Microsoft is currently working on Windows Server 2025, the next major update for its server-based operating system. The company has been releasing Windows Server Insider builds since January with the Windows Server 2025 branding and anyone can download a preview version now.
Microsoft has talked about some of the new features that will be included in the new update, such as downloading and installing security hot patches without the need to reboot the OS. This week, Microsoft revealed another new feature for users who run virtual machines with Windows Server.
In a blog post, Microsoft said the new Windows Server 2025 feature is called GPU Partitioning, or GPU-P. In summary, admins can use this feature with the OS to set up several virtual machines that can be run on just one GPU chip.
The blog post added:
Further, due to a planned or unplanned move, the VMs will restart on different nodes in the cluster, using GPU partitions on those different nodes. Besides enabling clustered VMs to use GPU-P, the upcoming OS releases are bringing live migration to VMs using GPU-P. Live migration for GPU-P enables customers to balance mission-critical workloads across their fleet and to conduct hardware maintenance and software upgrades without stopping their VMs.
The Windows Administration Center (WAC) app in Windows Server 2025 will allow admins to set up and manage VMs and how they can be assigned to access the GPU partition, which should make managing and maintaining them a lot easier.
Microsoft also announced that it is collaborating with Nvidia so that its GPUs will support the GPU-P feature. Bob Pette, Nvidia"s Vice President of Enterprise Platforms, is quoted in the blog post as saying:
GPU virtualization requires advanced security, maximum cost efficiency, and accurate horsepower. With GPU-P now available on NVIDIA GPUs in Windows Server Datacenter, customers can meet these requirements and run their key AI workloads to achieve next-level efficiencies
Windows Server 2025 is currently scheduled to officially launch in the fall of 2024.