esx

VMware "thinking about" open sourcing its hypervisor

As reported by NetworkWorld, VMware CEO Paul Maritz suggested at VMworld that VMware has "thought about whether we want to open source ESX," the company's leading hypervisor, but provided no substance as to whether or not the company were inclined in that direction.

Instead, the former Microsoft executive paid lip service to open source's model for encouraging third-party participation in development.

That's OK, as his attention is not focused on the license and development model for ESX, but rather on what his customers should expect from the next generation of virtualization. Though Maritz was cagey about a forthcoming VMware technology as an "operating system" (OS), it seems clear that this is, in fact, what VMware is building, as ITworld describes. In response to a direct question as to VMware's plans to build an OS, Maritz equivocated:… Read more

Red Hat to VMware: Our virtualization rocks, yours stinks

As if VMware didn't already have enough problems, Red Hat has gone on the offensive, claiming that its new Qumranet virtualization software outperforms VMware's ESX in a number of key areas, as The Register reports. Specifically, Red Hat claims that its KVM software:

Runs five virtual machines (VMs) for every three that VMware's ESX can run on the same physical hardware; Tops out at 52 VMs on a physical server while ESX can only manage 35, and Citrix gives in at 30.

I haven't seen any independent benchmarks, but if these claims are true than proprietary … Read more