Virtualization with VMware

Virtualization is a technique used to provide a certain kind of virtual machine environment, namely, one that is a complete simulation of the underlying hardware. In such an environment, any software capable of execution on the raw hardware can be run in the virtual machine and, in particular, any operating systems.

VMware is a market leader in virtualization solutions, providing a robust suite of advanced virtualization solutions, from client to server to storage. Advanced capabilities like VMotion, DRS and SRM enable organizations to accomplish previously difficult IT operations with much greater ease.

VMware's advanced server virtualization features rely on the ability to move virtual machines fluidly between hosts and data centers without impacting performance. In addition, VMware's advanced desktop virtualization features rely on the ability to serve up a desktop remotely while maintaining the user experience. Both of these fundamental value propositions assume a network that is intelligent, flexible and powerful enough to support and adapt. These are the features of VMware Server.

·      Installs like an application, with simple, wizard-driven installation and virtual machine creation process

·      Includes a web based management interface with a simple, flexible, secure, intuitive and productive management experience

·      Runs on any standard x86 hardware, including Intel and AMD hardware virtualization assisted systems

·      Runs on a wider variety of Linux and Windows host and guest operating systems than any server virtualization product on the market

·      Supports two-processor Virtual SMP, enabling a single virtual machine to span multiple physical processors

·      Captures entire state of a virtual machine and rolls back at any time with the click of a single button

·      Protects investment with an easy virtual machine migration path to VMware Infrastructure

New Features in VMware Server 2

·      New operating system support: The broadest operating system support of any host-based virtualization platform currently available, including support for Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista Business Edition and Ultimate Edition (guest only), Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and Ubuntu 8.04.

·      64-bit operating system support: Use 64-bit guest operating systems on 64-bit hardware to enable more scalable and higher performing computing solutions.  In addition, Server 2 will run natively on 64-bit Linux host operating systems. 

·      VMware Infrastructure (VI) Web Access management interface: VI Web Access management interface provides a simple, flexible, secure, intuitive and productive management experience.  Plus, access thousands of pre-built, pre-configured, ready-to-run enterprise applications packaged with an operating system inside a virtual machine..

·      Independent virtual machine console: With the new VMware Remote Console, you can access your virtual machine consoles independent of the VI Web Access management interface.

·      More scalable virtual machines: Support for up to 8 GB of RAM and up to10 virtual network interface cards per virtual machine, transfer data at faster data rates from USB 2.0 devices plus add new SCSI hard disks and controllers to a running virtual machine.

·      Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS):  Properly backup the state of the Windows virtual machines when using the snapshot feature to maintain data integrity of the applications running inside the virtual machine.

·      Support for Virtual Machine Interface (VMI): This feature enables transparent paravirtualization, in which a single binary version of the operating system can run either on native hardware or in paravirtualized mode to improve performance in specific Linux environments.

·      Virtual Machine Communication Interface (VMCI): Support for fast and efficient communication between a virtual machine and the host operating system and between two or more virtual machines on the same host.

·      Support for VIX API 1.6: This feature provides a programming interface for automating virtual machine and guest operations.