Oracle VM takes on everyone

News broke this morning that Oracle is entering the virtualization space with Oracle VM. Toes were stepped on, canned analyst comments were issued via press release, and the virtualization space once again proved that it is hot, hot, hot and has no intention of settling down just yet.

According to Oracle, its new server virtualization software supports both Oracle and non-Oracle applications. Oracle products like Oracle Database, Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle Applications are all certified with Oracle VM.

Consisting of open source server software and an integrated Web browser- based management console, Oracle VM provides a graphical interface for creating and managing virtual server pools, running on x86 and x86-64-based systems, across an enterprise. Oracle VM offers:

• Simplified Installation — with single install, patching and upgrading for both Oracle VM and Oracle Enterprise Linux
• Faster Deployment — through pre-configured Virtual Machine images of Oracle Database and Oracle Enterprise Linux
• Linux and Windows Support — support for Linux and Windows guest operating systems including: Oracle Enterprise Linux 4 and 5; RHEL3, RHEL4 and RHEL5; Windows 2003, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP (on HV capable hardware)
• Single Source of Support — customers will have a single point of contact for their entire virtual environments, including the Linux operating system, and Oracle Database, Fusion Middleware and Application software

Oracle applications, middleware and database software currently certified with Oracle VM include:

– Oracle Database 10.2.0.3 and 11.1
– Oracle Application Server 10gR2 and 10gR3
– Oracle Enterprise Manager 10.2.0.4
– Oracle TimesTen 7.0.3.1
– Oracle Berkeley DB 4.6
– Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.10 and 12
– Oracle’s PeopleSoft Enterprise 9.0
– PeopleTools 8.49.07 and above
– Oracle’s Siebel CRM 8
– Oracle’s Hyperion 9.3.1

I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this very soon. The big questions now: Do we really need another hypervisor, and, what role will the OS play in the future, if any?

UPDATE@3:30 pm. EST: As far as specs for Oracle VM… it’s built off of Xen so the license itself is free. Oracle will only charge for support (either 2 proc for $499 or unlimited proc for $999 per instance). That’s from our man/woman on the inside, so look for confirmation later.