Enterprise Unix Roundup: Virtually Free

Everything old is new again. Such is the case with virtualization. You'd have to be living in isolation to not know that it's once again the latest and greatest. However, virtualization has been around since the days when IBM mainframes were synonymous with computing. Back then it was all about hardware partitioning and job sharing.

Now, virtualization can occur from the chip level up through the hardware and app layers. This week, IDC's Virtualization Forum in New York City covered the spectrum of the technology for skeptical executives not familiar with its history or nuances. And, in some cases, not aware of its advantages.

Perhaps because of the show, it was also a big week for ISVs at the epicenter of the software space.

The biggest news to come out of the show — and which actually surfaced via the rumor mill and then vendor confirmation, late last week — was that VMware Server, the successor to VMware's GSX server, will be distributed free. That's free as in beer, not free as in press.

The software went into public beta on Monday. It's 64-bit compatible and runs on both Windows and Linux.

ServerWatch met with Raghu Raghuram, VMware vice president, Datacenter and Desktop Platform Products, who noted that the ISV sees the software as a way to plant a foot in the door of enterprises not yet ready to jump into virtualization. Revenue streams will come from service and support as well as from organizations that, once sold on the glories of virtualization, opt for its big brother, ESX Server.

When asked why VMware chose to not go the open source software route, Raghuram noted that VMware customers are not in the same league as those that rely on open source products. He also doesn't see serious competition coming from Xen.

We're a bit puzzled. We agree that giving it away is a smart way for VMware to hold its lead, especially before Microsoft moves in with its own Virtual Server. But we're puzzled by the open source oversight. Wouldn't a company willing to use a cost-free product also be interested in being able to customize the code? Why go cost-free if its customers aren't "that kind"?

We recognize that VMWare is no stranger to open source software, as it has made VMware Player available on Sourceforge since last October, and it offers information on its site about obtaining the source code. We suspect VMware's chief concern is lying in wait in Redmond, not in corner offices throughout the world. The vendor also makes what we can only assume is debugging code available for download but labels it as open source.

We also recognize that with Xen, the leading open source virtualization player, shipping with both Red Hat and SUSE, VMware is wise to provide an alternative that the accounting department won't question.

Interestingly, Xen was notably absent from the show. We're not sure if it was a case of the speakers coming largely form the sponsor pool, or the conference host simply thinking open source wouldn't sell well to this crowd. We suspect the former.

Two other interesting virtualization developments surfacing this week relevant to the Unix space came from SWsoft and Novell.

SWsoft released Virtuozzo for Linux 3.0, whose key enhancement is a "zero downtime migration" tool not unlike VMware's VMotion technology. The tool is designed to ensure that servers remain online while transferring data between machines. SWsoft also introduced Virtuozzo for Windows 3.5.1, which increases performance and adds support for Windows Server 2003 release 2 and Microsoft Small Business Server 2003.

Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 will ship with the kernel pre-configured for use with Virtual Iron's data center virtualization and management platform. Virtual Iron has been described as a "paravirtualized solution" that delivers virtualization and policy-based management solutions by pooling and sharing data center resources.

Whether your server room is Windows or Linux or a mixed bag, the concept of virtualization seems to require only a soft sell to the enterprise. The action lies in watching to see which sphere prevails: open source, multi-operating-system environments, or a single stack.

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