As an integral part of the Release Candidate builds of the Windows 7 client and Windows 7 Server operating systems, Microsoft has also released the RC of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V R2. The software giant has hit the proverbial home stretch with the next iteration of the server-side version of Windows, with RTM as the next stop. And as Windows Server 2008 R2 is in effect finalized, wit Microsoft only having to release the platform to manufacturing, testers will be able to notice new features over the Beta. The RC of Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V brings to the table 64 logical processor support and processor compatibility mode for live migration.

“We have seen processors grow from 1, 2, 4, and now 6 cores on a single processor, soon to hit 8. Within the Windows Server 2008 R2 lifecycle, 64 logical processor servers will become commonplace (8 processors x 8 cores). Virtualization is the natural fit for these next-gen servers, allowing them to consolidate a greater number of virtual machines on a single host. Hyper-V is in line with these hardware trends all with an eye towards bringing you greater VM density. The dev team has done a fantastic job in building and testing a platform that can scale,” revealed a member of the Windows Server Division.

This means that while Server 2008 Hyper-V came with support for just 16 LP, a figure that was bumped to 24 LP by the KB95670 update, Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Original POR offers 32 LP support, while Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V RC/RTM will be able to play nice with no less than 64 LP.

In addition, with the advent of the Release Candidate for Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V R2, Live Migration no longer requires that the nodes in the clusters of the servers that swapped virtual machines have identical processors. Microsoft has managed to accommodate feedback from customers testing Live Migration with Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V R2 RC.

“Processor compatibility mode is very straightforward. It enables live migration across different CPU versions within the same processor family (i.e. Intel-to-Intel and AMD-to-AMD). However, it does NOT enable cross platform from Intel to AMD or vice versa. It works by abstracting the VM down to the lowest common denominator, in terms of instruction sets, which enables live migrations across a broader range of Hyper-V host hardware,” the Windows Server Division team representative added.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Release Candidate (RC) is available for download here.