Microsoft has changed the licensing of its Windows
Server Datacenter, allowing users buying new servers licensed with
the operating system to run an unlimited number of virtualised
instances of Windows Server.
Microsoft said that the unlimited virtualisation rights would
significantly extend the savings that customers could make through
server consolidation on the Windows Server platform.
"Together, Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition and Virtual
Server 2005 R2 are an ideal, cost-effective platform for
'scale-out' virtualisation," said a company spokesperson.
By licensing a server's processors with Windows Server
Datacenter Edition, users will be able to run Windows Server
Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Datacenter Edition or a mix
of all three editions without having to track the number of virtual
machines that they are using or pay for additional Windows Server
licences.
