Discussion on: VMware’s competitive edge shrinking in light of Hyper-V hype, experts say http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/vmware%e2%80%99s-competitive-edge-shrinking-in-light-of-hyper-v-hype-experts-say/ Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:34:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.2.1 By: Akutz http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/vmware%e2%80%99s-competitive-edge-shrinking-in-light-of-hyper-v-hype-experts-say/#comment-54 Akutz Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:54:05 +0000 http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/vmware%e2%80%99s-competitive-edge-shrinking-in-light-of-hyper-v-hype-experts-say/#comment-54 Hyper-V sits between the hardware and OS, meaning that it is bare-metal in the strict sense, although not necessarily how VMware wants it to be defined. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/hyperv-faq.aspx - "A core component of Hyper-V, Windows hypervisor is a thin layer of software between the hardware and the OS that allows multiple operating systems to run, unmodified, on a host computer at the same time. It provides simple partitioning functionality and is responsible for maintaining strong isolation between partitions. It has an inherently secure architecture with minimal attack surface, as it does not contain any third-party device drivers" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-V has a visual diagram. The diagram you see is how Xen or ESX 3.5 works (basically). People can argue semantics, but if isn't a hosted model then it is either bare-metal, hybrid, or containerized. It isn't hybrid since the hypervisor isn't a kernel module that relies on the Windows kernel for memory and cpu management, and it is not a container model. Check out my TechTarget article on hypervisor architecture models for examples at http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid94_gci1297582,00.html. The best way to understand the confusion is that the definition of "bare-metal" is changing. Prior to 3i, VMware would argue that 2 and 3 were bare-metal hypervisors. Under their new definition, created by removing the privileged partition/domain/service console, the older ESX architectures wouldn't qualify. Is Hyper-V bare-metal? I suppose that depends on who you ask and when you ask it. Hyper-V sits between the hardware and OS, meaning that it is bare-metal in the strict sense, although not necessarily how VMware wants it to be defined.

<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/hyperv-faq.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/hyperv-faq.aspx</a> - “A core component of Hyper-V, Windows hypervisor is a thin layer of software between the hardware and the OS that allows multiple operating systems to run, unmodified, on a host computer at the same time. It provides simple partitioning functionality and is responsible for maintaining strong isolation between partitions. It has an inherently secure architecture with minimal attack surface, as it does not contain any third-party device drivers”

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-V" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-V</a> has a visual diagram. The diagram you see is how Xen or ESX 3.5 works (basically). People can argue semantics, but if isn’t a hosted model then it is either bare-metal, hybrid, or containerized. It isn’t hybrid since the hypervisor isn’t a kernel module that relies on the Windows kernel for memory and cpu management, and it is not a container model. Check out my TechTarget article on hypervisor architecture models for examples at <a href="http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid94_gci1297582,00.html." rel="nofollow">http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid94_gci1297582,00.html.</a>

The best way to understand the confusion is that the definition of “bare-metal” is changing. Prior to 3i, VMware would argue that 2 and 3 were bare-metal hypervisors. Under their new definition, created by removing the privileged partition/domain/service console, the older ESX architectures wouldn’t qualify.

Is Hyper-V bare-metal? I suppose that depends on who you ask and when you ask it.

]]> By: Kadbet44 http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/vmware%e2%80%99s-competitive-edge-shrinking-in-light-of-hyper-v-hype-experts-say/#comment-53 Kadbet44 Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:07:40 +0000 http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/vmware%e2%80%99s-competitive-edge-shrinking-in-light-of-hyper-v-hype-experts-say/#comment-53 Hyper-V is a container based virtualization rather than bare metal virtualization. Will require host Windows OS, and guests will have to be of same version/release. Mixing Windows and Linux will not be possible either, which VmWare will allow. Hyper-V is a container based virtualization rather than bare metal virtualization. Will require host Windows OS, and guests will have to be of same version/release. Mixing Windows and Linux will not be possible either, which VmWare will allow.

]]> By: Bobstep1 http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/vmware%e2%80%99s-competitive-edge-shrinking-in-light-of-hyper-v-hype-experts-say/#comment-52 Bobstep1 Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:23:01 +0000 http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/vmware%e2%80%99s-competitive-edge-shrinking-in-light-of-hyper-v-hype-experts-say/#comment-52 Hyper-V is not a bare metal hypervisor in the same sense as ESXi. Hyper-V requires a root VM running at least a bare bones version of windows in order to have access to device drivers and virtualizatoin services. ESXi runs directly on the bare metal, does not require a root partition, and is only 32MB. That's the point that Raghu was making. Hyper-V is roughly equivalent to ESX 1.0. Hyper-V is not a bare metal hypervisor in the same sense as ESXi. Hyper-V requires a root VM running at least a bare bones version of windows in order to have access to device drivers and virtualizatoin services. ESXi runs directly on the bare metal, does not require a root partition, and is only 32MB. That’s the point that Raghu was making. Hyper-V is roughly equivalent to ESX 1.0.

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