6 Server Virtualization Platforms with Free product offerings
January 13th, 2009 | 
Author: 5 Linux-based Virtualization Companies to Watch on Ken Hess’s Linux Blog is a post about the 5 main server virtualization platforms based on Linux. Ken also mentions the only non Linux based hypervisor, Microsoft’s Hyper-V.
“There’s only one company that doesn’t use Linux for its server virtualization platform. Can you guess which one it is? If you guessed Microsoft, you’re correct. Microsoft is a newbie in the virtualization space but wants in and may make significant dents in the already well-established market that is significantly owned by VMware. For Windows-only virtualization, there may be some validity to the switch to Hyper-V.
For the rest of us, who are either too stubborn or too smart to make the shift to Hyper-V, what are our choices? The following is a list of 5 of the main players in Linux-based virtualization.”
Use the link above to read all of Ken’s original post for some brief info about each platform, but I am listing the 6 products and the links to their free versions for quick reference here. Ken does not discuss nor am I including free hosted platforms such as Microsoft Virtual PC or VMware Server.
- Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008
- VMware ESXi
- Citrix XenServer 5.0 Express Edition
- Virtual Iron Single Server Edition
- OpenVZ or OpenVZ LiveCD
- KVM
Be aware that most of these platforms require 64 bit hardware with AMD-V or Intel-VT virtualization assist technologies. if you need to check if your current hardware is virtualization ready then check out my previous post How to check if your CPU supports hardware virtualization.
Personally I have not used OpenVZ, KVM, or Virtual Iron. It will be interesting to see how these alternatives find their place with customers in today’s competitive market.
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