XenSource caters to Windows 2000 laggards

Like a titanium-wired bra, XenSource has become more supportive.

The software maker this week patted itself on the back for releasing Version 3.2 of XenEnterprise. The software adds support for Windows 2000 guests. So, stragglers can now run the OS alongside the already supported Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. Users of Microsoft's fresher operating systems will also now discover SMP support that lets them use servers with up to eight processors rather than a single CPU, as had been the case.

Those of you paying close attention to XenSource will also be pleased to find RHEL 5 and SLES 10 (SP1) on board. And the new release make rooms for iSCSI storage area network (SAN) kit; CPU, disk and network controls and better overall Windows guest support, particularly from a networking performance point of view.

Since blasting out a Windows-ready version of its software, XenSource claims it has gained more than 200 customers, although the company did not say how many of these fresh bodies use the Windows code.

The open source start-up has been doing its best to compete against VMware in the server virtualization market. It has decided to buddy up with rival Microsoft in a bid to slow VMware's growth.

Customers can test out XenEnterpise for 30-days at no charge or buy it for $488 per year on a dual-socket server. A perpetual license costs $750. ®