Pre-Purchase question. Server 2008 R2

[Hallis]

I've done some googling (is that a word?) to see if i could find this out so I figured I'd ask here due to lack of luck.

I'm going to be setting up a Phenom x4 9550 machine with some hardware that I've had laying around for a few months and wanted to see if i could work some virtualization into it. I don't think that my specific motherboard would support ESXi very well so I was considering Windows Server 2008 R2 for that + some other reasons like how I want to do my storage and access and multi-role thingies (tech term).

The major question i have is that. Will any copy of Server 2008 R2 I purchase come with Hyper-V or will I have to specify that like before R2? The e-tail literature has been a little vague.

Thanks,

Shane

 

[Vashypooh]

Could be wrong, but I believe you will need 2k8R2 standard. If you are or were a college student you can probably obtain it for free at:

https://www.dreamspark.com/default.aspx

 

[Hallis]

Nope no college time here.

 

[danman]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/r2-compare-roles.aspx

 

[Hallis]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/r2-compare-roles.aspx

Looks like that's my answer. Thanks Dan.

 

[CiscoInside]

Could be wrong, but I believe you will need 2k8R2 standard. If you are or were a college student you can probably obtain it for free at:

https://www.dreamspark.com/default.aspx

I had no idea about this. Thanks man!

 

[haileris]

If you aren't eligible for dreamspark then I suggest looking at technet. You can "test" a bunch of products for a very reasonable price - just dont use them in a production environment!

 

[muzzle79]

alternatively
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd459137.aspx

you can get a trial copy to make sure you're happy first

 

[wingnut691983]

You will be very happy with hyper-v, especially in R2 its awesome!

 

[corge]

You could just download the HyperV server itself from Microsoft. It's free. You have to manage it remotely, but that's not a big deal if you have a desktop computer that can connect to it.

http://www.microsoft.com/hyper-v-server/en/us/default.aspx