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Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Virtualization Enhancements with SP1

Posted by Unknown
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
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Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 is the rock solid server operating system by Microsoft. Today we will discuss about Virtualization enhancements in Windows Server 2008 R2. Windows Server 2008 introduced Hyper-V as new server role. Hyper-V is server virtualization technology introduced by Microsoft leveraging hardware-assisted virtualization.
Here are some of the key enhancements we have done in Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 in terms of Virtualization. I will be sharing some of the key features added to Hyper-V Server Role.

Live Migration

With the introduction of Live Migration, Windows Server 2008 R2 moves into a leadership position in the virtualization market.
 


Clustered Share Volume

While not a requirement for Live Migration, Windows Server 2008 R2’s introduction of Cluster Shared Volumes is definitely the way to go for shops with regular Live Migration operations on the horizon. Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) enables access to files on a shared storage device from all nodes in a Failover Cluster at the same time.
 

Processor Compatibility Mode

This improves VM compatibility with different processor version within same vendor. For e.g. Intel XEON & Core2Duo, AMD Opeteron/Tri-Core.
 

Boot from VHD & Native VHD Support

Windows Server 2008 R2 & Windows 7 support native VHD support. VHD is Microsoft standard Virtual Hard Disk file format. These operating systems natively support creation of VHD files. Also, these operating systems Boot from VHD for several editions of Windows Server 2008 R2 & Windows 7.
 

Dynamic VM storage

Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V supports hot plug-in and hot removal of storage. By supporting the addition or removal of Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) files and pass-through disks while a VM is running, Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V makes it possible to reconfigure VMs quickly to meet changing workload requirements.
 

Remote Desktop Services & VDI

Terminal Services gets a name change to Remote Desktop Services (more on that later). But RDS combined with the new Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and RemoteApp and Desktop (RAD) Connections feature, lets Windows XP, Vista®, and Windows 7 desktop operating systems as well as individual apps or portfolios of applications all be virtualized on R2 and managed via group policies. This makes it possible for end-users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on client hardware, and facilitates desktop management as a whole and hosted desktop deployments in particular.
 
VM Chimney (TCP Offload Support) helps TCP/IP traffic in a VM can be offloaded to a physical NIC on the host computer. VMQ offloads the network routing and data copy processing by using hardware in a physical network interface card (NIC), such as multiple hardware receive queues and shared memory. The MAC address of the virtual NIC in the VM and an interrupt destination processor can be assigned to each hardware receive queue. The physical NIC puts the packet in the appropriate queue, eliminating the software routing overhead of the virtual switch. With shared memory, the physical NIC can use DMA to copy directly into the VM’s memory, thereby avoiding the extra memory copy by the virtual switch.
These are some of the new Virtualization enhancements in Windows Server 2008 R2. Apart from these features Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 also provided new features to the Server OS namely Dynamic Memory & RemoteFX. I hope you enjoyed this article and if you need to know more feel free to visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/hyperv-r2.aspx

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HTC's next Windows Phone 7 device, THE ETERNITY will have a 4.7-inch screen

Posted by Unknown
Sunday, July 3, 2011
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Looks like the Infuse may soon get its screen size crown snatched. HTC Inside somehow got a hold of some images of what appears to be HTC’s next Windows 7 Phone megaphone — the appropriately-named Eternity.
The phone’s biggest pull so far is clearly its 4.7-inch screen, which tops even the 4.5-inch one on the Infuse. If the rumors are true, the Eternity will run on a 1.5GHz processor and come equipped with a 8-megapixel camera. On the device’s front is a 1.3-inch camera, the existence of which should give you something of an idea of when the Eternity will hit stores. Considering that support for front-facing cameras will come with Mango, it is safe to assume that the Eternity will arrive sometime this fall.
Another safe assumption is this: The Eternity’s battery life won’t be all that great. With a 4.7-inch screen and a 1650mAh battery, the Eternity’s title certainly won’t apply to how long the thing lives on a single charge. Then again, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise anymore.

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Leaked Windows 8 tablet in Q1 2012?

Posted by Unknown
Friday, July 1, 2011
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There’s an alleged leaked Dell roadmap making the rounds that shows a timeline indicating that Dell is going to ship a Windows 8 tablet, codenamed Peju, in the first quarter of 2012.
My first reaction on seeing this is… No way. How can this possibly be, given that we haven’t even seen a first tech preview of Windows 8 — and are unlikely to see one, according to most informed (and uninformed) speculation until fall 2011? I’m still thinking Windows 8 will be released to manufacturing in time to make it onto PCs for holiday 2012, but there are also some claiming it won’t be out until some time inearly 2013.
Put another way: If Microsoft delivers a public beta or two, and does the final fit and finish work on Windows 8, is there any way that it could possibly be released to manufacturing in late 2011, which is what Dell would need to get it onto tablets in time to ship it in Q1 2012? I just don’t see it. (And for the record, Microsoft officials are not commenting. I asked.)
There is another remote possibility… and one that’s been in the back of my mind for a while now. Let me say up front that this is all pure and utter conjecture on my part.
What if Microsoft is planning to deliver the system-on-a-chip version of Windows 8 first? The company is believed to have been working on a port of Windows to ARM for several years now, starting with the rumored “LongARM” project. So what if the SoC version of “Windows Next” that Microsoft showed off at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this past January was a lot further along than many think? Microsoft has said it plans to deliver Windows “Next” — which is widely assumed to be the same as Windows 8 by most sane and rational people — on Soc chips from Intel, AMD and ARM.


The purported leaked Dell roadmap also shows a new Windows Phone 7 from Dell, codenamed “Wrigley,” shipping in July. Wrigley is said to be running a “major new version” of the Windows Phone OS. That feasibly could mean “NoDo,” the version that Microsoft is expected to deliver in early March 2011. If it means “Mango,” the true “next major version” of the OS, which Microsoft is expected to release to manufacturing in early fall 2011, the roadmap is off (or dated)

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Microsoft need to rethink its Windows & It's upgrade pricing?

Posted by Unknown
Thursday, June 16, 2011
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Apple’s next OS - Mac OS X 10.7 ‘Lion’ will retail for $29.99. That’s cheap, but when you consider that you can install this on up to five different authorized systems, that brings the price of the OS down to $6. Compare this to an upgrade copy of Windows 7 Home Premium, which will set you back over $100.

Does Microsoft need to rethink its Windows upgrade pricing?



I think it does.

OK, first off, before all of you feel the need to point out to me that Apple is a company that sells a ‘product’ while Microsoft is in the software business, I’m already aware of that. However, bear in mind that most of Microsoft’s Windows revenue comes from sales of licenses to OEMs and businesses. Revenue from the sale of upgrades is a mere drop in the ocean. In many ways Microsoft makes its money from selling products much in the same way Apple does, except that Microsoft has a broader distribution base and gets the OEMs to do much of the hard sell.

Here’s the way I see it. There’s absolutely no reason whatsoever for Microsoft to still be charging over $100 for a retail upgrade. Even if you seek out an OEM version of Windows 7 Home premium (one that you can only install and activate on a single system, and where you don’t get any support) still costs over $80.

I know that Microsoft does offer family packs and steep discounts at times, but these are occasional and usually only used early on to bolster sales numbers in order to generate impressive numbers for press releases. This helps people who are quick enough to bag the deal, but leaves everyone out out in the cold.

In a world where there are free Linux distros and $30 Mac OS X installers that are good for up to five systems, the fact that Microsoft is still asking regular home users in the region of $100 for a single license of Windows 7 not only seems like a archaic, it’s also penalizing people who want to keep their old PC hardware but keep their OS up to date.

Microsoft should learn a few lessons from Apple. For example:

Cut upgrade prices aggressively. Realize the value of getting more people onto the latest platform.
Cutting out the middle-man and offering cheap Windows upgrades as direct downloads. Make the download process as easy as possible.
Offering multi-install upgrades for home users with multiple systems. $100 x multiple PCs soon becomes crazy-expensive for the home user.
Make discount upgrade packs permanent. Why rush people with ‘act, don’t think’ deals.
Come on Microsoft, you’ve been slapped across the face by Apple’s gauntlet, it’s time to step up and respond.

* source Zdnet

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Windows Phone 7 !!.. running on HTC HD2

Posted by Unknown
Monday, March 29, 2010
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In a Recent Hack developed By russian Hackers loaded HTC HD 2 with WP7!..

HTC CEO, Peter Chou, announced on Friday that HTC will be releasing a Windows Phone 7 Series device late this year. The device might be a HTC Obsession, if some old rumours are anything to go by. The announcement of producing a WP7S phone is considered unusual, as HTC’s earlier position was that it would not produce a Windows Phone until Microsoft removed certain restrictions for manufactures and developers, including the freedom to customize the OS/interface.

we are probably going to see an HTC phone running the Windows Phone 7 Series OS before HTC’s official release of its device, as Russian hackers have managed to put the WP7S OS on the HTC HD2, which is one of HTC’s flagship devices. Check out the pictures of the phone running the WP7S OS

HTC HD2 running an early release version of WP7

While the HTC HD2 is quite up-to-date on the hardware front, it does not meet Microsoft’s minimum specifications for the WP7S OS, yet somehow, the Russians have managed to make it work. They claim that everything seems to be working barring some device lag, including WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS etc, except the graphics driver, which is still delivering jittery output. The Russian team is planning to release a beta version of the HD2 Windows Phone 7 Series ROM for the public soon.







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