Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1

The Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 is a specific version of the Microsoft Virtual Server virtualization solution. These are used to consolidate many workloads and workstations onto a single physical server. It is an update to the original Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2. What the application principally does is that it assists users in creating and managing virtual machines. It does this on Windows operating systems, including XP and Vista, as well as Windows Server 2003. It was originally developed by a company called Connectix which was eventually bought out by Microsoft. Microsoft also has a related desktop virtualization program package called Virtual PC.

The virtual machines created by the program can be managed either through web based interfaces or a separate program named VMRCplus. The program supports Linux guest OS, the function to mount virtual drives, support for x64 architecture on the host operating system, symmetric multiprocessing for the host, a virtual disk precompactor, additional operating system support, support for a Volume Shadow Copy which enables users to create backup copies of guest operating systems on a Windows Server 2008 as well as a Windows Server 2003 host. SP1 also includes the ability to mount images in VHD. There have also been new additions to officially supported Linux operating systems. This program has now been discontinued and no longer receives support from Microsoft.