The rumors were confirmed yesterday; VMWare Virtual Server is now a free download which replaces EAX Server in the VMWare line. It's a worthy download, allowing users to run VMs created by VMWare Workstation, or downloaded from the premade virtual machine library on the VMWare site.
Missing is the functionality that belongs exclusively to the GSX Server product, which is aimed squarely at the enterprise infrastructure level including VMotion and many of the remote managing and load balancing tools.
Nevertheless, the VMWare Virtual Server could come in very handy. Create custom VMs with Workstation, and deploy to Virtual Server. Create throwaway, self-contained test environments. Have a complete, ready to run backup image of your existing systems.
Already available are VMWare Player VMs containing web browsers, firewalls, and more. Definitely keep and eye on the VMWare site for updates via their RSS feed to se where developments are headed.
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