Parallels announced a beta of their new Server application which is the first virtualization solution to run multiple copies of Mac OS X Server v10.5 Leopard on a single Apple computer.
Parallels Server can be installed using the Parallels lightweight hypervisor, in which virtual machines run in tandem with a primary operating system, or "bare metal, in which virtual machines run independently and are not dependent on a host operating system to function properly.
The advantages to administrators is the ability to run a combination of different "guest" operating systems in various virtual machines. These "sandboxed" virtual machines can be used to easily test software and configurations, without affecting a full production server.
We've previously explored this topic, realizing that the ability to run virtualized Mac OS X would make it very easy to run Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware.
When questioned about the possibility of using Parallels Server to run Mac OS X Server on a PC, Parallels' Director of Corporate Communications told us that that they have not enabled this functionality in the Windows and Linux versions of their product. The reason behind this limitation is that such behavior would violate Apple's end user license agreement (EULA) for Mac OS X, and Parallels wished to continue their good relationship with Apple.
