VMware Gives Away GSX Server, Calls It VMware Server Credit to Virtualization.info for getting the scoop last Thursday that VMware was to give away GSX server (or a rebranded version of it) as of Monday, February 6th.

Since the original post, more reports got out, with the most informative coming again, from virtualization.info.

But now it's after midnight Sun/ Mon, and VMware Server has dropped! No need for curious, speculative bloggers. You can go straight to VMware to check out the 411 on VMware Server.

Summary:

• As of Monday, February 6th, VMware is releasing a free beta of a new product, VMware Server.
• This product is basically a rebranding of the already out there GSX Server.
• This product has all the features of GSX server, plus many that were previously unique in the VMware product line to VMware Workstation and VMware Player: support for 64-bit systems, virtual SMP, and "experimental" support for Intel Virtualization Technology (Wait. Is VT support in VMware Workstation and Player? I don't know off the top of my head...).
• GSX Server will be discontinued in two years, including support, but one will be able to buy support/ subscription to VMware Server.
• VMware Server is free. But in the VMware Server faq, VMware has language that suggests some patches may only be available to users who buy support.
  

  1. Q: Will patches and new releases for VMware Server be provided for free in the future?

     A: Generally available VMware Server patches, minor and major releases will be provided by VMware on a regular basis only to customers that have purchased a VMware Server Support and Subscription contract. At a later time, VMware may, at its discretion, include the functionality improvements contained in these patches, minor and major releases in the freely downloadable product.

  I'm guessing though, that if the conversion of VMware Server users -> VMware ESX Server (VMware's expensive server product) is high enough, they will not feel so much pressure to get the support revenue from VMware Server.
  

The release of this product is very exciting. Even if it wasn't free, it's great that VMware's server product can finally trade machines with its desktop products. Before, a sys-admin was forced to have a "lowest common denominator" approach in terms of virtual machine type, if he/she wanted to share macines across VMware certain VMware products. Sys-admins across the land are doing the micro-victory-dance (if you don't have one, you need to get one.).

But it is free, which is great. Saving money is great. But mostly it just makes it easier to market the idea of virtualization to customers and management. I think VMware knows this. Their battle, and any virtualization enthusiast's battle at this moment, is not necessarily in getting somebody to choose VMware's implementation of virtualization, but in getting a customer to choose any implementation of virtualization. The most common scenario for a prospective VMware Workstation customer isn't that he/she's considering another virtualization product, but that he/she's considering a non-virtualization solution solution for the same problem. Once somebody's seriously considering virtualization, VMware's won the toughest part of the battle.

I don't work for VMware, but I'm excited about anything that makes virtualization an easier sell. Yay everybody.

TECHNORATI TAGS: VMware, virtualization, sysadmin, VMware Server, free, VMware GSX  ¶ 1:01 AM