Microsoft has released beta technologies that allow its network-management software to manage non-Windows environments as part of the company's strategy to make its software more conducive to managing large data centers.

Microsoft is releasing beta technology Tuesday for products in its System Center suite that allows the software to natively manage Linux and Unix environments as well as systems virtualized by VMware's ESX virtualization technology, said Larry Orecklin, general manager, of System Center marketing. The company unveiled the news at its Microsoft Management Summit (MMS), which is

in Las Vegas this week.

Previously, Microsoft's management suite -- which has gone through several product, name and pricing changes over the past couple of years as Microsoft has honed its strategy -- only managed Windows environments. But Microsoft is recognizing that to make its software a viable option for managing the data center, it must support heterogeneous environments, and it is extending the product for that purpose.

On Tuesday Microsoft released beta versions of software extensions for its Windows System Center Operations Manager that allow the software to natively manage both Linux and Unix environments in addition to Windows systems. Previously, Microsoft allowed third parties to build software that could allow Operations Manager to manage non-Windows environments; Tuesday marks the first time the software can do that on its own, Orecklin said.

Microsoft leverages two community projects promoting open protocols for network management -- Web Services for Management and OpenPegasus -- to enable cross-platform support. Microsoft also has joined the steering committee for the OpenPegasus project and will contribute royalty-free code to the project, Orecklin said.

In another move to support cross-platform network management, Microsoft Tuesday is releasing a beta of Virtual Machine Manager 2008 that adds support for VMware ESX virtualized environments, news that was previously reported.

Virtual Machine Manager, recently added to Microsoft's System Center product family, manages virtual machines on a network. In a private meeting with reporters last week on Microsoft's Redmond, Washington, campus, Orecklin said Microsoft sees network management as the key business model for virtualization going forward as the technology itself becomes commoditized.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.