If market-leading VMware, open-source incumbent Xen, and Microsoft's upcoming Hyper-V aren't enough choices, another one is on the way: Parallels Server.
SWsoft, which is in the process of renaming itself Parallels, released its first beta version of the server virtualization software Wednesday. SWsoft itself has chiefly focused on commercializing higher-level virtualization software called Virtuozzo that lets a single version of an operating system be subdivided into semi-independent containers. However, the company's Parallels division has come to prominence by letting a single computer--most notably an Intel-based Apple machine--run Windows.
That Parallels technology is now available as a hypervisor that runs on a computer's "bare metal," a contrast to the previous technology that runs on top of a host operating system such as Mac OS X. The hypervisor approach, also employed by VMware's ESX Server, Xen, and Hyper-V, is generally preferred for servers to the guest-host model.
Parallels Server's claim to fame over its rivals is its ability to run multiple versions of Mac OS X, and it's "the first to run multiple copies of Mac OS X Server on a single Apple computer," the company said. The server beta also is the first hypervisor to support Intel's second-generation VT-d virtualization hardware, though it's still at the experimental level, the company said.
Those are interesting accomplishments, but they don't seem to me to be the competitive breakthroughs that will dent VMware's prevailing dominance. Apple's Xserve machines account for only a tiny slice of that market compared with those running Windows and Linux, and support for the latest Intel hardware doubtless will spread to rival hypervisors.
So it's probably a good thing for SWsoft/Parallels that it also has its Parallels desktop, Virtuozzo, and virtualization management software lines up and running. Parallels Server could well appeal to the sizable number of customers who already have Virtuozzo and accompanying management tools installed. Those folks might want to expand into new virtualization territory. To take one niche where Virtuozzo found early success, Web site hosting companies could offer more independent partitions to customers who are sharing a server.
Those who wish to test the Parallels Server beta software can apply at SWsoft's Web site.
Correction, 3:40 p.m. PST Wednesday: This posting misstated Parallels' beta testing plans. Virtuozzo 4.0's first release candidate just entered testing.
SWsoft, a start-up selling the Virtuozzo server virtualization software, has renamed itself Parallels after a product line better known among consumers that lets Windows run on Intel-based Macs.
"When we talk to partners, media, analysts, the channel, and customers, we need to deliver a simple and unified vision. We need to look like a company which has products that fit together well," said Chief Executive Serguei Beloussov. SWsoft didn't initially disclose that its two main product lines, Virtuozzo and Parallels, were run by the same company.
In addition, the company is branding its virtualization and management products under the umbrella term Optimized Computing.
Virtuozzo uses a technology generally called containers that splits a single instance of an operating system into different compartments for higher-level software, isolating different applications to an extent. For Linux, it's based on the open-source OpenVZ technology, but Virtuozzo also is available for Windows.
One popular application is among Web hosting firms that want to run multiple clients' Web sites from the same server. The Virtuozzo name gradually will be replaced with a Parallels-based name, likely Parallels Container, Beloussov said, and the management software products will follow suit.
Parallels, in contrast, uses lower-level partitioning software that lets an entirely separate operating system run as a guest atop another operating system. And the company is working on another product, to be called Parallels Server, "hypervisor" software that runs as a foundation to multiple operating systems.
Parallels Server is due to enter beta testing in the next month, with general availability in the spring, the company said. Meanwhile, the company began beta testing the first release candidate of Virtuozzo 4.0 on Monday; the final version is due in January.
Also coming next year will be the Parallels Workstation products for Linux and Windows, he said.
SWsoft's main competitor is market leader VMware, though open-source Xen and
The Fusion debut "decreased our growth," Beloussov said. "Definitely, VMware has taken some of the market. The price is officially the same (as Parallels), but they spend a lot of money on marketing. Their effective retail price is half our price."
SWsoft annual revenue has more than doubled in the last year, Beloussov said. The company has 900 people worldwide, a 50 percent increase over the last year.
(Credit:
VMware)
VMware released version 1.1 of its Fusion virtualization software to run Windows on Intel-based Apple computers Monday--along with an offer for free versions of the software to some bloggers.
"I have convinced the powers at VMware central that there's big-time value in having a strong, open conversational relationship with the blogosphere," Peter Kazanjy, senior product marketing manager for VMware's Mac products, said in an e-mail sent to bloggers and seen by CNET News.com.
"I'm...offering an open NFR (not for resale) policy for people who are honest-to-goodness bloggers." There's "no obligation to blog about VMware Fusion, but if you do, please go ahead and send a link back to us to vmware.com/mac," he added. Unlike the free 30-evaluation version VMware also offers, the NFR version doesn't expire.
The offer was sent to fewer than 60 bloggers, a VMware representative said, and Kazanjy apparently didn't want to extend it to the entire blogosphere. "Feel free to let your blog friends know, but do me a favor and don't blog this offer," he said in the letter.
Fusion is playing catch-up with SWsoft's Parallels, which entered the market first. But VMware, which leads the overall virtualization market, is on the attack: the company also released a beta version of a tool to import Parallels virtual machines into VMware so that Windows installations can be moved to the other virtualization foundation.
According to VMware and Kazanjy, features in Fusion 1.1 include "robust" support for Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard"; upgraded but still experimental support for DirectX 9.0 3D graphics; support for Boot Camp partitions as virtual machines; improvements to the "Unity" feature that lets Windows applications occupy a window unencumbered by menu bars and other Windows operating system elements; the ability to synchronize iPhone with Microsoft Outlook running in Windows; and performance improvements.
Fusion costs $80, but the upgrade is free.
VMware Server 2 beta, too
On Tuesday, VMware announced an open beta of VMware Server 2.0, its free server virtualization product known years ago as GSX Server. Unlike the premium ESX Server, VMware Server runs on a host operating system, Linux or Windows.
The new version should be generally available in 2008, VMware said.
New features include:
• Support for VMI, "paravirtualization" technology that lets Linux run much faster.
• Support for Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 beta, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon", among others.
• A Web-based management interface.
• Support for up to 8GB of memory and two processors per virtual machine.
• Support for 64-bit guest operating systems, as long as the software is running on a 64-bit host.
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