virtualization.info Editors

While opening the beta program of the next Fusion major release, VMware also keeps updating the current product which now reaches version 2.0.5 (build 173382).

Fusion 2.0.5 is mainly for bug fixes but it also extends the support to the following host and guest operating systems:

• Host OSes
  Mac OS X 10.6 codename Snow Leopard (32bit only, experimental)
• Guest OSes
  Mac OS X 10.5 (on new Intel Xeon 5500 and 3500 Series)
  Ubuntu 9.04
  Mac OS X 10.6 Server codename Snow Leopard (32bit only experimental)

Citrix just release the first minor update for its P2V/V2V migration tool XenConvert 2.0.

This version introduces the support for OVF contents created with VMware vSphere 4, plus it enhances support for OVF and VMDK files created with other VMware products, including VI 3.x, Workstation 6.5.2, Studio 1.0, OVF Tool 0.9, Converter 3.0.3 and 4.0.

The product is free and available here.

Citrix is working to raise the interest around its commercial offer called Essentials now that XenServer is free of charge.

As part of the effort the company is releasing a free 6-hours training online course (CEX-100-1W).

The course includes the following topics:

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The Xen.org community and Citrix are arranging an interesting event for late June in Berlin called Xen Direction Europe 2009.

Compared to the well-known Xen Summits, this seems easier to understand for somebody that is not a Xen hacker (read: it contains more marketing material) but no less interesting as the agenda includes some presentations that are probably worth the visit like:

• Virtualization – it’s not just for servers anymore Intel
• Highly available virtual infrastructures based on Xen Lufthansa Systems
• HXEN: Hosted Xen Hypervisor Project Citrix

Of course the last one is especially interesting as it will cover the progress of the new hosted VMM architecture that will power a Citrix product called XenWorkstation, at least accordingly to the virtualization.info sources.

One session promises to be very funny (underline is ours):
Virtualization of mission-critical deployments Oracle with Xen: Oracle users choose Oracle VM
Like the Oracle users have a real chance.

The new relationship between VMLogix and Citrix (which is OEM’in LabManager in its Citrix Essentials for XenServer) is generating some interesting developments.

VMLogix announced yesterday the upcoming support for Amazon EC2, the on-demand virtual infrastructure powered by Xen that makes Citrix so proud.

The idea that a virtual lab automation product can create testing and QA virtual machines inside the cloud without wasting money and resources on the on-premises virtual infrastructure is fascinating but not new: Skytap, a younger competitor of VMLogix, is focused on this since day one.

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Last week virtualization.info wrote about the private beta program of VMware Workstation 7.0.
It seems that the company is also working on the next version of Fusion (2.5? 3.0?) as MacNN reports:

…The private beta, released to a select group of beta testers, offers simpler access to common tasks in the Virtual Machine Library, added support for DirectX 9.0c with Shader Model 3 functions, experimental OpenGL 2.1 support, and a new “migration assistant” for moving from Windows XP or Vista to the Mac.

Other modifications in the preview provide an “always-on” application menu where users can start Windows applications directly, and changes to the automatic updates to help with checking, downloading and installing updates. Additional support is also included for the Mac OS X 10.6 (32-bit only), along with experimental guest support for Windows 7…

In May 2008 Credit Suisse launched a very interesting spinoff company called DynamicOps, which is competing in the VM lifecycle management space with Embotics, Fortisphere, ManageIQ and very soon with VMware too.

The first release of their product, Virtual Resource Manager (VRM), was available in July but this didn’t stop the marketing department from numbering the version as 3.0.

Almost one year later VRM 3.2 hits the market and the company announces that it can go beyond tracking the physical resources wasted by the so called VM sprawl phenomenon. It can now automate the reclaim and recycle process of the abandoned virtual machines.
The company forgot to update the website in time for the press announcement release so there’s no way to see some documentation about how this works exactly.

Another new feature that can’t be investigated at the moment is the Software Developer’s Toolkit that can be used to integrate with 3rd party management solutions.

At today the company counts 25 employees according to the Company Profile that DynamicOps manages on LinkedIn. Some of them may want to focus on producing technical and marketing literature to support the announcements.

A little more than three years ago a new US startup called Moka5 joined the virtualization industry with a simple plan: to change the market by streaming secure virtual machines in every possible consumer device.

The plan didn’t work well so far.
After a little more than one year the company decided to replace its CEO, its Vice President of Engineering and its Vice President of Marketing.
After two years the company also decided to change the brand and the business model, focusing on the enterprises.
After two years and a half the company, now called MokaFive, decided to replace its CEO again.

At the end of all of this, the startup is now in the middle of a risky competition with VMware ACE, Sentillion vThere and most of all Microsoft, which acquired Kidaro in March 2008, rebranded its Workspace product as MED-V and distributed it as part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP).

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At the end of the last week VMware published a new minor update for its application virtualization technology ThinApp, acquired from Thinstall at the beginning of 2008.

The new build (3313 if you follow the Thinstall numbering, 169725 if you follow the VMware one) is introducing a very minor change in a configuration file and a number of bug fixes.
Most of all it seems that this version was released to grant compatibility with the VMware vSphere 4.0 client.

As virtualization.info highlighted in March for the ThinApp 4.0.2 release, VMware didn’t deliver a major upgrade for this product for over a year now, and it doesn’t seem ready to clarify the strategy behind the acquisition as also others have recognized.

Oracle doesn’t seem interested in clarifying what will happen to its hypervisor in the near future, or how it will integrate with the virtualization technologies acquired by Sun and Virtual Iron.
The only thing we know for sure is that the merge is going to be painful for somebody.

In a way or another Oracle believes that its current customers will continue to upgrade their existing Oracle VM implementation instead of freezing any activity before the strategy is clear, and so it releases a minor update.

Oracle VM 2.1.5 is mainly for bugfixes but it also introduces a brand new Command Line Interface (CLI)  (soon to be released through the Unbreakable Linux Network update site) and a Web Services API, both for Oracle VM Manager.