Virtualization is a computing technology whereby one computer can host complete environments on areas of storage space, called virtual machines. A user can log into a virtual machine and the environment will appear and function just as it would if it were running on the physical computer itself.
Organizations will often assign a virtual machine host to a particular business component. For example, a company may have all of its databases built on virtual machines hosted by a single computer. The company’s Web content might be stored on another host.
After computers have been installed and joined to a network, you can use System Center Essentials 2010 discovery to locate physical computers that meet the system requirements for designation and preparation as hosts. Essentials will only manage one virtual machine host per physical host.
Designating and configuring servers as hosts for virtual machines in Essentials 2010 can be done from the Essentials management server or from the Essentials console. You can also set up and manage the virtual machines on hosts in trusted domains, workgroups, or perimeter networks.
 Important |
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| If you have Essentials 2010 installed with virtualization management and you also have System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008 installed, it is recommended that you only manage virtual machines in Essentials 2010 instead of in the VMM Administrator console to prevent conflicts between applications. |