Virtualization continues to be a hot topic for many of you with questions raised around whether Exchange should be virtualized.  We started talking about this back in January (http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2009/01/22/450463.aspx) and continue to recommend Microsoft virtualization technologies for these deployment scenarios.   For example, the Exchange team recommends Microsoft virtualization (Hyper-V + System Center) for customers who want to virtualize their underutilized CAS, Hub and mailbox roles.  Additionally, the Edge Transport role along with other security gateways on the edge server can be considered for virtualization to maximize hardware utilization.  

Studies have shown that in mixed physical/virtual Exchange environments, virtualization can deliver significant benefits including reduced server hardware costs, power and space savings, improved server utilization and rapid server provisioning.  Additionally, by choosing MS virtualization (Hyper-V + System Center) customers  benefit from a lower cost solution (both up front and ongoing) that is already part of Windows Server and an integrated end to end management solution for both physical and virtual environments. 

Whether you install on physical hardware or virtual machines, Exchange Server and Windows Server + System Center provide the best solution for you.

For more information on virtualizing Exchange and other Microsoft server applications please visit http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/solutions/business-critical-applications.  Also check out the latest MS virtualization blog here.

- The Exchange Team