Linux KVM for Virtualized Cloud Services
Digg
DZone
Reddit
Slashdot
StumbleUpon
del.icio.us
Facebook
FriendFeed
Furl
While not ready to displace VMware or the Xen hypervisor in the cloud space just yet, the Linux KVM hypervisor now has two major vendors using the virtualization software to create cloud platforms. As mentioned in this SF Gate story, IBM announced in March that its test-and-dev cloud service uses KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine), and now hosting company The Planet has built a cloud service using a version of KVM.
Will KVM will be the open source hypervisor of choice in the long term?
"While KVM isn't on the verge of supplanting VMware, Microsoft or the open source Xen hypervisor in the enterprise, Planet officials say KVM offers numerous advantages in commercial cloud offerings.
"KVM is easier for Linux developers to use than Xen because 'Xen was never really integrated into Linux,' says Carl Meadows, senior manager of product marketing for The Planet. 'It sits outside Linux as a separate microkernel.' KVM, meanwhile, 'was built directly into Linux and uses Linux as the host... The KVM is much simpler and more elegant than Xen.'"
