New 'VHD Test Drive' Program Will Cut Setup Times Dramatically, Microsoft Says

Published: November 8, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Microsoft unveiled a new program yesterday that it says will dramatically reduce the amount of time customers need to evaluate enterprise software from Microsoft and its software partners. The program is called the "VHD Test Drive Program," and as you might imagine, it makes extensive use of Microsoft's Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) specification.

Microsoft is in a battle with VMWare for supremacy in X86 and X64 virtualization. While the EMC subsidiary currently dominates the $800 million business, that could easily change when Microsoft begins shipping Windows Server "Longhorn." That's because that operating system is slated to include a powerful hypervisor layer that Microsoft is getting a little help with from the virtualization experts (and VMWare competitor) XenSource.

In the meantime, Microsoft is doing all it can to hype its virtualization story, which revolves around the VHD format that enables entire operating system images to be moved about the virtual world. Three weeks ago, Microsoft set VHD free (or mostly free) when it announced it would distribute the VHD spec via its new Open Specification Promise licensing scheme. Since then, VHD usage has more than doubled, according to Mike Neil, senior director of virtualization strategy in the Windows Server Division.

In a PressPass Q&A, Neil explained the benefits the VHD Test Drive Program will bring to Microsoft's ISV partners, as well as the customers who buy from them.

"This program enables Microsoft and its partners to distribute their enterprise software and applications within a virtual machine so that IT professionals can confidently and quickly evaluate Windows Server-based software," he says. "These virtual machines, which are provided in Microsoft's virtual hard disk image format, are pre-built and pre-configured so that they can be downloaded or distributed for easy setup and evaluation."

For example, users can be up and running with a SQL Server 2005-based application in a matter of minutes using the VHD bundle, Neil says. By comparison, manually provisioning a new database for a test would take hours, he says.

The new program will support Microsoft's Windows stack, including Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition, SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition SP1, Exchange Server 2007 (32-bit beta), Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005, and Internet Security & Acceleration (ISA) 2006 Standard Edition. More Windows products will be added to the list.

Neil says more than 20 Microsoft partners will begin distributing their Windows Server-based software through the VHD Test Drive Program by the end of the year. A similar VHD program for Windows Vista will be available in the first quarter of 2007, he says.