Sun xVM VirtualBox

Another update for VirtualBox was released yesterday: VirtualBox 2.2.

OpenGL for Linux and Solaris guests

If you remember, 3D acceleration was introduced for Windows XP guests in VirtualBox 2.1, and now similar functionality had been ported for Linux and Solaris VMs. A quick experiment shows almost 4x performance improvement for 3D between VirtualBox 2.1.2 and VirtualBox 2.2 – I've simply booted Ubuntu live cd and used glxgears to get some idea about the efficiency of new 3D acceleration support.

Host-only networking

Another interesting feature added in 2.2 is the host-only networking. Similarly to a bridged networking, it allows virtual machines exchange network traffic with each other and with the host, but without a need for the real network interface on the host system.

Full support for the OVF

Open Virtualization Format (OVF) is now fully supported, which means you can import OVF systems or export any of your VMs into OVF.

This release brings a few more improvements, so please consult the VirtualBox changelog for all the details.

See also:

• VirtualBox 2.1.2
• VirtualBox changelog
• OVF page @ VMware
• Download VirtualBox
  

Why use Infrastructure Client to manage VMware Server

There are three reasons I can think of:

1. Web-based administration on VMware Server is awfully slow. I must admit it got better in 2.x betas of the server, but web-based management is still far from anything really comfortable. Infrastructure Client seems visibly faster.
   
2. Common management interface – Infrastructure Client provides a common interface to manage all your virtual environments, regardless of the VMware virtualization platform supporting them – can be ESX/ESXi or VMware Server.
3. Access to a full range of configuration parameters – last time I checked, web interface only covered the most used options of managing your VMware Server and VMs. Infrastructure Client is bound to give you access to all the features available, not just the basic ones.

How to access VMware Server with Infrastructure Client

Many people attempt to access server using just the VMware Server hostname, like in this example below:

Attempt to connect VMware Server without the port specified

… they get connection refused error and give up.

To access your VMware Server from Infrastructure Client, you have to be a bit more specific, and provide a port number to connect to:

VMware Server with Infrastructure Client

That's it, hope this quick tip helps you!

Windows 7 in xVM VirtualBox

January 21st saw the release of 2.1.2 update of a popular desktop virtualization solution – xVM VirtualBox.

As usual, there had been numerous bugfixes and performance improvements, and among the new features came one of the most anticipated features – support for Windows 7 VMs.

Frankly, I am surprised as how well Win7 performed in a VM with just 512Mb!

See also:

• VirtualBox 2.1.0
• VirtualBox website

As you have noticed, I usually revisit various software solutions to confirm most recent developments and share the news with the community. From now on, I'll be maintaining the solutions page which will help anyone to navigate the options we currently have in desktop virtualization.

If you're a vendor with relevant product or a customer looking for an easy navigation in the world of virtualization – please check the DV solutions page out and help me expand it.

See also:

• Desktop Virtualization solutions
• Desktop Virtualization glossary

VMware Workstation 6.5

If you were thinking of getting yourself a VMware Workstation, here's your chance to do it 25% cheaper!

If you go to the VMware Workstation Product page and click Buy Now, proceeding to the checkout will allow you to type in a promo code. Use this one to get a 25% discount: CyberMondayDeal.

There's not much time left though, this offer expires at 11:59PM PT on Monday, December 1, 2008.

Acquisitions

• IBM is to acquire Transitive via InformationWeek
  I'm really impressed with the flexibility Transitive gives you: it's a cross-platform virtualization solution, which in my experiments allowed an x86 Solaris-based system to run a SPARC Solaris environment. This is extremely useful when you need to support old third-party solutions but your hardware is irreversibly growing old. I understand IBM already uses Transitive's solutions, so it's quite a logical step for both companies.
• TechTarget Acquires The Brian Madden Company via VMblog
  TechTarget have quite a portfolio of websites and events around virtualization, and surely the desktop virtualization angle brought by Brian Madden will make a great addition.

VMware News

• VMware Convertor 4 public beta 1 (you will need your VMTN account to access it though)
  New release of VMware Convertor brings the long-awaited support for VM conversion of Linux systems (RHEL, SUSE and Ubuntu) and Windows Server 2008. The list of supported third-party image formats had been substantially updated to support the latest versions of products. Flexibility in VM configuration would allow for a smooth workflow when doing P2V on larger scale.
• VMware Referrals program
  If you love VMware products and want to earn something for introducing someone to them, it's going to be much easier to do with the just announced referrals program: VMware @ TellAPal

Virtualization Software news

• Wyse updates their virtualization software suite
  Quite a few directions have been successfully explored and covered in the most recent update of software suite by Wyse: USB Virtualizer, Multi-display and Rich Sound are the modules added to ensure the delivery of a more integrated solution. In terms of typical desktop user productivity, I would say that RIch Sound (bi-directional audio over RDP) is the most significant improvement – I hear this as one of the main complains from customers when it comes to various desktop virtualization solutions and particularly remote access to virtual desktops sessions.

New features in VMware Workstation 6.5

• Seamless desktop experience with Unity
• Support for DirectX 3D graphic
• Simplify creating Windows and Linux virtual machines with Easy Install
• VM record and replay for groundbreaking debugging
• Create ACE encrypted virtual machines

• Virtualization Admin: A First Look at the VMware Server 2.0 RC1
• Virtual Geek: What does vStorage Really Mean?
• Virtual Optics: Why VMware over NetApp NFS?
• Yellow Bricks: Expanding Virtual Desktops with VMware View
• RTFM Education: Offline VDI
• InfoWorld: VMware Workstation 6.5 vs Sun xVM VirtualBox 2.0

Feel free to share more links in the comments, I'm always interested in learning more and helping people share really useful posts!

Let me know if you like the format and whether you want me to change or add anything.

VMware news

VMworld 2008 is happening in Vegas this week, so naturally most of the news are to do with VMware!

• Thin Client Compatibility Guide for VDM got updated on Sep 15th, 2008
• Sun Microsystems will add VMware VDI and VMware VDI to the fully supported desktop virtualization solutions it offers to customers – certainly a decision customers will benefit from
• VMware Fusion 2.0 is officially released – desktop-based virtualization is gaining momentum, and Fusion is one of the best ways to get your Windows VM running on Mac
• VMware View is announced – it's a set of products that extend VMware’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions to include both server hosted virtual desktops and client virtual desktops that can run on any laptop or desktop computer.

Other news

• AppSense Environment Manager 8.0 is announced
• VirtualComputer announces the NxTop desktop virtualization suite

Sun Microsystems has announced a full virtualization portfolio last week: Sun xVM. While there is a PDF product description for xVM portfolio, I thought I'd take a minute to mention it here before posting my first impressions next week.

Sun xVM: virtualization suite

Basic introduction, taken from the Sun xVM page:

See also:

• Sun xVM portfolio
• xVM server tour
• Introducing xVM portfolio: Steve Wilson's blog
• Of Wine, Virtualization and xVM: Jonathan Schartz's blog