Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 is RTM

3 years after the acquisition of Connectix, Microsoft finally releases an enterprise class management tool for Virtual Server: Virtual Machine Manager 2007, included in System Center management family. Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager provide a comprehensive management solution for the virtualized data center that enables increased physical server utilization and centralized management of virtual machine infrastructure.
As published on various sources including on Microsoft’s site, the first edition of System Center Virtual Machine Manager (or SCVMM for short) includes several features which definitively improve Microsoft chances to increase its market share in virtualization industry:

  • Virtual machines assisted provisioning
  • Centralized library for virtual machines master images, scripts and ISOs
  • Fast and Reliable Physical-to-Virtual-Machine Conversion (P2V)
  • Fast and Reliable Virtual-to-Virtual-Machine Conversion (V2V)
  • Self-service provisioning through a web portal
  • Enhanced scripting capabilities through PowerShell integration
  • Tight integration with System Center Operation Manager 2007 for virtual datacenter monitoring and capacity planning
  • Tight integration with System Center Configuration Manager 2007 for virtual machines offline patching
  • Tight integration with System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 for virtual machines live backup

The Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console is built on the familiar Operations Manager 2007 user interface thus helping administrators quickly and easily become proficient in managing their virtual machines. Comprehensive health monitoring of hosts, virtual machines, library servers, and Virtual Machine Manager components is provided through the Virtualization Management Pack in Operations Manager 2007.
Under the covers, System Center also is integrated with familiar tools and technologies. For example, System Center uses a SQL Server database to store performance and configuration data, and reporting in Virtual Machine Manager leverages the familiar SQL Reporting Services provided through Operations Manager.
Second edition of the SCVMM, probably called SCVMM 2007 R2, will feature support for upcoming Microsoft hypervisor, Windows Server Virtualization (codename Viridian), and support for VMware and Xen-based hypervisors. Such version will appear in beta as soon as Q1 2007.
Various sources claim that this last information comes completely unexpected and may become a major problem for all those 3rd parties vendors, which are focusing on cross-virtualization-platforms management tools since more than one year. SCVMM 2007 also brings in a very aggressive pricing model, aimed at conquering SMB market and hitting VMware strategy on this segment.
A 120-days trial of SCVMM 2007 Workgroup edition will be available shortly on the link below.
Links
Evaluate System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scvmm/bb679927.aspx
System Center Virtual Machine Manager Product Overview http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/scvmm/evaluation/overview/default.mspx
Virtual Machine Manager System Requirements http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb740949.aspx