Year: 2006

VMware always had a strange strategy for GSX Server. They pushed for years the idea GSX Server is something for companies more than professionals (so something more than Workstation), for its web management and API interface features, but much less than ESX Server.

If you look at this official comparison you’ll notice GSX Server underlined as department product (while ESX Server is defined a datacenter product) but VMware never tried to seriously sell it for anything but development and testing.

During years customers figured out and used to think GSX Server is where to try their virtual machines before hosting them on ESX Server. And in fact Microsoft Virtual Server 2005, which should really compete against GSX Server, is always compared against ESX Server, which is quite unresonable.
Even virtualization professionals are mainly skilled on ESX Server and don’t even consider GSX when approaching a new server consolidation product (just read the several thousands of messages on VMTN Forums).

To give further credibility to this way of thinking VMware is now revamping GSX Server, recalling simply Server and giving it for free. A move that can be interpreted in 2 ways:

• GSX Server wasn’t that good so the best move is to give it away to enforce the complex VMware strategy
• VMware is explicitly admitting GSX Server has been always aimed just to push ESX Server

Well, I can personally grant GSX Server has been ready for production environment since, at least, version 3.0: while heading a small consulting company (now no more involved in) I directed the complete server consolidation of a medium business company, working with VMware marketing department to create the first italian case study about GSX.
And I can grant that virtual environment, much more scaled up since the beginning, is still working perfectly since 2 years, never providing bad performances or faults or instability of any kind.

For this reason I completely agree on the Margie Semilof’s article VMware says GSX Server wasn’t fit for prime time. Says who? published on SearchWinIT.com.

It’s unquestionable ESX Server provides a better consolidation ratio and lower virtualization overhead. But saying GSX Server is good just for test and development is simply not true.

Dominic Rivera, author of the much appreciated VMProfessional site for preparing in VMware VCP exam, is working on a FAQ about running VMware ESX Server on a SATA disk subsystem.

SATA disks are unsupported by VMware but using some particular controllers is possible to fool the ESX kernel and workaround the limitation.
One example of this is documented by Richard Garsthagen.

The FAQ is actually a work in progress on VMware VMTN Forums here. Be sure to monitor this page often since Dominic updates the thread and could host his work somewhere else.

PHD Consulting just released a new tool called esXpress.

It’s available in 3 versions: LE, Pro and Enterprise.

The LE version is available for free and offers:

• Complete 100% backups of all your virtual machines every day
• Faster then other virtual backup solutions. Realistic backups speeds from 17 GB an hour to 100 GB an hour
• No local /vmfs or ext3 space is required on the host
• Run multiple backups per day, instead of multiple days per backup
• Backup to Linux, Windows or any other server using FTP
• Each host runs autonomously, not from a centralized host. No single point of failure
• Menu driven, no scripting required
• Simple installation on host server
• Restore FULL backups easily through the PHD Menu, which pulls the backup directly from the backup server
• No Additional local space is required to restore a FULL backup. You only need enough local /vmfs space to recreate the restored FULL VMDK backup
• No software is actually required to restore a FULL backup, it just makes it simpler
• Simple reporting on the backup FTP server. Hosts, Days, VMDK, Space
• Complete integration with our GUI front-end (coming soon)
• 60 Day esXpress Pro Intelligent Delta plug-in demo

As far as I understand after 60 days only the Intelligent Delta plug-in will be disabled granting a complete backup solution for free (if I misunderstood please advice).

Download it here.

Duglas Brown wrote a very good paper about application virtualization, covering Softricity SoftGrid 3.2 and upcoming Citrix codename Tarpon:

With the emergence of numerous virtualization technologies like VMware and Softricity SoftGrid, the release of Citrix Presentation Server 4.0, and Citrix’s announcement of Project Tarpon, the age old challenges around operating system and software installations are being brought to the forefront. Solutions like VMware and Microsoft Virtual Server address issues with operating system rollouts. You now have the ability to separate your operating systems from your hardware by creating a level of indirection or an abstraction layer between the physical hardware and the operating system. This technology is being widely adopted to overcome rapid server deployment as well as driver conflicts, disaster recovery, and many other issues.

Now that we have a solution for overcoming operating system to hardware installation and deployment issues, the critical questions become:

• Is there a better way to install and run applications?
• Can we solve application conflicts, application installations, and application management issues in the way VMware and Microsoft Virtual Server have addressed similar problems with operating systems and hardware?

In this paper, I will detail the problems that IT departments face deploying and supporting applications. I will identify the pros and cons of various technologies that are designed to address these issues. We will explore server-based computing (including Citrix’s new application isolation feature), electronic software distribution (ESD), and on-demand virtual application computing, which includes new comer Citrix.

I recommend reading it while expecting the Altiris release of Software Virtualization Solution.

John Savill published for WindowsITPro a Visual Basic Script useful for backup of Virtual Server 2005 virtual machines, suspending, copying and resuming (which will be no more needed from Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 featuring live backup):

‘ backupvm.vbs
‘ John Savill
‘ Usage : backupvm.vbs
‘ e.g. cscript backupvm.vbs savdalum01 c:\backup’ Make sure that you place the \ at the end of the backup path or you’ll get errors.
‘
Option Explicit
On Error Resume Next

Dim objFSO, objVirtualServer, objVM, objSaveTask, objVHD

‘Connect to file system object.
set objFSO=CreateObject(“Scripting.FileSystemObject”)

‘Connect to Virtual Server.
set objVirtualServer = CreateObject(“VirtualServer.Application”)

‘Get virtual machine from command-line parameter.
set objVM = objVirtualServer.FindVirtualMachine(WScript.Arguments(0))

‘Save state of the virtual machine.
set objSaveTask = objVM.Save

‘Loop waiting for task completion
while not objSaveTask.isComplete
WScript.Sleep 1000
wend

‘Copy virtual hard disks and undo disks.
for each objVHD in objVM.HardDiskConnections
If objFSO.FileExists(objVHD.HardDisk.file) Then
‘Wscript.Echo objVHD.HardDisk.file & ” ” & WScript.Arguments(1)
objFSO.CopyFile objVHD.HardDisk.file, WScript.Arguments(1)
End If
If objFSO.FileExists(objVHD.undoHardDisk.file) Then
‘Wscript.Echo objVHD.undoHardDisk.file & ” ” & WScript.Arguments(1)
objFSO.CopyFile objVHD.undoHardDisk.file, WScript.Arguments(1)
End If
Next

‘Copy .vmc and .vsv files.
objFSO.CopyFile objVM.File, WScript.Arguments(1)
objFSO.CopyFile objVM.SavedStateFilePath, WScript.Arguments(1)

‘Start the virtual machine.
objVM.Startup

Read the original article for update and comments.

Thanks to Virtualserver.tv for the news.

Products

• SWsoft Virtuozzo for Windows 3.5.1

Books

• The Rational Guide to Scripting Microsoft Virtual Server 2005
• The Rational Guide to Managing Microsoft Virtual Server 2005

Quoting from the DataCore Software official announcement:

DataCore Software today announced that it has entered into a partnership with AccessFlow, a computer systems consultant and reseller that designs and deploys virtual infrastructure solutions. AccessFlow’s mission is to combine server virtualization (VMware), storage virtualization (SAN), network virtualization and client/application virtualization (Citrix) to enable significant reductions in IT costs.

AccessFlow was looking to fill a void for its customer base between low-cost storage technologies and the need to provide seamless failover and Fibre Channel storage solutions to customers and prospects that have embraced VMware…

Quoting from the Wyse official announcement:

Wyse Technology, the global leader in thin computing, today announced that it is teaming with VMware, the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems, to deliver enhanced virtual desktop computing solutions. Wyse and VMware plan to work cooperatively on joint engineering projects, customer engagements, channel partner programs, and co-marketing initiatives.

As a key first phase of the collaboration, Wyse has joined the VMware Community Source program and plans to integrate its Wyse infrastructure deployment and management solutions with the VMware virtual infrastructure, across its thin-client platform portfolio: Windows XPe, Windows CE, Wyse Thin OS and Linux.
…
Wyse and VMware are designing their enhanced virtualized thin computing joint solutions to enable customers to easily deploy virtual desktop solutions across the enterprise. Using a combination of VMware virtual infrastructure and Wyse’s thin computing hardware and software, corporate IT administrators will be enabled to deploy virtual desktop environments to their end users using Wyse’s technology for device and user management while maintaining the central management, control and security benefits of their data center VMware virtual infrastructure…

Quoting from the Softricity official announcement:

Softricity, the on-demand software virtualization company, today announced the availability of its new Return on Virtualization (ROV) Calculator, a Forrester Total Economic Impact (TEI)-compliant tool that details the cost savings and business value possible with the Softricity Desktop, the premier platform for enterprise application virtualization.
…
The ROV Calculator guides enterprises through a comprehensive questionnaire regarding their business and technology environment to create an analysis of the tangible impact the Softricity Desktop can have on their operations

Quoting from the Red Hat official announcement:

Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source solutions to the enterprise, today formally announced its ‘Integrated Virtualization’ strategy. During a launch today in San Francisco, company executives detailed plans for creating a Red Hat virtualization environment and working with partners such as AMD, Intel, Network Appliance and XenSource to simplify virtualization deployment for customers.
…
Red Hat will tightly integrate virtualization capabilities with its operating system and ensure all aspects of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform, from management tools and installation to software management, will enable customers to deploy virtualized environments easily and effectively.
…
This month Red Hat will make Fedora Core 5 available, which will contain a preview of Red Hat Enterprise Linux virtualization technology. In the summer of 2006, Red Hat will make Virtualization Migration and Assessment Services available along with an Enterprise Virtualization beta. Red Hat Enterprise Linux v. 5, scheduled for general availability by the end of 2006, will feature fully integrated virtualization…

There also is a 1-hour-long recorded webcast of this press event available here.