Microsoft makes standalone Hyper-V R2 server available for download

On the eve of its virtualization rival VMware's VMWorld conference, Microsoft has posted for download on August 28 the final bits of its Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 product.

Hyper-V R2 is a standalone virtualization server targeted at small- and mid-sized business customers. The R2 release, an update to the Hyper-V Server 2008 product, adds support for live migration and high availability, meaning, in this case, automatic restart on another node without user intervention.

Microsoft originally planned to charge for the Hyper-V server when it first released the product in 2008, but decided to make it free. The R2 release is free, as well.