News, Analysis and Opinion for Oracle VM and other virtualization technologies

August 29, 2011 29 Aug'11

VSphere 5 generally available: VMworld 2011 news in brief

VMware is kicking off its annual conference by shipping out its latest release; F5 supports Metro vMotion; VKernel rolls out vOperations Suite 4; VCE adds new Vblock for VDI.

August 24, 2011 24 Aug'11

Is Oracle VM 3.0 finally ready for prime time?

New scalability and management features in Oracle VM 3.0 make it a more serious contender, experts say, but the jury’s still out on whether users will consider OVM as a primary hypervisor.

June 24, 2011 24 Jun'11

Xangati beefs up free VMware monitoring tool: News in brief

Netuitive adds Hyper-V support; Syncsort offers 10 minute P2V through NetApp; Oracle releases Oracle VM for x86 version 2.2.2; HP adds VAAI support to entry-level disk array.

June 07, 2011 07 Jun'11

Linux kernel to fully support Xen: Too little too late?

The mainline Linux kernel now supports Xen, but the KVM horse has left the barn, say experts.

February 11, 2011 11 Feb'11

VMware updates vSphere 4.1: Virtualization news in brief

VMware releases ESXi 4.1 Update 1; Red Hat and IBM hold the virtualization performance world record; HyTrust names VMware veteran new CEO and more news in brief.

January 14, 2011 14 Jan'11

Oracle rolls out VirtualBox 4.0: News in brief

Oracle rolls out VirtualBox 4.0; Citrix invests in GlassHouse Technologies and other news in brief.

May 20, 2010 20 May'10

Java abstraction: The key to virtualization agility

A decade ago, Java showed us the value of abstracting an application from an OS. As recent news from VMware and Oracle shows, Java abstraction has even more value today.

April 20, 2010 20 Apr'10

Oracle one-ups VMware with Java virtualization

WebLogic can now run a Java Virtual Machine without a guest operating system, but – surprise, surprise -- it's supported only on Oracle VM.

March 03, 2010 03 Mar'10

Can Oracle virtualization be a player?

The Oracle virtualization push will gain some steam with the release of Oracle VM 3, but large shops may not want to hand over any more of their infrastructure.

February 19, 2010 19 Feb'10

VirtualBox hypervisor part of Oracle virtualization roadmap

Future Oracle virtualization plans include the VirtualBox hypervisor, but the VirtualBox roadmap will need improvements to compete in enterprises, experts say.

January 27, 2010 27 Jan'10

Oracle-Sun virtualization plans come into focus

Less than a week after the Oracle-Sun Microsystems acquisition closed, executives discussed the future of Oracle VM, Sun VirtualBox and other virtualization products.

July 13, 2009 13 Jul'09

F5 Networks adds vSphere, vCenter integration: News in brief

In today's news in brief, F5's BIG-IP appliances add VMware's vSphere 4 and vCenter support, and more.

June 22, 2009 22 Jun'09

Forget VMware support; Oracle VM gets an update

With Oracle VM 2.1.5, Oracle appears to stand firm in its commitment not to support its applications under VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix XenServer virtualization.

May 15, 2009 15 May'09

RIP Sun xVM Server, Virtual Iron; long live Oracle VM?

As the Oracle/Sun deal nears completion, Sun's xVM Server fades from view and the future of Virtual Iron Software is unclear.

May 13, 2009 13 May'09

Oracle to acquire virtualization provider Virtual Iron

Oracle will purchase Virtual Iron's technology to bolster Oracle VM's capacity utilization and virtual machine configuration capabilities.

April 07, 2009 07 Apr'09

Sun Microsystems' VirtualBox lures VMware users with OVF support

Sun Microsystems' open source VirtualBox supports the Open Virtualization Format, making it easier to export virtual machines into production VMware environments.

November 06, 2008 06 Nov'08

AMD demos live migration between Intel and AMD processors

For the first time, AMD and Red Hat demonstrated that live migration of virtual machines across AMD and Intel Xeon-based servers is possible. To date, live migration has been possible only between similar processor families.

September 11, 2008 11 Sep'08

Sun xVM Server and Ops Center update add virtualization options

Sun Microsystems announced commercial availability of its Xen-based hypervisor, xVM Server, and an updated version of its virtualization management software, Sun xVM Ops Center.

July 28, 2008 28 Jul'08

Free VMware ESXi sparks call for the source code

VMware now offers ESX3i server for free, but only open-sourcing the hypervisor's code will truly enable VMware to compete against Microsoft, some say.

June 25, 2008 25 Jun'08

Xen proponents question merits of Red Hat KVM hypervisor

Red Hat's new KVM-based hypervisor may be easier to install alongside Linux, but paravirtualized offerings like Citrix's Xen still trump the new hypervisor, say KVM detractors.

January 15, 2008 15 Jan'08

SWsoft Virtuozzo: An alternative to VMware VDI?

Here's a novel idea: Rather than use VMware VDI to centralize your desktops, consider container-style virtualization from SWsoft's Virtuozzo.

January 02, 2008 02 Jan'08

VMware costs inspire Virtual Iron purchase

In choosing Virtual Iron over VMware ESX, Owen Bird Law Corp. not only saved money but also found it full featured and easy to install.

November 15, 2007 15 Nov'07

VMware refutes Oracle VM performance claims

VMware takes issue with Oracle's claim that Oracle VM is three times more efficient than current x86-based server virtualization products.

November 12, 2007 12 Nov'07

Oracle launches Xen-based virtualization platform

With a new promise to support its vast suite of enterprise applications on the Xen-derived hypervisor Oracle VM, Oracle says, "Move over, VMware ESX."

September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07

IBM, HP rally behind the embedded hypervisor

Leading server vendors line up in support of VMware's and XenSource's new embedded hypervisors.

July 09, 2007 09 Jul'07

Review: VirtualBox good alternative to VMware, Microsoft tools

VMware, Microsoft and Xen have dominated the virtualization space until now. Newcomer VirtualBox competes well, according to expert Serdar Yegulalp.

May 10, 2007 10 May'07

Microsoft backpedals on 'Viridian' virtualization

A beta version of Microsoft Windows Server Virtualization "Viridian" will ship with RTM version of Windows Server "Longhorn" later this year, but without some core features.

April 16, 2007 16 Apr'07

Symantec adds P2V to latest Backup Exec

New P2V capabilities in Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery allow IT administrators to easily recover a failed physical box as a VMware or Microsoft virtual machine.

April 04, 2007 04 Apr'07

Virtuozzo sidesteps Windows Server costs

For John Yanekian, the key difference between VMware and SWsoft Virtuozzo came down to Microsoft Windows Server licensing costs.

March 27, 2007 27 Mar'07

HP adds ProLiant virtualization offerings

Hewlett-Packard has added software from Virtual Iron and SWsoft to the stable of virtualization offerings available for its x86 servers.

March 22, 2007 22 Mar'07

The Virtual Machinist: Virtualization vendor strategies

Virtualization is no longer a cutting-edge technology. In moving from hype to mainstream, every customer on the planet is supposed to adopt virtualization within the next few years. Such an expectation affects more than marketing strategies. When ...

January 22, 2007 22 Jan'07

SWsoft steps into virtualization benchmark 'quagmire'

SWsoft has joined the SPEC working group for virtualization, but don't expect the company's presence to hasten the benchmark authoring process.

November 14, 2006 14 Nov'06

VMware's Greene: 'The operating system shouldn't matter'

In this interview, Diane Greene, VMware co-founder and president, talks about how virtualization could break the stranglehold Microsoft has on the computing industry.

October 05, 2006 05 Oct'06

Microsoft drops virtualization licensing fees for Datacenter Edition

You can now buy a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 license that will allow you to run an unlimited number of virtualized guests for free.

August 15, 2006 15 Aug'06

VMware on Mac will do little to ease desktop management pain

VMware Mac product will not impact desktop management or help standardize platforms in heterogeneous shops.