Parallels, Inc. today announced that Beta of its Parallels Server hardware virtualization solution is now available for immediate public download at www.parallels.com/products/server/beta.

Parallels Server is a powerful and easy-to-use hypervisor-based virtualization solution that provides the best value for Small and Medium-size Businesses (SMBs) and enterprise departments looking to maximize their IT investments via server hardware or legacy OS consolidation. Parallels Server can be installed on any server running Windows or Linux as well as any Intel-based Mac running OS X “Tiger” or “Leopard” and can be managed through the included Parallels Management Console.

"We are extending beta testing to everyone based on the positive results from our closed beta," said Corey Thomas, Vice President of Consumer and Business Marketing, Parallels. "Feedback has been that it is easy to install and use, reliable and fast. We've incorporated feature requests and fixes into this latest version and feel confident that it’s ready for a broader set of beta users to experience."

New features in Parallels Server Beta include:

• A Full Bare-metal Hypervisor that allows users to run multiple virtual machines directly on the host physical machine’s hardware, without depending on a host OS. This hypervisor implementation provides users with the fastest, most stable virtual machines possible.

• An Integrated Toolset that enhances and simplifies the user experience. The toolset includes: Parallels Tools, a set of helpful add-ons that make working with virtual servers easier and more productive: Parallels Transporter, a built-in, wizard driven migration tool that can move the entire contents of a real machine to a virtual machine: and an integrated, single-click backup utility.

• Virtual Support for 4-way Symmetric Multi-processing (SMP), which lets users assign up to 4 virtual cores to a virtual machine for exceptional performance under heavy workloads. 2-way SMP is also supported, giving users an unsurpassed level of virtual machine customization.

• Experimental Support for Intel VT-d, enabling users to leverage full hardware-acceleration technologies for faster, more stable virtual machines and better resource management. Using VT-d, users can also directly assign hardware resources such as graphics and network cards to virtual machines, giving them native access to that hardware for optimal service levels. Parallels support of this feature is an industry first and is critically important to bringing virtual machine performance and functionality closer to that of real machines.

Other important features in Parallels Server include:

• The ability to run any combination of more than 50 different x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) guest operating systems, including the just released Windows Server 2008 in secure, high-performing virtual machines.

• The inclusion of key next-generation technologies such as ACPI BIOS, support for 64-bit host and guest operating systems and support for up to 64GB of physical RAM.

• Support for Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x) and AMD-V, hardware-assisted virtualization technologies that drive superior virtual machine stability, isolation and performance.

A full list of features and specifications is available at www.parallels.com/products/server/beta.

Beta Program Participation
Parallels Server Beta is available immediately at www.parallels.com/products/server/beta.