Today I installed Server 2008 R2 on a consumer level PC that I built myself. I enabled the Hyper-V role and then used the wizard to create a virtual machine. Then I installed Windows 7 as a guest operating system.

It always amazes me how far and how fast the technology has progressed.

At first I did not have sound in the Windows 7 guest, but then I researched how to deal with the problem by using remote desktop from the Server 2008 host and walla! I had sound, internet and everything was working inside my new virtual machine.

Wow! I could barely discern the difference between the new VM as opposed to a directly installed instance.

Now I have a test setup with Server 2008 R2 and a guest Windows 7 all on one home built PC!

My next efforts will involve getting Sharepoint 2010 installed and configured – perhaps as an additional VM guest if I have enough physical memory to make it happen. If not, I will use an additonal home built PC and bring it in to the test network.

Then I will have an awesome test network to get some hands on with Sharepoint Designer and then it is on to Visual Studio 2010 for custom Sharepoint solutions!

I am fully licensed for these and other Microsoft products as I am a recent action pack subscriber (new developer version) and a  Microsoft partner.

Hyper-V comes as a built in server role with Server 2008 R2. And the virtualization management piece is also built in.

So Hyper-V could offer a mid sized business (example:  a small rural hospital) a savings opportunity over a VmWare implementation.

What do you think?