virtualization

Amazon's newer business model

A couple of weeks back, Amazon.com announced an expansion of its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) service. The still-in-beta EC2 is a twist on the much-discussed, if rarely seen in the wild, compute utility whereby customers rent computing by virtual machine (VM)-hour; Amazon's EC2 infrastructure is based on a Xen hypervisor structure rather than running directly on physical hardware.

One implication of Amazon using VMs is that they can easily offer a variety of different VM sizes up to the size of the physical hardware. That was the most recent change announced. In addition to the default "Small Instance," users can now get "Large Instances" or "Extra Large Instances." These might be useful if, for example, you need to pair a heavyweight database instance with some lightweight Web services.

Another implication is that VM images, called Amazon Machine Images (AMI) in this case, can be archived and transported. This is analogous to VMware's virtual appliances. Amazon itself hasn't done much to jump-start an image marketplace at this point as VMware has. However, it does provide a mechanism for customers to post and publicly share AMIs and sees the opportunity for people to offer paid AMIs over time.

I bring this up because Emre Sokullo over at Read/Write Web has a post and table that does a great job of crystallizing why getting into Web services is such a big deal for Amazon. In short, Amazon's revenue is comparable to Google's. The difference is that, while Google is operating at a 29 percent profit margin, Amazon is under 2 percent. Which is probably about the best one can hope for with a big "mail order" retail operation. … Read more

Work that Wii: Top 10 Virtual Console downloads

You've probably already played through Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Super Paper Mario. Super Mario Galaxy isn't coming out until next month, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been pushed back to early 2008. Still, there's no sense in letting your Wii collect dust while dozens of classic titles sit waiting for you on the Virtual Console. Here are the ten top downloads you can get for the Wii, and at $5 to $10 a pop they're a steal. Even if you grabbed all ten of these games (at 9500 Nintendo Points), they'd still cost … Read more

Wii virtual console releases for this week--Halloween edition

This week brings us a collection of creepy games all added in time for Halloween.

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1988, NES, 500 Wii points)--In this sequel to the classic original, you once again take the role of Simon Belmont in an adventure that eventually has you battling Count Dracula. Samurai Ghost (1992, TurboGrafx16, 600 Wii points)--Samurai Ghost is an action platformer that has you in control of a warrior from the underworld. With your sword you will battle some historically accurate foes all while fighting off demons from the Dark Side. Magician Lord (1990, NEOGEO, 900 Wii … Read more

New Virtual Iron CEO wants spotlight

Virtual Iron, a start-up trying to commercialize the open-source Xen virtualization software, has just gotten a new chief executive, and he wants to grab some of the attention lavished on rivals in the suddenly high-profile market.

The new CEO is Ed Walsh, who led Avamar Technologies, a company focusing on economizing storage by reducing duplicative data, which EMC acquired in 2004. John Thibault, who was named Virtual Iron's CEO in 2005, will remain executive chairman of the 73-employee Lowell, Mass.-based company, Virtual Iron plans to announce Monday.

Virtual Iron has been in the virtualization business for three years, … Read more

Gemini: A virtual mobile world wakes to life

Second Life may have nudged its Grid onto the mobile screen, but it's Gemini's EXplo platform for enabling mini virtual worlds that earned a spot on Deloitte's Wireless Fast 50 list at the CTIA Wireless conference (coverage).

In S'town, a game built on the EXplo platform, users can chat on screen, buy products, stare at advertising billboards, and meet up with online friends, even whooshing to a meeting point on the other end of the expansive world. That's in Japan, where impressive phones on the Softbank network are already attracting a demographic of "young, … Read more

My first book, 'The Entrepreneur's Guide to Second Life,' is published

One of the things that separates the new News.com personal blogs, like this one, or Declan McCullagh's The Iconoclast, or Caroline McCarthy's The Social, from the larger, impersonal News.com blog, is that they are a place for us to write not just about what's going around us, but also what we're doing ourselves that's relevant.

In my case, that's pretty easy because I live a lot of the things I write about. So there's a never-ending supply of blog fodder. And you get the benefits of that. Insert smiley here.

Well, … Read more

Playhut opens kids' virtual world

Correction: This blog initially misstated the day of the announcement. It is Tuesday.

More toy makers are joining the virtual worlds' fray. Playhut, a toy company known for making physical play structures like inflatable fire engines or playhouses for kids, is trying its hand at online virtual worlds for the 6 years and older set.

On Tuesday, the company said it launched two online worlds--one for boys and one for girls--under the brand GoLive2.com Kraze. The free sites enable members play games, dress up virtual characters and chat with friends--once parents send a permission slip via e-mail to the … Read more

Wii virtual console releases for this week

Billiards in space, a Japanese import, and classic sequel make up this week's list of Wii Virtual Console releases.

Lunar Pool (1987, NES, 500 Wii points)--It's the future, and it's space--so obviously the first thing that comes to mind is billiards. Enjoy 30 tables and two game modes. Rad space uniforms not included. Ninja JaJaMaru-kun (1985, NES, 600 Wii points)--Up until now, Ninja JaJaMaru-kun was only available as an import from Japan. In this action game you must rescue Princess Sakura while battling a villain named Namazu Dayuu. Golden Axe III (1993, Genesis, 800 Wii … Read more

Attent turns Outlook into a microeconomy/MMORPG

If you're a Microsoft Outlook user at work, managing your in-box could be one of the most challenging things you have to wrestle with each day. Handling incoming e-mail and categorizing its importance is a skill, and a process people have to learn. There are several third-party apps to help you figure out what's important beyond the stock methods included with the Outlook (colored flagging, and urgency), but many are for the individual, rather than the entire company.

Likewise, as a sender, figuring out how to prioritize the e-mail you're sending to others is a balancing act, … Read more