Layered Technologies announced their second major product release this June. Working in direct conjunction with Microsoft, Layered Technologies launched Hyper-V. Hyper-V, previously codenamed Viridian, is a hypervisor-based technology that is a key feature of Windows Server 2008, and allows virtualization of multiple operating systems (including Windows and Linux) all on the same server. It provides a scalable, reliable, and highly available virtualization platform.

"We are excited to be a part of Microsoft's ongoing effort to provide customers and partners with the best operating system platform for virtualization," said Jack Finlayson, Chief Executive Officer of Layered Technologies. "We worked closely with Microsoft to be the first hosting providers to rapidly deploy this technology. In bringing virtualization to the market, we are looking to help businesses consolidate resources, reduce support costs, and decrease operations expenses."

Layered Technologies will provide Microsoft Hyper-V GoLive Beta Program and Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) members with dependable dedicated servers in an on-demand, hosted environment. As a member of the MSDN community or a GoLive Partner, customers will receive an exclusive monthly discount on the Microsoft Hyper-V-enabled hosting packages.

Layered Technology's aggressive goal in being first in the market to offer this technology also includes a managed service offering on the Hyper-V product once it is officially released out of beta (currently scheduled for September 2008). Enabling developers and organizations to utilize virtualization, coupled with managed services, will provide a solution that will mold to any skill set. This dedicated management services offering, DEFCON Managed Services, will include 24x7 monitoring, technical support, security updates, and expert system administration of virtualization server engineers.

"The mainstream acceptance of virtualization provides a new level of sought-after features for administrators," said Aaron Phillips, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Layered Technologies. "As the technology has matured, a hosted virtualization offering through our relationship with Microsoft was a natural progression."

In addition to launching Hyper-V-based dedicated servers, Layered Technologies also plans to make available Hyper-V-based VPS (virtual private servers) within the next two weeks.