History

Altiris released the first hotfix for its application virtualization product, Software Virtualization Solution (SVS) 2.0, already reached the Service Pack 1 status.

The hotfix only solves 7 bugs.

Read the release notes here. Download it here.

After Oracle critics to VMware and Xen folks about the efforts they put so far in finding a common agreed approach for hypervisor standardization, both VMware and XenSource wanted to reply.

VMware did it through the Vice President of Technology Development, Steve Herrod.

XenSource did it through a podcast with ZDNet, where the company CTO, Simon Crosby, suggested Oracle’s comments are nonsense.

Listen the podcast at source.

Surgient arranged a new webcast for August 8th, this time focusing on virtualization tips & tricks:

Attendees will learn:

• Practical tips for planning, deploying and optimizing virtual infrastructure
• Best practices for scaling virtual infrastructure environments
• Emerging uses of virtualization to support pre- and post-production needs

Register for it here.

Quoting from InfoWorld:

VMWare will be launching a product on the opening day of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. The specific product is a secret, but the folks at VMWare were mightily torqued by my Parallels Desktop review’s unchallenged reference to Parallels’ claim of a hypervisor approach.
That’s a debate for another day; probably tomorrow in a phone call with VMWare. But VMWare’s efforts to make sure I come to WWDC with a firm understanding of what a hypervisor is and is not takes some of the mystery out of the Monday announcement…

Read the whole article at source.

The announcement of VMware Workstation (and Player), and possibly the new Server, at WWDC is probable: VMware disclosed was working on products for Intel-based Mac OS X since April.

During last days VMware and Xen have been under fire for how they conducted works to create a standard hypervisor interface for Linux kernel.

At Ottawa Linux Symposium VMware approach has not mentioned among viable solutions and Oracle lamented both companies have been too slow in reaching an agreement on how to proceed.

VMware Vice President of Technology Development, Steve Herrod, now speaks from its corporate blog, to answer critics and definitively clarify company position about Xen and standardization efforts:

Despite the headlines, the various groups focusing on Linux paravirtualization are actually working together well.
…
First and foremost, some have implied VMware is trying to slow down virtualization competition in the Linux space. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
…
The motivation for proposing VMI as an alternate approach to Linux paravirtualization was to help ensure that Linux gets a sustainable, customer- and ISV-friendly set of interfaces. We think this is in the best long-term interest of the community. Obviously we’re also quite interested in making sure that Linux’s paravirtualization implementation is independent of any specific hypervisor implementation allowing VMware, Xen, and others to compete in this space.
…
Overall, we believe the VMI-Linux is an excellent approach, but it’s more important that the community as a whole quickly converges on an interface that maintains the main principles of the transparent paravirtualization approach. On this note, VMware, IBM, XenSource, and others are actively cooperating on a merged approach to kernel integration using an approach called “paravirt-ops”.
…
In the end, paravirt-ops may or may not end up being very similar to today’s VMI-Linux approach. Regardless, we remain committed to working with the community to come up with a publicly designed Linux interface that works well for both existing and future hypervisors.

Read the whole article at source.

While hypervisors standardization and inclusion in Linux kernel are progressing very slowly, OpenVZ finds its way in one of most trustworthy distribution: Debian.

Quoting from the OpenVZ official announcement:

The OpenVZ project today announced its operating system-level server virtualization software technology is incorporated into Debian GNU/Linux giving users full access to OpenVZ software, which helps increase server utilization rates.

At the same time, the OpenVZ project revised licensing terms for its user-level utilities under the GNU GPL license to comply with the Debian Free Software Guidelines. Also, OpenVZ software now conforms with the LSB/FHS (Linux Standard Base/File Hierarchy Standard)…

Check OpenVZ kernel patches here.

Thincomputing.net published a list of SoftGrid prices which Softricity should announce soon.

The reduction is impressive, with some features like ZeroTouch now free, and it’s an evident consequence of Microsoft acquisition:

• Softgrid Desktop Licenses: €32 / $38 (list)
• Softgrid Terminal Server Licenses: €18 / $21 (list)
• Softgrid Terminal Server Licenses will no longer be based on the concurrent number of users (as in all Microsoft products)
• Softgrid ZeroTouch will be free and part of the Softgrid Server software
• Softgrid SMS Connector: Free (if you have other Softgrid licenses)
• The Universal Desktop license will disappear: it’s either a Destop or a Terminal Server license
• Softricity Software Assurance will disappear completely

Read the whole article at source.

At this point is possible Microsoft will offer the technology for free in a second time, after incorporating Softricity technologies in its products.

Combining together VMware Server and 2X ThinClientServer (PXES edition), both free of charge, customers are able to setup a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) at no cost.

2X published a guide demonstrating how to do so achieving following benefits:

• Maintain and secure Windows desktops and builds and all connected hardware devices from one central location
• Improve support by shadowing sessions and watching the user’s actions
• Easy addition, recovery and replacement of virtual desktops
• Centralize control by allowing you to remotely shutdown or restart all devices
• Reduce costs by converting old PCs to thinclients with the latest XP or Vista
• No Terminal Services CALs required – re-use existing Windows XP license

Read the guide at source.

Ron Oglesby reveals Citrix is working on a couple of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products: one to be released very soon and another, more complete, planned for somewhere in the future.

…Okay, with the qualifications out of the way let’s talk about Citrix’s stopgap solution they’re calling the “Remote Desktop Broker” (or RDB). The concept with RDB is pretty simple; it’s an application that can feed parameters into the RDP client and provide you a way to manage connections and create resource pools of desktops (VMs, blades, etc.). The RDB application is installed on a Citrix Presentation Server and then published as an application. Users execute the application which then connects them to the type of desktop they (or the app) is configured for.

I’ll get into more detail on HOW it works in a second, but for now understand that it’s an application, not a server, and because of this is it uses a double-hop scenario with ICA connecting to the Presentation Server and then RDP connecting from the Presentation Server to the virtual desktop…

Read the whole article at source.

This article was moved to the new section virtualization.info TechTalk.

setTimeout(‘location.href=”https://virtualization.info/en/techtalk/2006/08/microsoft-and-xensource-partnership.html”‘,5000);
document.write(‘

Your browser will be redirected in 5 seconds.’);

Javascript is disabled on this page!
Please manually redirect your browser clicking here.