VMware has announced support for 64bit virtual servers in their product line. What isn't initially clear is if an organization will need to support separate VMWare instances to run 32 and 64 bit hosts because concurrent VM's of different architectures will not be supported. My guess is that they will not. According to VMWare, concurrent 32/64bit VM support will be phased in over the next 18 months starting with an update to VMWare workstation 4.5.
The inference here is that the ESX and GSX product lines will follow thereafter. As a result it is likely that ESX/GSX users will not see the functionality for at least six maybe twelve months. The announcement does little to clarify the overall timelines.
VMware, Inc., the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for x86-based systems, today announced support for 64-bit extended x86 platforms, including AMD64 and the Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel EM64T). VMware software will support systems with terabytes of physical and virtual memory, enabling the virtualization of the next-generation memory-intensive applications such as data-mining and managing large databases.
Interestingly Microsoft has been silent on the issue of how they will handle 64bit support in their Virtual Server product line and in future interations that are integrated into the OS as is expected.
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Posted at 4:55AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Asp Net