Submitted by Sun Microsystems later this year will introduce virtualization technology to let its newest Sparc-based servers run multiple operating systems simultaneously, catching up to a feature already built into Unix machines from rivals IBM and Hewlett-Packard.
Sun Servers to Get New Multi-OS Abilities
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catching up to a feature already built into Unix machines from rivals IBM and Hewlett-Packard
That’s gonna draw in some posts…
The most exciting line from the article :
“Eventually we expect Xen will get industrywide acceptance, and we’d like to be part of it. Some time, probably in the second half of 2007, we will merge,” Yen said.
With all the cool technology that is being open sourced from IBM and now possibly Sun in the future Xen looks to grow into something wonderful.
I almost feel sorry for Microsoft. Their “me to” hypervisor is pretty much guaranteed to pale in comparison.
Reading the stuff from IBM, it seems that the ability to run multiple OS’ on the same machine is a relatively recent development:(http://search400.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid3_gci99…) And of course it is dependent on which version of AIX you are running.
Sun is just a little slow in offering this “feature” on lower end hardware. The big stuff (SunFire 3800 and upward) has always had the ability to be split into Dynamic Domains. And while the Xen route is interesting, I prefer the hardware route.
IBM has actually had virtualization on their mainframes for decades, since around 1970 I believe. IBM’s Linux on mainframe stuff runs mostly under z/VM.
You Sun heads need to face the facts that IBM is at the forefront of Virtualization and was the pioneer of this.
The facts are ALSO that AIX is expensive, Linux is not… In a year or so when Xen is merged into the mainline kernel, Linux will see even more migrations. By the time Xen is in mainline, hardware based virtualization (like intel’s vanderpool) will be commonplace in newer datacenters.
Linux is still taking over the world, one Unix/Windows system after another.
Solaris isn’t expensive either, its free, and if you want to support, it just a matter of sitting down with SUN and setting up a service level that you would require for your setup.
ps. It would be nice if IBM gave away AIX like SUN is giving away Solaris binaries.
Pioneer, absolutely! Much of the work today on modern hypervisors and even para-virtualization architectures was at the very least inspired by IBM’s VM that started over 3 decades ago. However, to say that IBM is on the forefront of virtualization today? I’d have to disagree with that.. What exactly would you be referring to that makes them a pioneer in this space today? I’d have to say that Xen, VMWare’s ESX, OpenVZ and a host of other virtualization technologies will be putting a serious squeeze on IBM’s z/VM niche and ultimately making it obsolete in the coming years.
IBM’s version of virtualization relies on hardware, firmware as well as software capabilities which makes it very robust.
Today as such, Xen, VMWare ESX and OpenVZ are software based.
Furthermore, the virtualization technology from IBM is not limited to their zSeries range of servers. It has been ported down to both iSeries and p5/pSeries servers.
If you want to look at software based virtualization, I suggest for you to find out more about VirtualIron.
Also, IBM is actually one of the parties that is contributing to the Xen project, FYI.
Regards.
Sorry, I’m not looking to give you hard time but what virtualization implementation does not rely on hardware? The hardware is what is being virtualized… IBM’s VM hypervisor is as much a software implementation as anyone elses. Granted, they have had VM as a product for quite some time and naturally if they could design hardware to work better with VM, then they would and have done so. Which is probably what you’re getting at, but we would expect that of any vendor that owns both the hardware and the virtualization implementation.
I’m pretty familiar with what IBM have done, what I was referring to previously is what are they doing now in this space to push it even further today since you had implied that they were still pioneering this technology.
Also, I think it is a stretch to say that IBM “ported” zSeries code to pSeries. Certainly many concepts were borrowed however in their LPAR implementation.
I was not aware of VirtualIron, thanks for the pointer. But that just proves my point that there are many individuals, organizations and corporations involved in this space today which is why it is so hard to say that any one such entity is leading the pack.
And FYI, I am pretty heavily involved with zLinux. I am also very familiar with and currently using both ESX and Xen. I’m not endorsing or dismissing any of these technologies and I am in fact pretty excited with a number of them. The coming years will certainly be interesting.
No offense taken. I’m waiting for the next implementation of their OS to see where they are going to take things.
Glad that I was able to point some things to you with regards to Virtual apps. You may want to look further in to VirtualIron. From what I’ve read, there are some capabilities that are not being offered in other solutions.
On the SUN conference call, this quarter there was a loss, but after you take out the 500million or so increase in R&D out of the equation, SUN made a profit pretty much – the revenue is growing, coupled with high demand for their IV+ processors and increases in their subscription base, things are actually looking up.
As much as I am cynical about management, there was one good point the spokes person made – the necessity to keep investing to keep ahead of competition.
I was watching a SUN video – and sorry to say, the people on it were so boring, I was trying to locate a rope in my house so I could hang myself!
Unfortunately it seems that SUN is like DEC – a computer company managed by engineers and bean counters.
Agreed.
I love Sun hardware and software, but I think their managment are some of the most boring sons’a’@#$%^s around.
Also when Scott gets excited he just makes an ass out of himself, sometimes he makes me embarrassed to like Sun.
Also when Scott gets excited he just makes an ass out of himself, sometimes he makes me embarrassed to like Sun.
True, nothing personal against Scott, I’m sure he is good from the numbers perspective, but sometimes you need to have a show man at the top, like a Steve Jobs who has the vision and charisma to excite the marketplace, and someone like McNealy working behind the scenes getting it all in place.
Just take the launch of the Niagara processor – in which I was watching; you had Scott who didn’t have the faintest idea on what he was talking about, and the guy who introduced it had less self confidence than me around a cute guy! umms and ah’s, completely forgeting the one key ingredient – HYPE THE FEATURES THAT MATTER! have some damn passion about the products you sell!