VMware has made its server product generally available starting Wednesday.The product, previously the paid-for GSX Server, has been free to download in beta form for months but is now cooked, according to VMware. It remains free to download, but if you want technical support, you’ll have to pay for it. The company is using the same model as Red Hat for its Enterprise Linux. According to VMware, 700,000 copies of the product have already been downloaded.VMware Server for x86 platform supports all main operating systems in both 32- and 64-bit form as guests, including Solaris, although it’ll run only on either Linux or Windows hosts. Features include the ability to take snapshots and roll back to a previous state, to manage either local or remote VMs, and import Microsoft VMs as well as Symantec LiveState Recovery images using the company’s VM Importer utility. It also includes what the company calls experimental support for Intel’s virtualization technology, and for two-way virtual SMP, which enables a single virtual machine to span multiple physical processors.VMware said its approach is to build an ecosystem of users and partners with the aim of spreading the word about the benefits of virtualization. That the company will be able shut out its competition and increase its market share, already considerable, at the expense of key rival Microsoft in the process is no coincidence. VMware sees VMware Server as a virtualization starter pack, hoping that enterprises will eventually upgrade to ESX Server, which has performance and robustness advantages over Server, since the hypervisor-based system doesn’t need an underlying OS to support guest OSes.Other companies already snapping at its heels include Parallels and SWsoft. The former is offering similar functionality, but is making waves in the Apple Mac market while SWsoft’s Virtuozzo product takes a semi-hypervisor approach to virtualization, using a single kernel to support multiple guest images. Support for VMware starts at US$350 for a one-year subscription per two processors.-Manek Dubash, Techworld.com (London)Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Huawei Beyond gigabit: the need for 10 Gbps in business networks Interview with Liu Jianning, Vice President of Huawei's Data Communication Marketing & Solutions Sales Dept By CIO Online Staff Nov 30, 2023 9 mins Cloud Architecture Networking brandpost Sponsored by SAP Generative AI’s ‘show me the money’ moment We’re past the hype and slick gen AI sales pitches. Business leaders want results. By Julia White Nov 30, 2023 5 mins Artificial Intelligence brandpost Sponsored by Zscaler How customers capture real economic value with zero trust Unleashing economic value: Zscaler's Zero Trust Exchange transforms security architecture while cutting costs. By Zscaler Nov 30, 2023 4 mins Security brandpost Sponsored by SAP A cloud-based solution to rescue millions from energy poverty Aware of the correlation between energy and financial poverty, Savannah Energy is helping to generate clean, competitively priced electricity across Africa by integrating its old systems into one cloud-based platform. By Keith E. Greenberg, SAP Contributor Nov 30, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe