virtualization.info Editors

OSNews: Is Guest PC written from scratch, was it ported over OS9 or does it use another engine (e.g. Bochs)

Alexander Grechishkin: Lismore Software Systems, was one of the companies that released PC emulator for Macintosh. Our product, Blue Label Power Emulator for classic Mac OS, was released a little bit later than the one by Connectix and Insignia in 1996. Guest PC is a fully rewritten emulator based on the Blue Label. We had lots of feedback and recommendations from our users, we have changed our product so that it would meet users requirements.

OSNews: What are the main features of GuestPC and what are its advantages over Microsoft’s solution?

Alexander Grechishkin: Our competitor is Virtual PC standalone version, comparing to it I would say:

– our emulator is bundled with a preinstalled DOS
– we have a built-in Windows setup assistant that allows to easily install Windows
– officially we support all Windows version unlike VPC that supports Windows XP and 2000 only
– our price is more adequate – $69.99 vs. $109.99
– we have a more reasonable upgrade policy to upgrade to Guest PC from any BLPE you will pay 34.99 but not $77.99. Moreover, the following Guest PC version will be free for our customers.

OSNews: What are the system requirements of Guest PC? What is its price?

Alexander Grechishkin: Guest PC only requires Mac OS 10.3 or later, no other limitations. Guest PC is available at $69.99.

OSNews: What operating systems are supported? Have you tested with Linux or FreeBSD?

Alexander Grechishkin: Officially now we support all Windows versions, some Linux versions will run, however we do not support them in the full volume.

OSNews: Do you have plans to port your emulator to Linux for PPC?

At the Enterprise Linux Summit, Andrew Morton — Linus Torvalds’ right-hand man and maintainer of the Linux kernel for the Open Source Development Labs (ODSL) — said he will incorporate the Xen virtualization code “in the near future. ”

He would not say if the virtualization code will be rolled into the Linux 2.6.11 update. Available in February, that update will support Infiniband.

“I came this close to merging Xen [into the Linux kernel] a couple of months ago, but we decided it was not the way to do it,” said Morton, noting that the Xen developers need to polish the code. “It’ll go in four weeks after we get it.”

An open-source project out of University of Cambridge in England, Xen has growing ties with Red Hat, Novell and Hewlett-Packard and has emerged as the leading contender for providing open-source virtualization for the Linux environment.

Morton said there is significant demand for the capabilities enabled by virtualization, including server consolidation and workload management. Virtualization enables customers to run multiple virtual machines — and thus multiple operating systems and applications — on a single server.

The fast-growing software category was pioneered by VMware, which provides its flagship ESX virtualization server software on Linux and Windows. VMware — as well as competitors SWSoft and newcomer Virtual Iron — are expected to launch enhanced version of their products for the Linux environment in two weeks’ time at LinuxWorld Expo.

Torvalds and Morton, the top two managers of the Linux kernel who work for the OSDL, now plan to release interim updates, with new features and patches, every two months. That’s a marked difference from past practice. “The traditional model of Linux kernel development in the past 10 years is we make available an unstable kernel, then a stable kernel,” every two- or three-year period, said Morton.

Legato Networker is for data centres and departments. Dantz Retrospect is for branch offices and small businesses. Disk-to-disk backup takes a lot less time than backup to tape and restoration occurs at disk speed as well.

Networker can now run hot backups of Documentum and all files within VMware virtual servers. It is the only backup and recovery product to disk or tape for Documentum, said EMC marketing VP. Victoria Grey. She added: “Networker is the only backup/recovery solution for Exchange, SQL and Oracle protection on virtual servers.”

Networker has also extended its snapshot feature to third-party drive arrays to include Symmetrix DMX. HDS array support is coming, according to Grey. Clariion, IBM, Fastt and STK D-Series are already supported.

Networker now also includes support for disk. The Network Data Management Protocol is used by NetApp filers and was invented by NetApp and PDC Software – which became part of Legato, now an EMC division. Veritas’ NetBackup already has this feature and can also run snapshots.

Retrospect also does disk-to-disk backup, plus incremental backups of changed data since the previous backup, speeding the whole process. The original and incremental backup files can be merged to create a synthetic backup which can be written to tape for vaulting or sent over a network for disaster recovery.

Veritas’ NetBackup already creates synthetic backups from an original backup and incremental backups. Networker can create synthetic full backups but not very well. Nigel Williams, EMC strategy director, told us: “NetWorker does have the capability to create synthetic back-up, but this was put into code a long time ago. Because of its limitations it is not much used by customers. However, those deficiencies are due to be remedied in a future release.”

With Retrospect the number of backup versions on disk can be set by policies with automatic copying of older files to tape, or to 8GB double-layer DVDs. This helps prevent the disks used for disk-to-disk backup becoming full. Retrospect can produce a bare metal restore CD using data it automatically saves.

“With our fifth annual Technology of the Year awards, we honor the most enterprising enterprise products, ones that have fundamentally altered the IT landscape,” said Steve Fox, editor-in-chief at InfoWorld.

“VMware created its ESX Server virtualization product for businesses that need truly enterprise-class virtualization. ESX Server implements the consolidation, dynamic provisioning, resource pooling and all-bases-covered availability assurance of expensive system and storage hardware,” commented Tom Yager, technical director at the InfoWorld Test Center. “But ESX Server does it with ordinary servers, modular SANs and vanilla operating systems.”

Yager continued, “Those coming down to x86 from Sparc, Power, or PA-RISC hardware should consider no option other than ESX Server. And those running more than a rack’s worth of x86 servers should think seriously about trading some raw performance, so often wasted, for the high-availability, ultimately reconfigurable server infrastructure that this product enables. It’s remarkable – even marvelous – to see VMware carry IT so far with software that fits on two CDs.”

VMware ESX Server is virtual infrastructure software for partitioning, consolidating and managing systems in mission-critical environments. Adopted by thousands of IT organizations worldwide over the last three years, ESX Server has saved hundreds of millions of dollars in costs through providing server consolidation, fast provisioning and disaster recovery. ESX Server provides a highly scalable platform with advanced resource management capabilities, which can be managed by VMware VirtualCenter. Using VMotion technology, enterprises are able to respond to changing business demands in real-time and move virtual machines from one physical server to another with continuous service availability.

“We are very honored to have received the prestigious InfoWorld 2005 Technology of the Year award,” said Karthik Rau, director of product management at VMware. “We take tremendous satisfaction in seeing thousands of enterprises deploy our virtual infrastructure software in ways that drive real value and solve real problems. The InfoWorld award reaffirms what our customers have been telling us all along – that enterprises are looking at VMware virtual infrastructure as a critical technology layer for all their x86 based systems.”

It’s also right there in the Virtual Server Administrators Guide under Best Practices:

Disable hyper-threading technology
Under heavy computing workloads, hyper-threading technology, which allows a single processor to appear as two processors, may cause poor server performance. Because workload is dynamic and can vary quickly, we recommended disabling hyper-threading on the physical server to prevent this potential problem.

This event is designed to bring all of our VMware Certified Professionals (VCPs) up to date on our products and to outline the future of VMware technology.

Following excellent feedback from the last event in Amsterdam in September, we have included more in-depth technical information and hands-on workshops.

Attendance at this event is free of charge and includes lunch, a cocktail reception on Monday evening, evening dinner on Tuesday evening and
refreshments during the course of the symposium. Delegates will therefore only need to pay for their own travel and accommodation.

Further information can be found by clicking on the appropriate sections using our menu on the left. Do please visit this site regularly as we will be posting new information as it becomes available. Please note that places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and that registration closes on 21st December 2004.

By the end of the symposium, you will have:

– A closer alignment to VMware as an organisation
– Up-to-date knowledge of our products and processes
– The ability to communicate VMware technical and business benefits to customers
– More confidence in supporting customers during the sales process