Solution Providers Applaud Microsoft Connectix Acquisition

Microsoft's acquisition of Connectix's virtualization software last week is expected to make Windows a better server consolidation and migration platform,but existing licensing issues remain a concern.

Following a deal announced Feb. 18 with the privately held Connectix, Microsoft acquired the company's beta Virtual Server code and plans to officially launch it by year's end. A preview is expected to be available April 15.

Channel partners applauded the acquisition, saying it will help them push reluctant NT customers to migrate to Windows Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003, which is due in April. They said Connectix's virtualization software will enable them to run old NT workloads while testing new applications on the same server without interrupting operations.

"I really look forward to this type of technology being integrated into Windows," said Michael Cocanower, president of ITSynergy in Phoenix. "It is extremely beneficial for systems engineers to do testing and simulation."

Microsoft solution provider partners also said they viewed the acquisition as a smart move by Microsoft toward server consolidation, which would allow customers to squeeze more Windows,and Linux,applications workloads onto a single Intel server. This would cut management expenses and maximize all resources on a server, thus reducing hardware costs, they said.

While Microsoft will position the Virtual Server to migrate customers to its newer Windows operating systems, the company said it will do nothing to prevent or disable Linux from running in virtual images next to Windows workloads.

Microsoft will square off in the growing Intel server virtualization market against market leader VMware and SWsoft, which is expected to launch its Linux server virtualization software on Windows and Itanium this year.

"Having the ability to control and access multiple OSes on a single box can help Microsoft solidify the management of enterprise-class configurations, while 'playing nicely' with the other non-Windows OSes," said Ken Winell, president of Econium, Totowa, N.J.

Microsoft declined to comment on pricing and licensing options for running multiple instances of Windows,and/or competitive operating systems,on a single Intel server.

IBM, for example, offers various pricing options for its more expensive zOS mainframe operating system running beneath many Linux virtual images.

However, industry analysts said Microsoft will be under pressure from customers to modify its licensing for consolidating workloads on a single server and may opt for a per-CPU pricing scheme.

Microsoft said there are 140 customers beta-testing the Virtual Server code. When the code ships, Microsoft will authorize its entire channel to resell the server software in a stand-alone fashion until it is integrated into future versions of Windows, the company said.