According to a recent press release, QLogic Corp. is now working with Microsoft to integrate N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) technology with Microsoft's virtualization management solution, System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM). The result is that the Microsoft VMM will have the capability to create and provision virtual SANblade HBA ports across multiple physical servers. The company claims that combinin According to a recent press release, QLogic Corp. is now working with Microsoft to integrate N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) technology with Microsoft’s virtualization management solution, System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM). The result is that the Microsoft VMM will have the capability to create and provision virtual SANblade HBA ports across multiple physical servers. The company claims that combining Microsoft’s VMM with QLogic SANblade HBAs, storage administrators will be able to create virtual machines and ports that are easier to deploy, manage, and support across a virtualized datacenter.Microsoft is collaborating with QLogic and other Fibre Channel HBA vendors to define a standards-based approach to support NPIV within the Windows operating system architecture and management application interface. Microsoft’s SCVMM initiates system calls to the HBA to create, delete, modify and query virtual ports. It gives storage administrators the ability to create virtual HBA ports within multiple zones and assign them to virtual machines for migration without having to reconfigure any zoning or LUN masking settings.Mike Neil, General Manager for Virtualization Strategy at Microsoft, said “By eliminating the need for complicated tasks such as reconfiguring zones, server administrators will be able to easily and quickly perform migrations of virtual machines.”The solution will be available to customers during the second half of 2007. Software Development