A. On Nov. 8, 2010, Microsoft announced Hyper-V Cloud. It's a set of programs, offerings, and partners to deliver private cloud infrastructures to your organization using the Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization platform and System Center. Key partners including Dell, Fujitsu, HP, and IBM have already signed on as cloud partners and are able to deliver pre-validated infrastructures for faster deployment and simple support structures.
Microsoft has details on the private cloud on this site. It currently consists of three major programs:
- Hyper-V Cloud Deployment Guides: Guides to help organizations implement their own private clouds using Microsoft technologies.
- Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track: Prevalidated configurations from Microsoft and OEM partners offering private clouds
- Hyper-V Cloud Service Providers: Partners who can host private clouds for you.
The Hyper-V Cloud allows organizations to provide Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) within their organization with a minimum of effort and risk. Additional help is also be available from Microsoft partners in the form of assessments, proof of concepts, and deployment services.
