1. Machine Emulation & Developer Workstation Environment – Microsoft’s VirtualPC Dan Dyer Metrolist, Inc.

2. Examples of what Virtual PC can do: Enable installation of a refrigerator in your workspace Increase quality of life by 2% per year Allow you to build a trebuchet

3. How a VPC works Simulates generic Intel hardware and drivers Emulation begins with the BIOS Shares hardware with host machine –Optical Drives/ISO image mounting

4. Features Most x86 OSs supported

5. Features Multiple VPCs on one machine –Limited only by RAM and disk space

6. Results: More machines & space Multiple VPCs per computer = more floor space Increased floor space + lower heat output = refrigerator* in your workspace *Not provided by Virtual PC

7. Configurability CPU prioritizing

8. Configurability RAM allocation

9. Features Dynamic/Fixed virtual hard drives –Expand/contract Linked hard drives –Link directly to physical disk Differencing hard drives –Users all share one network drive –Differences saved in local file

10. Features Saved states –Fast startup/shutdown Undo disks –Restore system to previous state

11. Results: Efficient machine mgmt VPC State management and restoration = 7.63% reduction in stress* Average stress reduction per week = 3.6 hours Additional stress-free days per year = 7.8 Approximate yearly happiness increase = 2.1% *Individual results may vary

12. Benefits Portability –Copy virtual machines to any location Stability –Crashes only affect specific virtual machine Archivability –Preserve legacy/reference sites Compartmentalizationability –Conflicting products run on same machine

13. Benefits Test installations –Reset OS environment between tests –Test automated OS deployment Networking –Test remote deployment –Simulate production network –Honeypots

14. Results: More Time Portability + Stability + Compartmentalizationability = extra time to build one of these: Image courtesy of www.cathares.org

15. Coming: Virtual Server 2005 Release date: November 2005 Web-based Administrative Interface Migration Toolkit –Transfer physical installations to virtual Supports Windows Server 2003 64-bit Expanded Linux support 180 day trial now available

16. Additional Link http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/evaluation/evalguide.mspx