Virtual Earth Seminars: Sydney & Melbourne

So the agenda is shaping up like this:

Monday 2nd April 2007, 1 Epping Road, North Ryde, Sydney NSW 2113

12:00 – 13.00 Registrations, Lunch

13:00 – 13:30 Welcome & Introduction to Virtual Earth – Jennifer Forsythe, Microsoft

13:30 – 15:00 Virtual Earth in Australia – Laurie Edwards , Map Data Sciences

Introduction to Map Data Sciences and 2 case studies from Virtual Earth Innovators

15:00 – 15:30 Break

15:30 – 16:30 Virtual Earth Demonstrations – Johannes Kebeck, Microsoft

16:30 – 17:30 Virtual Earth MasterClass – Tips and Tricks for developers – Johannes Kebeck, Microsoft

17:30 Questions and close

Tuesday 3rd April 2007 at Level 5, 4 Freshwater Place, Southbank, Melbourne Vic 3006.

12:00 – 13.00 Registrations, Lunch

13:00 – 13:30 Welcome & Introduction to Virtual Earth – Jennifer Forsythe, Microsoft

13:30 – 15:00 Virtual Earth in Australia – Laurie Edwards , Map Data Sciences

Introduction to Map Data Sciences and 2 case studies from Virtual Earth Innovators

15:00 – 15:30 Break

15:30 – 16:30 Virtual Earth Demonstrations – Johannes Kebeck, Microsoft

16:30 – 17:30 Virtual Earth masterclass – Tips and Tricks for developers – Johannes Kebeck, Microsoft

17:30 Questions and close

To register your interest at the event send an RSVP to i-halam@microsoft.com.

Saving by Virtualizing

Virtualization is helpful not only for cutting down on hardware costs, since it doesn’t require any extra hardware to support extra operating systems, but also for easing testing and development tasks. For example, Kovacs uses Virtual PC when doing development for several of his clients. He creates a virtual machine for each client, and can then develop specifically for that client without affecting anything else on his desktop.

Why use Virtual PC or Virtual Server?

One of the popular comparisons of Virtual Machine technologies is Virtual PC vs. Virtual Server (the other being Virtual Server vs. VMWare GSX/ESX). I decided to tackle the Virtual PC vs. Virtual Server comparison with a little brain dump.

This is purely my perspective as someone who extensively uses both Virtual PC and Virtual Server, and I do not work on the product team that produces either product.

When I think of different products using similar technology, there is usually some form of market segmentation based on user demographics.

For example, Toyota brands its vehicles under both an economy Toyota brand and the luxury Lexus brand. Same basic car – has four wheels, engine, steering column, enclosed climate-controlled passenger cabin, etc. But there are enough differences in each brand that satisfies the target user audience. Toyota is general more economically priced and may not have the latest in fancy gadgets, while Lexus targets the more leisure conscious and “latest and greatest” folks.

You can imagine the same sort of distinction between Virtual PC and Virtual Server given the same ”Virtual Machine” technology. While I am glad that you think Virtual PC is cool and easy to setup and use (it obviously fits your demographic and needs), I can tell you that Virtual PC is completely useless for my business needs. For me, Virtual Server ends up being the best way to use Virtual Machine technology to do what I want. But, this should not affect either of our perceptions – we are just users with different needs satisfied by different segmentation of the same sort of “Virtualization” product.

For example, Virtual Server allows me to create and configure an entire Virtual Machine with a variety of options with one command line script and automate scripting these actions against an entire farm of Virtual Servers. Virtual PC cannot even come close to doing this. Meanwhile, Virtual PC has a really rich GUI and strong VM Additions support that improve interactive usability; something that Virtual Server cannot match.

This is how I tend to internalize and compare Virtual PC and Virtual Server.

Virtual PC

• Rich GUI client for local interactive use.
• Low security/High interactivity (Shared Folders, Drag/Drop, Cut/Paste).
• No Automation/Scripting Interface.
• Client-oriented features (Sound Card in VM).
• All Guests use one CPU on the host.
• As of Virtual PC 2004, x86 only

Virtual Server

• Thin web-based admin and VMRC client for remote/headless administrative use.
• High security/Low interactivity (nothing “shared” between Guests and Host).
• Full Automation/Scripting Interface with COM.
• Server-oriented features (Virtual SCSI emulation, per VM CPU throttling, VS Security model for delegation. But no Sound Card).
• Guests use all CPUs on the host, but each Guest still sees and uses only one CPU.
• As of Virtual Server 2005 R2, x86 and x64 supported

Conclusion

Virtual PC clearly targets the average interactive user with rich functionality and features. However, it trades off security for some functionality, cannot be scripted/automated, does not run as a service so requires a user login, and cannot utilize all CPUs on the host. On the other hand, these are all factors that Virtual Server perform well, but it also gives up on the rich, interactive user experience for a more headless, lightweight, remoteable, but limited interactive viewer.

Hopefully, this helps clarify why the two products exist, some of the users/market that each targets, and why one may like one, the other, or both, depending on needs.

Download Virtual PC Free !!!

 The download comes in 32/64 bit flavors so all you VMware users go and get your free copy of VPC 2007 RTM here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=04d26402-3199-48a3-afa2-2dc0b40a73b6&displaylang=en&tm

The link below will take you to the VPC 2007 home page where you can find all of the features that come along with it:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx

Creating Sharepoint Server 2007 on Virtual PC

Check out this tutorial on the SharePoint Reporters blog showing you how to build a MOSS 2007 VPC. You may not need a MOSS 2007 VPC, but there are some tips for speeding up your VPC, which might come in handy for everyone else too. Having a library of VPCs at the ready for testing, demos, etc, is a very handy thing to have. and its something i have wanted for a while. Good read!

SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and Virtual PC

Microsoft offers the following hardware virtualization software products:

•	Microsoft Virtual PC
•	Microsoft Virtual Server

These two products let you run multiple operating system instances at the same time on a single computer. However, neither Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services nor Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 supports the use of hardware virtualization software products for production environments.

 This issue occurs because Windows SharePoint Services and SharePoint Portal Server 2003 were not thoroughly tested with hardware virtualization software products. Therefore, hardware virtualization software products are not supported for production environments.

Currently, you can use the following products together with hardware virtualization software products only for testing:

•	Windows SharePoint Services
•	SharePoint Portal Server 2003
•	Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
•	Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Support will be provided on a commercially-reasonable-effort basis only for issues that occur with the 2003 version of SharePoint Portal Server products in a virtual environment.

Overview on Virtual PC 2007 – from microsoft

Virtual PC provides a time-saving and cost-saving solution anywhere users must run multiple operating systems. Use Virtual PC in the following scenarios:

• Ease Migration: Run legacy applications in a virtual machine instead of delaying the deployment of a new operating system just because of application incompatibility. Test your migration plans using virtual machines instead of actual physical computers.
• Do More in Less Time: Support staff can run multiple operating systems on a single physical computer and switch between them easily. They can also restore virtual machines to their previous state almost instantly. Train students on multiple operating systems and virtual networks instead of purchasing and supporting additional computers.
• Streamline Deployment: Test software on different operating systems more easily. One crashing application or operating system doesn’t affect others.
• Accelerate Development: Increase quality assurance by testing and documenting your software on multiple operating systems using virtual machines. Decrease time-to-market by reducing reconfiguration time. 

Use Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 to run multiple operating systems at the same time on the same physical computer. Switch between virtual machines with the click of a button. Use virtual machines to run legacy applications, provide support, train users, and enhance quality assurance.

Virtual PC lets you create separate virtual machines on your Windows desktop, each of which virtualizes the hardware of a complete physical computer. Use virtual machines to run operating systems such as MS-DOS, Windows, and OS/2. You can run multiple operating systems at once on a single physical computer and switch between them as easily as switching applications—instantly, with a mouse click. Virtual PC is perfect for any scenario in which you need to support multiple operating systems, whether you use it for tech support, legacy application support, training, or just for consolidating physical computers.

 

Configurability

After installing Virtual PC, you can configure it to suit your requirements. Virtual PC has a number of settings that control how the product interacts with the physical computer, allocates resources, and so on.

Easy installation Virtual PC is simple to install. Any administrator can run the Virtual PC guided setup program, and installation doesn’t require a reboot. The first time Virtual PC starts, it guides you through the process of creating the first virtual machine.

Standardization Configure and test upgrades and installations on virtual machines, and then you can deploy throughout your company a standard configuration that avoids problems caused by minor differences between hardware platforms.

Convenience Users switch between operating systems as easily as they switch between applications. They simply click the window containing the virtual machine. They can pause individual virtual machines so they stop using CPU cycles on the physical computer. They can also save virtual machines to disk and restore them at a later time. The restoration process normally takes a few seconds—much faster than restarting the guest operating system.

Host integration Users can copy, paste, drag, and drop between guest and host. Virtual PC provides additions that you install in a guest operating system to enable this functionality.