Release: Oracle VM 2.2

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Oracle announces today the release of it hypervisor Oracle VM 2.2.

There are two major new features in this new build: the first is that it’s based on Xen 3.4, the second is that it introduces storage connection and provisioning APIs.

Xen 3.4 includes the base code that Citrix is using to develop its upcoming client hypervisor XenClient.
This means that Oracle is potentially able to do the same, which would make sense. 
A client hypervisor is mostly needed for offline VDI, and offline VDI is mostly needed for an end-to-end VDI strategy. Oracle could easily offer such end-to-end VDI strategy now that Sun kindly provided the connection broker and the thin clients.

The new storage APIs, accessible through the new Oracle Storage Connect Program, seem to provide functionalities similar to the ones that Citrix offers today with the XenServer StorageLink technology:

The Oracle VM Storage Connect framework enable Oracle VM Manager to directly leverage the resources and functionality of existing storage systems in the Oracle VM environment, supporting native storage services such as Logical Unit Number (LUN) creation, deletion, expansion, and snapshot. When a storage vendor enables the Oracle VM Storage Connect plug-in, their customers will be able to provision that vendor’s storage through the Oracle VM Manager.

The list of vendors that joined this program is notable: AMD, Brocade, Chelsio Communications, Compellent, EMC, Emulex, FalconStor, Fujitsu, Hitachi Data Systems, HP, IBM, Intel, LSI, Mellanox Technologies, NEC, NetApp, Pillar Data Systems, QLogic,  Symantec and Voltaire.

Oracle VM 2.2 introduces additional new features like:

  • maintenance mode for virtualization hosts
  • vCPU Scheduling priorities and caps per VM
  • capability to import VHD files (thus Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer and Virtual Iron virtual machines)
  • support for Intel Xeon 5500 CPUs (codename Nehalem) and AMD sSx-Core Opteron CPUs (codename “Istanbul”)