Virtualisation specialist VMware has announced a new discount scheme targeting systems administrators, software developers, engineers and testers.

A subscription to VMware's new Technology Network costs $299 (£160) per person per year, and includes full Windows and Linux versions of VMware Workstation and GSX Server, plus the firm's P2V conversion tool and a pared down version of its flagship ESX Server software.

Richard Garsthagen, VMware technical marketing manager, said, "The key limitation is that this software can be used only for non-production data. The software is the same as the commercial versions and can be used for testing, but not for production data."

Garsthagen said the version of ESX Server supplied in this bundle is the same as the standard version minus some features normally used only in production environments. "ESX will be a special version that comes without SAN connectivity, NIC teaming, virtual LAN tagging and clustering across physical servers."

Clustering between virtual machines running on the same physical server is allowed, he added.

Subscribers to the Technology Network will also get access to pre-built virtual machines. Initially these will include virtual machines from Oracle, Novell, Red Hat and enterprise open-source specialist SpikeSource.

The new Technology Network seems to be focused on encouraging firms to create more virtual machines. Garsthagen said versions of this software bundle licensed for production use would cost about $20,000 (£11,000). VMware Workstation currently costs $199 (£110).