server virtualization

Get virtual with Sid Smith

Looking for another expert perspective on server virtualization? Sid Smith, who runs the Daily Hypervisor, now has a new blog here on IT Knowledge Exchange.

Virtualization with Sid Smith will focus on the storage, networking and other issues related to deploying and managing VMware, Hyper-V and Xen environments. His first post is about upgrading from ESX to vSphere.

In addition to writing for two blogs, Smith is also a senior systems engineer with VIRTERA, a New York-based solutions provider, and the author of an upcoming book on virtualization. He’s been working in virtualization for nearly a decade, so check out what he has to say.

Microsoft: With vSphere, now we’re even cheaper than VMware!

Microsoft is nothing if not persistent.

The folks up in Redmond have fired yet ANOTHER salvo against VMware. This time it’s in the form of a blog post by Edwin Yuen, the senior technical product manager for Microsoft’s integrated virtualization team. (You may know him as “Laughing Guy” from the now-notorious “Microsoft Mythbusters” video.)

Microsoft has always said VMware is more expensive than Hyper-V, and Yuen uses the upcoming release of vSphere 4 to drive that point home even further in his post, “VMware vSphere pricing - Meet the new price; same as the old price, only more.”

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Open source hypervisors face an uphill battle

VMware vs. Microsoft is the hot debate in virtualization these days, but what about proprietary vs. open source hypervisors?

Forrester Research has an interesting take on that topic. The firm’s new report, “Are Open Source Hypervisors Viable for You?” says the recession will drive more businesses to consider open source virtualization. I’m not sure I agree.

In most other technology markets, the “open source is free/cheap, and more people want free/cheap things when the economy is bad, so more people want open source” argument holds up. But to paraphrase Allen Iverson, we’re talking about virtualization! Not other markets. Not other markets. We’re talking about virtualization!

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Oracle-Sun: A threat to VMware?

You may have heard this morning that Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems. Like Ron Burgundy, it’s kind of a big deal.

Most of the early reaction to the news has focused on the fallout in the database market. Oracle, the market leader, now owns the biggest thorn in its side, Sun’s open source MySQL.

But the real legacy of the Oracle-Sun acquisition could be its effect on the virtualization market — particularly on VMware.

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Oracle beefs up virtualization offering with management capabilities

I have to admit that I have been less than kind when it comes to Oracle’s virtualization software and licensing policies; I’ve written articles about their stubborn refusal to support their customers who use VMware, user frustrations with their licensing policies, and their unsubstantiated performance claims about Oracle VM being three times faster than other server virtualization software.

But, the newly released Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 5 (10gR5) includes a VM Management Pack for Oracle VM that gives people using Oracle VM competitive features like high availability, lifecycle automation and application relationship management, making it a more attractive virtualization option.

Oracle’s Xen-based hypervisor runs on x86-64 Intel- and AMD- based systems and can support any operating system that runs on those platforms. Oracle officially certifies Linux and Microsoft Windows to run as a guest OS. The Oracle VM management tool (Oracle VM Manager) comes in the form of a Web-based interface that manages virtual server pools and performs tasks like live migrations.

The Oracle VM Management Pack 10gR5 gives users a way to manage their physical and virtual environments from one console. Some features include diagnostics of whether a problem is due to an application component, a virtual machine or physical resource issue and built-in configuration management that gives IT a way to track application relationships and analyze configuration changes.

The new management pack also lets you assign specific policies for virtualization, automated deployment through Oracle VM Templates for packaged applications, middleware, database, and Oracle Enterprise Linux. There are also lifecycle automation features for testing, deployment, patching and maintenance capabilities, including automated patching of operating systems and Oracle software running inside the guest VMs.

Lastly, Oracle VM users can now get high availability with new features that allow for server pooling, automatic load balancing and server failover. Many analysts say high availability is an absolute necessity when it comes to virtualization, so it’s great that Oracle decided to add that feature.

Perhaps I should start considering Oracle VM a contender in the virtualization market, especially against Microsoft Hyper-V, which doesn’t even have live migration yet. Or maybe not. Either way, it is an option.

If you run a ton of Oracle apps and you want to give Oracle VM a shot, it is free to download form their website. Oracle VM support per two-socket server costs $599, and includes access to software and updates through the Unbreakable Linux Network and 24X7 support. Oracle VM Premier Support costs $1,797 per two sockets for three years, and includes network access plus 24×7 support.