Year: 2005

In my last post about Workstation 5.5 I mentioned 3 cool new features coming:

• Full support for 64-bit host and guest OSes
• Experimental support for 2-ways Virtual SMP
• Convertless support for Microsoft VMs

Now VMware opened the new beta build 16325 to everybody and I can talk about the enhanced features and the main new ones:

• Experimental 2-ways Virtual SMP confirmed for any dual-core CPU
  (in this case VMware doesn’t warn about any performance degradation, as they did for HyperThreading CPUs)
• The Virtual Machine Importer is now integrated with VMware Workstation and can import also Symantec LiveState and Ghost images
• Snapshot can now be created and managed by command line interface
  (this means we can start producing backup scripts easily)
• Virtual hardware autodetection is now extended to floppy, sound adapter, parallel and serial port

You can read other release notes here: http://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/releasenotes_ws55.html

Quoting from the VMware official announcement:

VMware, Inc., the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems, today announced that customers purchasing the VMware P2V Migrations Jumpstart service will receive the VMware P2V Assistant product for free.

The VMware P2V Migrations Jumpstart service is an on-site consulting workshop that offers customers a proven methodology supported by VMware and its partners to move and consolidate existing physical servers into VMware virtual machines. P2V migrations are ideal for customers involved in server consolidation or legacy migration projects where recreating existing servers is not feasible or practical. The VMware P2V Assistant is an enterprise-class migration tool that lets users migrate existing physical systems ranging from Windows NT 4 to Windows Server 2003 into VMware virtual machines.

“Without VMware, migrating these machines would have taken months to years because we’d have to start from scratch,” said Suraj Dalal, senior systems engineer at Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. “With VMware, it took only hours, and our systems and configurations were preserved as-is. VMware P2V Assistant really makes life so much easier.”

VMware P2V Jumpstart adoption has increased by more than 500% year-over-year through June 2005 . Moreover, the number of VMware VAC partners offering Jumpstart services has increased by 67% since the start of this year, and VMware partners now account for more than 60% of all customer P2V Jumpstarts conducted.

“The success that VMware and VMware’s Global VAC Partners are having with VMware P2V Jumpstart is further evidence that enterprise customers are moving their data centers broadly into VMware virtual infrastructure,” said Jeffrey Engelmann, executive vice president of marketing at VMware. “As more than 10,000 enterprise customers have migrated their server environments into VMware virtual infrastructure, VMware P2V Assistant has become the most effective, well-supported and risk-free way to convert physical servers into virtual machines, thereby benefiting customers with a way to extend the life of critical applications, replacing older hardware with state-of-the-art systems and gain substantial hardware and IT operating cost efficiencies.”

“More enterprise customers are adopting VMware virtual infrastructure than any other solution we offer,” said Mike Strohl, president of Entisys. “A critical component to the successful and efficient deployment of VMware is P2V Assistant, which is the best P2V offering available to customers.”

“VMware’s decision to include a P2V Assistant license at no cost in conjunction with Jumpstart services makes it easier for enterprise customers to pilot and deploy virtual infrastructure,” said Mike Reilly, managing partner at Foedus “A P2V Jumpstart is backed by both VMware and Foedus’ proven services methodology and is something that our customers have and will continue to benefit from.”

For more information on VMware P2V Jumpstart services, visit www.vmware.com/services/consulting.html.

Some of you may remember the russian team Parallels. These guys were hired by the german NetSys GmbH to develop a new server virtualization product to compete with VMware Workstation and Microsoft Virtual PC.
The product launched on January 2004 was called TwoOSTwo.

TwoOSTwo lived just 4 months then disappeared without any notice. Few weeks after it reapperead on May 2004 with the new name of SVISTA. Apparently the Parallels team was still developing TwoOSTwo/SVISTA, even without mention on their site.

Now, more than one year later, the Parallels team is back, launching theri last product: Parallels Workstation 2.0.

Features Parallels Workstation 2.0 offers are very similar to ones of TwoOSTwo and SVISTA. Even the release number remember us where their previous works stopped.
Need I to suspect Parallels Workstation 2.0 is a fork of TwoOSTwo or SVISTA?

You can investigate from yourself since the product, actually in beta, is already available for download at this location: http://www.parallels.com/en/download

The VMware MCT Program isn’t dead, even if not widely publicized. Few weeks after the Workstation 5.0 launch the Vmware team sent this email to known Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCT):

Recently we announced the availability of VMware Workstation 5, powerful desktop virtualization software for software developers/testers and IT professionals who want to streamline software development, testing and deployment in their enterprise.

Out of appreciation for your continued support of VMware, we would like to offer you a free upgrade to Workstation 5.

New features and enhancements in Workstation 5 include:

– Multiple snapshot and snapshot management capabilities
– Enhanced multi-tier configuration support (Teams feature)
– Support for selected 64-bit host OSs and 64-bit extended CPUs
– New 32-bit guest and host OS support

To get your free upgrade to Workstation 5, please do the following:

1. Go to the VMware web store at http://www.vmware.com/vmwarestore.
Under Workstation 5 Upgrades, click the “Upgrade Now” button.

2. Enter your current Workstation serial number- most likely; this will be the serial number you received when you were originally approved for a free VMware Workstation. Be sure to select that you would like the Electronic Download Distribution for the product. Click “Continue”, and proceed to checkout.

3. At checkout, enter your discount code XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX and click the “Update Cart” button to receive your free upgrade.

Please note that I masked the discount code cause I’m not sure if it’s individual. If I eventually discover that the code is unique I’ll update this post.

If any MCT is interested I strongly suggest you to wait till Workstation 5.5 is released.

Quoting from the VMware official announcement:

VMware, the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems, today announced that VMware Workstation 5, the fifth generation of its powerful desktop virtualization software, received three prestigious awards within the first three months of being released: eWEEK Labs Analyst’s Choice award, PC Magazine Editors’ Choice award and Redmond Magazine’s Most Valuable Product award.

For more than six years, millions have been using VMware Workstation to accelerate software development, testing and deployment and increase product quality. With Workstation, enterprises are able to create a library of virtual machines for x86 operating systems including Windows, Linux, Netware and Solaris x86 that resemble production environments. These virtual machines can then be rapidly provisioned to developers and QA teams so they spend more time developing and testing software and less time configuring the required environment.

VMware Workstation 5 received the eWEEK Labs excellent ratings for its ease of use, feature set and interoperability. eWEEK Labs Senior Writer Anne Chen wrote: “In eWEEK Labs’ tests, VMware Workstation 5 provided a solid platform on which to run multiple operating systems, especially with its marked improvements in memory management. We appreciated the new features, such as the ability to take multiple snapshots, and improvements, such as easier duplication of existing virtual machines.”

Chen continued: “In tests, VMware Workstation 5 showed it would be a good fit for organizations looking to run multiple operating systems on a single machine. By doing so, IT managers can increase productivity while lowering costs for tasks such as software development and testing, technical support and training.”

PC Magazine Labs Lead Analyst Neil J. Rubenking wrote: “A developer who needs to test products under different platforms, a support specialist who must duplicate the caller’s configuration, a software tester who wants to start each test with an identical configuration-all can benefit from VMware Workstation. Version 5 adds some highly noteworthy new features and performance enhancements.”

Redmond Magazine Contributor Jeremy Moskowitz wrote: “VMware Workstation 4.5 was already excellent. It was fast, solid and had all the features I needed to get the job done. Version 5 comes replete with a gaggle of essential new tools and some whiz-bang features.”

Moskowitz continued: “VMware Workstation 5 is a rising superstar in the virtualization world, and the one to beat on the road to virtual stardom.”

VMware Workstation 5 pushes the envelope with new features that address the needs of enterprises building multi-tier applications. The new features in Workstation 5 combined with memory-sharing technology previously available only in data center-class VMware ESX Server make it possible for enterprises to provision multi-tier applications and simulate real-world deployment scenarios on developer desktops. Enterprises can thus offer unmatched flexibility to their development and QA teams.

“We’re honored to have received such strong endorsements from these respected independent reviewers,” said Karthik Rau, director of product management at VMware. “These awards continue to validate VMware’s technological leadership and commitment to innovation in the virtualization software market.”

Today Novell announced the upcoming release of SuSE Linux 10.0, expected for October.
SuSE Linux 10.0 will embed Xen as the official announcement reports:

…
SUSE Linux 10.0 also will preview select advanced technologies for the Linux enthusiast, such as Xen virtualization and iFolder for file access anywhere, that will be available in future versions of Novell’s enterprise Linux products.
…

Notice the “preview” and “enthisiast” words: Novell seems to advice Xen integration will not be too smooth.

Quoting from XenSource official announcement:

XenSource, the leading provider of enterprise grade virtualization solutions based on the Open Source Xen hypervisor, today demonstrated the industry’s first implementation of a secure hypervisor at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF). The solution is an integration of the Open Source industry standard Xen hypervisor with the market leading Open Source Snort Intrusion Detection System. By embedding security capabilities into the hypervisor, XenSource has given the CIO a powerful new ability to implement the same security policies across the virtualized enterprise, independent of the operating system. Moreover, the hypervisor can ensure that even legacy guests that have not been patched will be protected. Xen can even prevent a compromised virtual machine from attacking other virtual or physical servers in the enterprise by blocking its network traffic.

“Intel is pleased to see companies like XenSource taking the initiative to provide enterprise class security features for virtualized environments,” said Diane Bryant, VP and general manager of Intel’s Server Platform Group. “As hardware and software virtualization solutions continue to evolve, you will see greater synergies between features like Intel Virtualization Technology, Intel Active Management Technology and secure virtual machine monitors like XenSource is offering. These types of developments support Intel’s advanced technology roadmap and our vision of providing increased value through platform solutions”

“XenSource is actively working with Xen ecosystem partners to deliver added value virtualization solutions to F100 enterprises,” said Nick Gault, President and CEO of XenSource Inc. “Our customers view XenSource as uniquely capable of supporting their production needs for virtualization of all operating systems. Moreover, adoption of a ubiquitous Open Source virtualization solution has the benefit of delivering dramatic new benefits in security and manageability to the enterprise. ”

“We’ve heard a lot about open hypervisors recently,” said Simon Crosby, VP Strategy for XenSource, “but this demonstration shows how third party ISV solutions such as firewalls, virus scanners and intrusion prevention can be quickly and easily integrated into the hypervisor to deliver important security benefits to the enterprise. By adopting an open industry standard for virtualization, the Xen ecosystem is delivering benefits that closed source, proprietary hypervisors never could.“

The demonstration shows how a security feature set embedded in the I/O path on the Xen hypervisor successfully prevents a VM that has not yet been patched to remove a security vulnerability from being compromised. When the security capabilities in the hypervisor are turned off, the vulnerable guest, a hosted on-line stock trading application, is quickly overcome by standard attack tools, and compromised. The security policies in the hypervisor are managed consistently across all servers, and apply to all guest operating systems, including Windows and Linux.

This is a great news! Snort is a point of reference in the intrusion detection market and its adoption at hypervisor level can add a fundamental security level to any virtual environment IT manager should build in any case.
Snort can intercept incoming threats like exploits and viruses, alerting or even blocking them.

Now I expect to see soon an honeypot engine integration in Xen so when Snort detects an incoming attack it can be redirected to the honeypot virtual machine.

Update: I wonder what will happen of this project now that SourceFire has been acquired by Check Point…

VMware opened up the beta phase of its most “unknown” product: P2V Assistant. As many customers probably experimented having a P2V trial isn’t so easy.
So this is a great chance to try it and understand how it works (the trial will offer you 5 P2V conversions).

The new 2.1 beta brings a major feature: the product is now based on the 3.8.1 version of the best-known Linux livecd distribution: Knoppix.
Knoppix is a revolutionary approach to desktop computing, providing a so flexible architecture that everybody can custom the product to create its own live desktop OS, bringing it everywhere without hardware installation hassle.

VMware customized Knoppix for physical to virtual needs and this will grant an always updated and improved platform. Knoppix also will provide a huge hardware compatibility to P2V Assistant, simplyfing the use on many physical hardware server.
This support could eventually grow if VMware choose to adopt the just released Knoppix 4.0, distributed on DVD by default, on future releases.

Read other changes on the release notes and sign-up for the beta here: http://www.vmware.com/programs/6/p2vBeta.do

“The VMware Workstation 5.0 Handbook”, written by Steven Warren is finally available on Amazon.

Virtual machine software is the foundation for next generation computing as it allows users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on the PC. VMware Workstation enables administrators and software developers to develop, test, and run networked, server-class applications on Microsoft Windows, Linux, or NetWare all on a single desktop.

The VMware Workstation 5.0 Handbook covers the nuts and bolts of VMware Workstation, including how to install and upgrade VMware as well as use it guest operating systems. It teaches administrators everything they need to know in order to use VMware Workstation effectively, including how to configure, run, and troubleshoot virtual machines.

Step-by-step tutorials allow readers to work with the product as they read, and real-world examples and software screenshots reinforce the tutorials and make understanding this powerful new technology easy. This book teaches all the skills necessary to use VMware effectively in corporate IT infrastructures.

FEATURES

• Provides the only complete guide to VMware Workstation 5.0
• Covers essential features such as virtual networking, live snapshots, drag and drop and shared folders, and PXE support
• Teaches the nuts and bolts of VMware Workstation, including how to install it on a Windows and Linux platform, troubleshoot and trace common problems, configure complex virtual networks, move, share, and work with virtual machines and disks, and performance tune virtual machines to fit various needs
• Presents the material through step-by-step, real-world tutorials that allow users to work with the software as they work through the projects
• Includes a CD-ROM with a trial version of VMware 5.0 and custom VMware scripts.

Quoting from Virtual PC Guy blog:

I have been running Windows Vista for a while now (one of the benefits of being a Microsoft employee) and now that the rest of the world can access it I thought I should pass on some information about running Virtual Server / Virtual PC on top of Windows Vista Beta 1.

There are a number of issues that you should be aware of:

Virtual Networking does not work on top of Windows Vista Beta 1. Yup, this is really annoying – but it does not work. Thankfully for Virtual PC users shared networking continues to work just fine.
Upgrading to Windows Vista Beta 1 on a machine with Virtual PC or Virtual Server installed will generate an error: AddDriverPackageIntoDriverStore:Failed to install the driver package. So you should uninstall VPC or VS before attempting to upgrade your host.

Some Virtual Server specific issues are:

A number of host crashes have been reported running Virtual Server on the x64 version of Windows Vista Beta 1.
IIS is installed, but disabled by default on Windows Vista Beta 1. You will need to start the World Wide Web Publishing Service from services.msc
Connecting via VMRC to a running VM will lock the mouse to the window. The host key will not work to break out of the VMRC session. To break out of the VMRC window, use CTRL-ALT-DEL and then click Cancel.

Some Virtual PC specific issues are:

Starting a virtual machine causes Glass (uDWM) to crash (for those who do not know – the uDWM is what implements the ‘cool 3D effects’). This is actually kind of interesting to see as the entire desktop seamlessly switches back to 2D mode – and when you exit Virtual PC it goes back to 3D mode.
When LUA is enabled, you must manually launch Virtual PC with elevated privileges, otherwise Virtual PC cannot write to / or launch any virtual machines.

Eh… I know that that sounds kind of grizzly – but as I said I have been running Windows Vista for a while now and have been happily using Virtual PC on top of it. And don’t worry – we will have this all sorted by the time we ship 😉