Emerging from Beta today, Microsoft has released Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. There had been some discussion about the release being delayed as late as July, but here it is. Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 now provides improved performance for non-Windows guest operating systems by leveraging hardware-assisted virtualization, high availability for both planned and unplanned downtime, and improved support for Emerging from Beta today, Microsoft has released Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. There had been some discussion about the release being delayed as late as July, but here it is.Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 now provides improved performance for non-Windows guest operating systems by leveraging hardware-assisted virtualization, high availability for both planned and unplanned downtime, and improved support for backup and disaster recovery. Microsoft said that Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 has been extensively tested. Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 includes the following new capabilities: Processor support. Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Enterprise Edition can be installed on servers with up to 32 physical processors. Virtual Server host clustering. Support for host-to-host connectivity lets you cluster all virtual machines running on a host. iSCSI support. iSCSI clustering enables guest-to-guest connectivity across physical machines. x64 support. Virtual Server runs natively within a 64-bit Windows host operating system, providing increased performance and memory headroom. Enhanced PXE booting. PXE boot support has been added to the virtual machine network adapter. This means that when the appropriate network infrastructure is in place, you can perform a network installation of a guest operating system in the same way as physical servers. Other improvements. Virtual Server now includes improved hyperthreading, support for F6 Disk (SCSI driver), Active Directory integration using service connection points, and virtual disk pre-compactor functionality. Performance improvements.For more information on this release, go here. To download the latest release, go here. Software Development