Microsoft relaxes licensing rules for VMs

As expected, Microsoft on Tuesday announced changes to its licensing policy that makes it easier for companies to shift to virtualization. A licensing cap previously mandated that virtual machine hosts could only be migrated to a different physical server once every 90 days. That served as an artificial restriction severely handicapping advanced business continuity and functionality, as well as attempts to reduce energy consumption in the data center.

According to Microsoft, the change applies to 41 server titles, including enterprise versions of SQL Server 2008, and other enterprise-centric products such as Exchange Server 2007. Moving ahead, Microsoft also plans to support its software running inside virtual machines from VMware, Cisco Systems, Citrix, Novell, Sun Microsystems, and Virtual Iron with the same support as their non-virtual counterparts.

To learn more Microsoft's licensing policies:
- check out this CNET News article