualization project.
Some companies are working hard to make their support policy more virtualization-friendly, while others are not even near the minimal level of commitment that the customers are demanding.
Today Microsoft makes a further step to simplify the process with the launch of a Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP).
The program is open to any vendor which offers hosted or bare-metal (aka hypervisor) virtualization platform that is able to run Windows Server guest OSes (Win2008/2003/2000 only).
Since Microsoft is not able to grant that its software will run as expected on any virtual stack and doesn’t want to lock-in customers like Oracle, is trying to solve the problem at the root, directly validating the virtual stack.
As long as the 3rd party virtualization platform is validated Microsoft will be sure that Windows runs correctly on its virtual machines and will provide the same support that it’s already offered for physical servers.
The virtualization providers that adhered the program so far are:
- Citrix
- Novell
- Sun
- Virtual Iron
a list easy to guess considering that Microsoft already has interoperability agreements with all of them.
At this point customers may wonder if VMware, which is very careful in tracking the Microsoft support strategy, will adhere the program as well.