This content is 16 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.
Last summer, I wrote a post to help people understand the various versions of Hyper-V and now that Hyper-V Server has been launched, it’s got even more confusing.
The following table is lifted from the Microsoft website and should help to clear up which version of Hyper-V Server or Windows Server with the Hyper-V role enabled will allow various functionality:
| Requirement | Hyper-V Server 2008 | Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition | Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition | Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Server consolidation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Test and development | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mixed operating system virtualisation (Windows and Linux) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Local Graphical User Interface | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| High availability clustering | Yes | Yes | ||
| Quick migration | Yes | Yes | ||
| Large memory support (host >32GB RAM) | Yes | Yes | ||
| Support for >4 processors (host) | Yes | Yes | ||
| Ability to add further server roles | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Virtualisation rights (per assigned server license) | Each guest should be licensed independently of the host | 1 physical and 1 virtual | 1 physical and 4 virtual | 1 physical and unlimited virtual |