McAfee has launched what it claims is the industry's "most comprehensive secure virtualisation system".

Total Protection for Virtualisation (TPV) supports VMware-based virtualised systems including VirusScan Enterprise, VirusScan Enterprise for Linux, VirusScan Enterprise for Offline Virtual Images, AntiSpyware Enterprise, Host Intrusion Prevention for Server, and ePolicy Orchestrator.

One of the most important features of TPV, according to McAfee, is that VirusScan Enterprise for Offline Virtual Images can patch virtual machines offline without bringing them online.

McAfee security analyst Greg Day explained that the system is specifically for VMware systems, but said that the firm is working with Microsoft on similar systems for its virtualisation package.

Gartner fellow and vice president Neil MacDonald suggested that, although more than half of server workloads would be virtualised, awareness of server virtualisation risks still remains low.

"Security must be incorporated into virtual systems from their inception, not addressed later as an afterthought," he said.

TPV will be available in the fourth quarter. Pricing will be announced at the time, based on a per physical server host covering all virtual machines deployed on that server.