|
General
|
|
Written by Daniel
|
|
Monday, 10 September 2007 10:01 |
Virtualization: A feature of the hardware, not the OS?
By Stephen Shankland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: September 10, 2007, 4:00 AM PDT
The virtualization specialists are fighting back.
Companies like VMware, and more recently XenSource, got their start with standalone virtualization software that let customers run several operating systems simultaneously on a single computer. But Linux sellers and Microsoft, unwilling to cede their influential position selling the foundational software of a computer, are trying to make virtualization a feature of the operating system.
Now the virtualization companies are trying to make their software a feature of the server instead. XenSource and VMware both have added new versions of their products that can be embedded directly in servers, and both companies have lined up major server makers who will build it in.
"With virtualization, where you can run any operating system on top, it seems a lot more logical that it would be effectively a layer sitting on top of a server," said Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff. "Why wouldn't it be supplied with the server?"
XenSource announced XenExpress OEM Edition last week, and market leader VMware this week is announcing VMware ESX Server 3i at its VMworld conference. The products run from flash memory built into a server instead of being installed on the hard drive.
The embedded versions aren't just a fantasy. VMware has partnerships with IBM, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Network Appliance. "We expect them to begin integrating ESX Server 3i into their servers later this year or early next," a VMware representative said... More
Comments in the forums |
