I recently had the pleasure of participating in a panel discussion on virtualization at iCoast in Ft Lauderdale. Myself, Mick Hollison from Citrix, Rene Alamo from Microsoft, and Jay Kruemcke from IBM talked to a packed room about virtualization. What was interesting to me is Rene kept saying Hyper-V was "the Windows you know and love." I suppose it's interesting not because I've never heard it said before (it's Microsoft's main point to customers these days) but instead because Microsoft is still going down that road. Actually what shocks me, even more, is the mindless nodding of heads in the audience as if they're stuck in some borg trance. Time to snap out of the Microsoft trance people. Hyper-V is anything but the Windows you know and love.
Recently the competitive team from VMware did a rundown of some basic virtualization tasks between VMware ESXi and Microsoft Hyper-V. I don't think the results will shock you. When watching the videos pay close attention to the actual commands being typed on the Hyper-V side. I'm pretty good with the command line in Windows, and yet all of these commands are net new for Server Core in Windows Server 2008. This isn't the Windows I grew up with. Heck, I'm an MCSE, and I still don't recognize that stuff. So much for "using my existing skill sets" - another phrase Microsoft likes to tell their customers.
The point is, if you're going to do virtualization at all then you're going to need to learn new skill sets. You're going to have to determine what's happening with your workloads and how to troubleshoot them. I know, there are a few out there that do know that, but the masses generally have no clue what their workloads do or how they do it. Trust me, and I get the calls to help troubleshoot the problems. There are new commands to learn as well. Server Core and Hyper-V weren't around before. You don't have existing skill sets with these technologies. Yo have to learn new stuff. So it's time to debunk this myth: The Windows You Know and Love - BUSTED.
DISCLAIMER: I work for VMware as a Systems Engineer. I have worked in the virtualization industry for over six years. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not represent opinions of my employer or anyone else. This blog is written in my own time and with my energy. I am not commenting on this blog on behalf of my employer or anyone else. If you would like official statements about VMware, you can contact my employer's PR firm. I always welcome and encourage open and constructive conversations and will not block any comments from appearing on this blog other than obvious SPAM or threatening hate mail.