VMware Studio 2.0 and OVF Exports: Blurred Products or Outside The Box Thinking?
July 1st, 2009 | 
Author: VMware has recently announced the public availability of the VMware Studio 2.0 Beta, a tool to create virtual appliances and distribute them in OVF format, and today’s VMTN Roundtable Podcast provided a lot of discussion about the possible scenarios for using this new version. I’m still struggling to get my mind around the potential of Studio 2.0, but I did come away from today’s podcast with a few ideas that make me think I have either blurred the functions of several existing products or I have suddenly realized there may be some great “outside the box” use case scenarios for this new VMware software.
Before continuing, it is most clear that VMware Studio’s designed intent is for ISVs and developers to package their applications as preconfigured, ready to import virtual appliances. Now with version 2.0 even multi tiered applications can be wrapped up as a vApp in vSphere and exported as an OVF containing several VMs and then imported by any VMware virtualization host (free, hosted, or bare metal). If you are not already familiar with VMware Studio check out the Studio 2.0 Beta Overview web page for a complete listing of features, but the primary topic of interest (to me and the others on today’s podcast) seems to be centered around how enterprises can leverage VMware Studio, vApps, and OVF templates.
This is where the lines get blurry to me, and I’ll outline potential Studio / OVF usage that may be “outside of the box” from the VMware software’s intended purpose. Or is it? You tell me.
vCenter / Deploy from template
The ability to export any VM as an OVF from the VI Client by itself, let alone VMware Studio, opens the door for template deployment in environments without vCenter. Build a VM to desired corporate standards and then export a copy of it to a shared network drive where it can be used as a master image for future deployments on any virtual platform that supports OVF.
With VMware Studio build a multiple VM apllication as a vApp. Configure the web server and the database for example, and before adding any data export the combination as an OVF. Deploy the vApp OVF as a master template as needed.
Sure, vCenter offers so much more automation for this process, but what about for deployment between ESX hosts that are not managed by the same vCenter or don’t share the same storage?
Lab Manager / Development
Building on the template idea, couldn’t VMware Studio and OVF exports be used as a poor man’s Lab Manager library for a development enviroment? Once again, this is most appropriate when cloning is not possible due to a lack of shared storage.
Why not export a set of VMs and import them to Workstation or Fusion on your personal computer? Do your work and import the set back when satisfied with the results.
VCB / VM Image backup
We are talking about full image copies of VMs that can be imported to any VMware virtualization host anywhere, right? Full images of vApps configured, tweaked, hardened, and optimized for each other none the less.
SRM / DR recovery
OK, the fail over automation of SRM might be the biggest stretch for replacement by OVF exports, but the ability to combine a 10 VM domain as a vApp and set the startup order of the VMs for when the vApp OVF is imported was discussed as an example on the podcast. Importing that big OVF is certainly going to take longer than SRM’s storage replication provided readiness, but the import is still quicker than server builds and tape recovery.
The v12n community rolls up it’s sleeves for challenges that seem way harder than the scenarios I’ve mentioned in this post. Am I assuming too much for VMware’s new virtual appliance software studio?
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Posted in beta, virtual appliance, vmetc.com | 
Tags: ovf, vapp, virtual appliance, virtualization, vmetc, vmware studio
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