vmware

VMware: A "significant portion" of our technology may include open source

VMware has been publicly chastised for allegedly violating the GPL in its proprietary vmkernel technology. Now, in VMware's most recent quarterly report, the company calls out widespread use of open-source software in its products.

It is customary for public companies to overstate risks to their businesses in an effort to forestall shareholder lawsuits. Better safe than sorry, seems to be the thinking.

Even so, I find it fascinating to see the extent of VMware's admission to using open-source software in its products, especially in light of the criticism noted above. Here is the relevant section of VMware's 10-Q in its (near-) entirety:

Our use of "open source" software could negatively affect our ability to sell our products and subject us to possible litigation.

A significant portion of the products or technologies acquired, licensed or developed by us may incorporate so-called "open source" software, and we may incorporate open source software into other products in the future....We monitor our use of open source software in an effort to avoid subjecting our products to conditions we do not intend.

Although we believe that we have complied with our obligations under the various applicable licenses for open source software that we use such that we have not triggered any such conditions, there is little or no legal precedent governing the interpretation of many of the terms of certain of these licenses, and therefore the potential impact of these terms on our business is somewhat unknown and may result in unanticipated obligations regarding our products and technologies.… Read more

VMware demo reveals ESX 4.0 features

LAS VEGAS--VMware's forthcoming ESX Server 4.0 hypervisor update will allow users to change the amount of RAM allocated to virtual machines without rebooting them, VMworld 2008 attendees here heard Tuesday.

In addition, the new hypervisor will enable businesses to configure virtual machines with eight virtual CPUs and a maximum of 256GB RAM, VMware product manager Carter Shanklin said in a technical briefing at the Las Vegas conference. The current version of ESX Server supports a maximum of 64GB RAM and four CPUs per virtual machine.

Although there have been several rumors about ESX 4.0 published by bloggers, … Read more

VMware "thinking about" open sourcing its hypervisor

As reported by NetworkWorld, VMware CEO Paul Maritz suggested at VMworld that VMware has "thought about whether we want to open source ESX," the company's leading hypervisor, but provided no substance as to whether or not the company were inclined in that direction.

Instead, the former Microsoft executive paid lip service to open source's model for encouraging third-party participation in development.

That's OK, as his attention is not focused on the license and development model for ESX, but rather on what his customers should expect from the next generation of virtualization. Though Maritz was cagey about a forthcoming VMware technology as an "operating system" (OS), it seems clear that this is, in fact, what VMware is building, as ITworld describes. In response to a direct question as to VMware's plans to build an OS, Maritz equivocated:… Read more

VMware unveils Fusion 2.0, VClient initiative

A day after embracing cloud computing, VMware on Tuesday turned its focus to desktop applications.

In conjunction with its VMworld conference, the virtualization company announced the general availability of VMware Fusion 2.0, its software for running the Windows operating system on the Mac. Along with touting new features and enhancements from version 1.x, VMware stressed that Fusion 2.0 "makes Windows even safer on the Mac" through its use of automatic virtual machine snapshots and an on-the-house 12-month subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus.

Fusion 2.0, which is the company's rival to the Parallels software … Read more

The battle of the cloud OSes begins in earnest

Once upon a time a cottage industry of platform-as-a-service (PaaS) vendors emerged to proclaim the next generation of application development. Bungee Labs (which I advise), Coghead, 3tera, and a range of others each stepped up to provide cloud-based platforms for developing cloud-based applications.

This week, however, each of these independent efforts was put on notice by industry heavyweights VMware, Citrix, and Virtual Iron: We're joining the fray.

James Urquhart calls out the significance of of their entries into the cloud platform market:

The long and the short of it is that we have entered into a new era, in … Read more

VMware VCloud: Channel conflict on the horizon?

VMware's announcement Monday of its new VCloud initiative is an early attempt to offer a more "enterprise-class" cloud offering. Considering that most cloud offerings are based on virtual machine images, it's a smart (and obvious) move by VMware to stake its claim.

To date, the majority of cloud offerings have lacked certain enterprise fundamentals--things like security models, licensing agreements, and so on that are requirements, not accessories. By aligning with hosting providers like Rackspace, VMware starts to offer show some of the enterprise type of attributes we'll eventually see from companies like IBM and … Read more

VMware takes its turn at cloud computing

Virtualization specialist VMware is sticking its head in the clouds, and hoping for sunshine.

The company on Monday opened up its VMworld 2008 conference with a flurry of announcements. Most notably it is aiming to turn its infrastructure products and technologies into what it's calling a Virtual Datacenter Operating System (VDC-OS). Using the data center system, VMware says, businesses will be able to unite servers, storage gear, and other networking resources together into an "on-premise cloud."

Cloud computing has become one of the dominant drives in the IT sector in recent months. It's a loose term, … Read more

Red Hat to VMware: Our virtualization rocks, yours stinks

As if VMware didn't already have enough problems, Red Hat has gone on the offensive, claiming that its new Qumranet virtualization software outperforms VMware's ESX in a number of key areas, as The Register reports. Specifically, Red Hat claims that its KVM software:

Runs five virtual machines (VMs) for every three that VMware's ESX can run on the same physical hardware; Tops out at 52 VMs on a physical server while ESX can only manage 35, and Citrix gives in at 30.

I haven't seen any independent benchmarks, but if these claims are true than proprietary … Read more

Microsoft sets Hyper-V free

Microsoft said on Monday that it now plans to offer its server virtualization product for free.

Ahead of a virtualization event in Redmond, Wash., Microsoft said that its Hyper-V Server 2008 will be released within 30 days and be available at no cost via the Web. The software maker had planned to charge $28 for the product.

Also on Monday, Microsoft plans to show off a live migration feature that will be part of the next version of its Hyper-V virtualization technology. Live migration allows companies to move a running virtual machine from one server to another.

The feature will … Read more

Making sense of a VMware acquisition of Red Hat

OStatic raises an interesting question around the swirling rumors of VMware's interest in acquiring Red Hat: would an acquisition make sense?

OStatic's Sam Dean suggests the answer is a qualified yes, but I can't see it. He points to commoditization of virtualization at the hands of the operating system vendors as a key reason VMware would seek safety in Red Hat, but I would think this trend cuts the other way. Red Hat (and Novell) likely see virtualization's commoditization as a reason to push the knife deeper into VMware. Being acquired by an important but commoditized … Read more