I’ve heard VMware briefly speak about the Virtual Machine Interface (VMI) standard for the last few years. For example, it seems VMI is always a topic during one or more of the Keynote sessions at VMworld. However. I can’t recall ever hearing about VMI in the real world - that is , hearing about the progress of different operating systems integrating VMI. So, when I read the Techworld article Novell gives Suse kernel a VMware boost it made me realize that the open virtualization standard is alive and well. In fact, after a little research I discovered that popular GNU/Linux distributions now ship with VMI support enabled by default.

First of all, what is VMI? VMware has a couple of web pages on the subject. The Transparent Paravirtualization page provides a good introduction. (more…)

Try to see it once my way
Everything Zen
Everything Zen
I don’t think so

Bush - Everything Zen

Xen, XenSource, XenServer, and Zen. What are they? Which one do I use to virtualize my servers? What is Citrix’s product and how does it compare to VMware? These are my reasons for writing this post. Frankly, I was confused. After some intense meditation I decided to figure it out. Unfortunately, Lakers coach Phil Jackson was not available to help.

Wikipedia was where I started my journey. At first I was even more confused when I landed on the Xen (disambiguation) page: (more…)

Shortly after Oracle announced their new free Xen-based virtualization product VMware sent an email to all it’s partners addressing the confusion caused by Oracle’s claims. The following is a cut and paste from the email I received:

What Was Announced?

Oracle announced Oracle VM at their Oracle OpenWorld user conference. Oracle VM is a Xen hypervisor based on Oracle Enterprise Linux. Oracle also announced that the Oracle Database, Oracle Application Server middleware and selected applications would be certified when run in Oracle Enterprise Linux virtual machines on Oracle VM. Oracle claimed that Oracle VM is more efficient than other virtualization products. Oracle VM is free, but annual support costs are $499 for two-socket systems and $999 for unlimited sockets.

Oracle Press Release:

• “Oracle Unveils Oracle VM”

Press/Blog Coverage:

• “ Oracle Introduces Oracle VM As It Leaps Into Virtualization” - Information Week
• “Analysts call Oracle’s virtualization bluff” - ZDnet

VMware Summary Response: (more…)