On December 12th VMware and SAP announced a partnership that will support the SAP solutions on a VMWare Infrastructure. SAP will provide full support for its Windows and Linux based solutions.
"VMware Infrastructure has many benefits for hosted environments," said Benno Weidmann, vice president, hosting infrastructure management at SAP Hosting. "We've been able to automate internal business processes and increase service levels to internal customers. In addition, we have reduced costs with consolidation and automation of system deployment, as well as greatly reduced the required hardware for internal training and development systems. Altogether, virtualization helps us to lower costs, develop and automate user services, better manage hardware and software lifecycles, and improve production and capacity planning across a more unified infrastructure."
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/AQW10612122007-1.htm <http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/AQW10612122007-1.htm>
How does this impact VMware and SAP? It meets a growing demand for current or potential SAP clients to run virtualization software. This is a product enhancement that SAP competitors such as Oracle do not have. This is a competitive advantage for both VMware and SAP, especially since Oracle is working to launch virtualization software but hasn't been able to do so yet.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Is VMware too Expensive?
With the emergence of competing hypervisor products coming in the next 12 - 24 months, VMware's CEO, Diane Greene, was asked if VMware could continue to sustain their margins and maintain 80 - 90% of the market.
And Diane Greene's response? "...while competitors are coming into the market, coming out with a hypervisor product isn't an easy task. VMware's software is far more feature rich and has far more advanced capabilities than rival virtualisation companies. VMware is a pretty progressive company and we have continued to develop new products that have added value to help enable us to maintain our price points because of all the amazing new functionality that is of very high value in terms of cost savings for our customers."
If VMware is concerned about the competition cutting into market share and driving down prices, Diane Greene isn't showing it.
http://www.techworld.com/opsys/features/index.cfm?featureID=3885&pagtype=samecatsamechan <http://www.techworld.com/opsys/features/index.cfm?featureID=3885&pagtype=samecatsamechan>
And Diane Greene's response? "...while competitors are coming into the market, coming out with a hypervisor product isn't an easy task. VMware's software is far more feature rich and has far more advanced capabilities than rival virtualisation companies. VMware is a pretty progressive company and we have continued to develop new products that have added value to help enable us to maintain our price points because of all the amazing new functionality that is of very high value in terms of cost savings for our customers."
If VMware is concerned about the competition cutting into market share and driving down prices, Diane Greene isn't showing it.
http://www.techworld.com/opsys/features/index.cfm?featureID=3885&pagtype=samecatsamechan <http://www.techworld.com/opsys/features/index.cfm?featureID=3885&pagtype=samecatsamechan>
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
That Car Can't Fly!!
There's nothing more likely to get a "VMwarite" riled up than comparing Microsoft Virtual Server (MSVS) and VMware ESX Server. Although they both virtualize an x86 system, MSVS runs on top of Windows, and ESX Server doesn't.
VMware does have a server product that runs on top of a host operating system like MSVS, and it's the free VMware Server. MSVS should by all rights be compared to VMware Server, not ESX Server.
ESX Server is much more powerful, but comes at a higher price, a bit more complexity for enterprise-scale deployments, and a smaller universe of supported hardware.
So let's look at this article by Alex Barrett at SearchServerVirtualization. It starts with a fair premise -- for some small shops, it's a path of least resistance to just use MSVS and call it a day.
And when you read closely, Alex mentions VMware Server, but when the people he interviews start talking about price and VMotion in an article on MSVS, alarm bells should start going off.
Microsoft Virtual Server flawed, not broken, users say.
VMware does have a server product that runs on top of a host operating system like MSVS, and it's the free VMware Server. MSVS should by all rights be compared to VMware Server, not ESX Server.
ESX Server is much more powerful, but comes at a higher price, a bit more complexity for enterprise-scale deployments, and a smaller universe of supported hardware.
So let's look at this article by Alex Barrett at SearchServerVirtualization. It starts with a fair premise -- for some small shops, it's a path of least resistance to just use MSVS and call it a day.
And when you read closely, Alex mentions VMware Server, but when the people he interviews start talking about price and VMotion in an article on MSVS, alarm bells should start going off.
Microsoft Virtual Server flawed, not broken, users say.
The More The Merrier...
VMware, Inc. today announced that more than 60 organizations have joined its co-development programs. Approximately 350 developers from VMware's ecosystem of partner organizations are actively working on co-development projects to bring VMware-enabled solutions to customers worldwide through collaborative development. These solutions include integrations for the new update of VMware Infrastructure.
VMware's co-development initiatives include the VMware Community Source program, which enables partners to contribute to and use the source code for VMware ESX Server, as well as ongoing product engineering projects with partners that leverage VMware APIs. These co-development programs enable industry collaboration that has resulted in new value-added products and functionality optimized for VMware environments.
The collaborative development resources offered by VMware have enabled partner organizations to develop products for VMware Infrastructure that offer increased interoperability and supportability, improved I/O capabilities, expanded storage and networking choices and improved desktop management. VMware co-development programs enable participants to work closely with VMware to develop products that further extend the value of customers' VMware deployments through enhanced functionality.
VMware's co-development initiatives include the VMware Community Source program, which enables partners to contribute to and use the source code for VMware ESX Server, as well as ongoing product engineering projects with partners that leverage VMware APIs. These co-development programs enable industry collaboration that has resulted in new value-added products and functionality optimized for VMware environments.
The collaborative development resources offered by VMware have enabled partner organizations to develop products for VMware Infrastructure that offer increased interoperability and supportability, improved I/O capabilities, expanded storage and networking choices and improved desktop management. VMware co-development programs enable participants to work closely with VMware to develop products that further extend the value of customers' VMware deployments through enhanced functionality.
If It Ain't Broke...
Anyone who has ever worked in a data center knows things tend move slowly in the enterprise data center, because IT managers are somewhat risk averse.
The Golden Rules of IT
1) If it's not broken, don't fix it. Most organizations simply don't have thetime, the resources or the funds to re-implement things that are currentlyworking.
I think this has been one driver for VMware's successful adoption. It is so easy to get started with VMware -- download VMware Server - some necessary but little-used old servers that are just sucking up electricity, and go.
You don't need a special paravirtualized kernel, just whatever you were running (Windows, Linux, Solaris, etc.);
You don't need to recompile your app;
You don't need to get special hardware;
You don't even really need a SAN or other fancy enterprise storage to get started -- just virtualize, no re-implementation needed.
The key point is that you treat a virtual machine just like its physical counterpart -- although try not to have every antivirus and backup job in every virtual machine on an ESX Server fire off at the same time.
The Golden Rules of IT
1) If it's not broken, don't fix it. Most organizations simply don't have thetime, the resources or the funds to re-implement things that are currentlyworking.
I think this has been one driver for VMware's successful adoption. It is so easy to get started with VMware -- download VMware Server - some necessary but little-used old servers that are just sucking up electricity, and go.
You don't need a special paravirtualized kernel, just whatever you were running (Windows, Linux, Solaris, etc.);
You don't need to recompile your app;
You don't need to get special hardware;
You don't even really need a SAN or other fancy enterprise storage to get started -- just virtualize, no re-implementation needed.
The key point is that you treat a virtual machine just like its physical counterpart -- although try not to have every antivirus and backup job in every virtual machine on an ESX Server fire off at the same time.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Mac or PC?
Why decide when you can have both.
You've all seen those funny Mac vs. PC commercials that make fun of the PC character. They make you think it's one or the other. But in reality, with Apple’s switch to Intel processors, you can have both with a little program called VMWare Fusion.
Savvy Mac users are probably thinking "Oh, right, that’s what Parallels does. If Parallels comes with my Mac, why should I buy Fusion?"
You can do some crazy things with Fusion.
Here are some of our favorites:
FLIP IT! Wish you could have a Mac but have one or two Windows applications that you can’t live without? You don’t have to be locked in anymore. Outlook, Windows Media Player, Microsoft Project, AutoCAD, Solidworks…you name it. They all can run in a Windows virtual machine on VMware Fusion.
TWO AT A TIME! With virtualization you are running, in effect, two computers at the same time when you run Windows on your Mac. That can take some horsepower. VMware Fusion’s mature technology means much less CPU overhead. As Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal noticed, “VMware Fusion has a much smaller impact on the Mac’s overall performance [than Parallels.]” With VMware Fusion, Outlook in your Windows virtual machine doesn’t slow down your Safari session running on Mac OS X.
SHARE THE RAM! VMware pioneered memory page file sharing. So running a VM in VMware Fusion takes up much less of your Mac’s memory than other virtualization products.
DON'T EVEN NOTICE! VMware Fusion’s Unity feature lets your Mac treat Windows applications like its own. Windows applications show up in the on the bottom of the screen and you can even minimize Windows apps down to the Dock too.
GOTTA HAVE USB 2.0! Got a GPS unit that doesn’t support Mac? With VMware Fusion, just load the software in Windows and plug the USB cable into your Mac. Blackberry, USB VOIP softphones, webcams, scanners, printers, all of the above. You can still use them with a Windows VM. Just because you want to switch, doesn’t mean you should have to say goodbye to near and dear peripherals.
IT'S AN OS PARTY! Linux, Solaris, Windows from 3.1 through Vista Ultimate x64. 32-bit or 64-bit. VMware Fusion can run it. In fact, VMware Fusion can run over 60 operating systems on your Mac.
You've all seen those funny Mac vs. PC commercials that make fun of the PC character. They make you think it's one or the other. But in reality, with Apple’s switch to Intel processors, you can have both with a little program called VMWare Fusion.
Savvy Mac users are probably thinking "Oh, right, that’s what Parallels does. If Parallels comes with my Mac, why should I buy Fusion?"
You can do some crazy things with Fusion.
Here are some of our favorites:
FLIP IT! Wish you could have a Mac but have one or two Windows applications that you can’t live without? You don’t have to be locked in anymore. Outlook, Windows Media Player, Microsoft Project, AutoCAD, Solidworks…you name it. They all can run in a Windows virtual machine on VMware Fusion.
TWO AT A TIME! With virtualization you are running, in effect, two computers at the same time when you run Windows on your Mac. That can take some horsepower. VMware Fusion’s mature technology means much less CPU overhead. As Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal noticed, “VMware Fusion has a much smaller impact on the Mac’s overall performance [than Parallels.]” With VMware Fusion, Outlook in your Windows virtual machine doesn’t slow down your Safari session running on Mac OS X.
SHARE THE RAM! VMware pioneered memory page file sharing. So running a VM in VMware Fusion takes up much less of your Mac’s memory than other virtualization products.
DON'T EVEN NOTICE! VMware Fusion’s Unity feature lets your Mac treat Windows applications like its own. Windows applications show up in the on the bottom of the screen and you can even minimize Windows apps down to the Dock too.
GOTTA HAVE USB 2.0! Got a GPS unit that doesn’t support Mac? With VMware Fusion, just load the software in Windows and plug the USB cable into your Mac. Blackberry, USB VOIP softphones, webcams, scanners, printers, all of the above. You can still use them with a Windows VM. Just because you want to switch, doesn’t mean you should have to say goodbye to near and dear peripherals.
IT'S AN OS PARTY! Linux, Solaris, Windows from 3.1 through Vista Ultimate x64. 32-bit or 64-bit. VMware Fusion can run it. In fact, VMware Fusion can run over 60 operating systems on your Mac.
Staying Ahead of the Pack
Our last post focused on the threats to VMWare. Here’s how they’re staying ahead of the pack!
Just last month, VMware unveiled VMware Server 2, the next generation of the company’s easy-to-use, free-of-charge virtualization product.
VMware Server 2 beta is feature-packed with the following new capabilities:
- Intuitive web-based management interface: VMware Server 2 provides a simple, flexible, intuitive and productive management experience. Features include an embedded virtual machine console, full management functionality and the ability to create customized remote console URLs for virtual machine users.
- Expanded operating system support: VMware Server 2 now supports more than 30 types of guest operating systems, including Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 (beta), Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and Ubuntu 7.10.
- Virtual Machine Interface (VMI) support: VMware Server 2 includes support for transparent paravirtualization through VMI, enabling enhanced communication between virtualized operating systems and the virtualization layer.
- Support for high-speed USB 2.0 devices: The USB 2.0 support provided by VMware Server 2 allows for increased flexibility for customers using peripheral devices in virtualized environments.
- Enhanced memory and processor support: VMware Server 2 now supports up to 8 GB of RAM per virtual machine and up to 2 Virtual SMP processors. The product also features support for 64-bit guest operating systems on 64-bit compatible processors for improved performance and scalability.
More than 3 million copies of VMware Server have been downloaded to date, with approximately 70 percent of these downloads coming from companies typically categorized as small and medium businesses.
VMware Server 2 beta for Linux and Windows hosts is available for immediate download at http://www.vmware.com/go/server2_beta.
“We've tried other solutions, but nothing matches the stability and ease of use we get with VMware Server,” said Justin Patten, technical analyst at api software, inc., a provider of labor resource management solutions for healthcare organizations. “The software has already provided tremendous value to our organization with minimal investment, and the new Web-based management interface and APIs in the new version will make it even easier for us to increase the overall efficiency of our IT operations.”
It's All in the Tools
Can VMWare stay on top? It says it can because it's all in the tools!
Everywhere VMWare turns, it seems like a new threat is popping up in the virtual machine world.
Oracle appears to be gearing up to be a competitive threat to VMWare. Oracle's virtualization software, announced November 12, "does not affect VMW's position as the de facto standard in server virtualization," says a Citigroup analyst report. VMware is an investment banking client of Citigroup.
Oracle's unveiling of VM, which stands for virtual machine for open source Linux business server environments, shook virtualization leader VMware.
But the jury's still out as to whether VMware can avoid a slowdown to its 90% growth rate.
Should VMware be worried? "Not today," says Gartner analyst Donald Feinberg. But Oracle is closing the window on VMware's long-term growth potential, he adds.
As hardware makers such as Hewlett-Packard add virtual machine management to their servers and partners such as Quest Software take on desktop virtualization, "it's becoming less and less obvious that there's going to be a need to have something like VMware."
Many analysts do not believe Oracle's virtualization software will have a short-term impact on VMware, which maintains a two-year technology lead. He said use of Oracle's VM "will be limited to Oracle-dominated shops, which are a rarity in today's heterogeneous enterprise datacenters."
Anaylsts say VMware, which has a commanding 90% share of the virtualization market, will maintain its edge for specialized software that allows servers to run multiple operating systems because its management software tools are superior to those of their competitors, including Microsoft.
Market share will be determined by the sophistication of virtualization management tools. VMware has a clear start in these tools, said Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. He spoke last week at a Citigroup-sponsored analysts session on Microsoft.
Cherry said Microsoft, which recognizes the benefits of virtualization as a means for building big data centers, is going to be behind VMware in the development of these tools for some time to come.
Everywhere VMWare turns, it seems like a new threat is popping up in the virtual machine world.
Oracle appears to be gearing up to be a competitive threat to VMWare. Oracle's virtualization software, announced November 12, "does not affect VMW's position as the de facto standard in server virtualization," says a Citigroup analyst report. VMware is an investment banking client of Citigroup.
Oracle's unveiling of VM, which stands for virtual machine for open source Linux business server environments, shook virtualization leader VMware.
But the jury's still out as to whether VMware can avoid a slowdown to its 90% growth rate.
Should VMware be worried? "Not today," says Gartner analyst Donald Feinberg. But Oracle is closing the window on VMware's long-term growth potential, he adds.
As hardware makers such as Hewlett-Packard add virtual machine management to their servers and partners such as Quest Software take on desktop virtualization, "it's becoming less and less obvious that there's going to be a need to have something like VMware."
Many analysts do not believe Oracle's virtualization software will have a short-term impact on VMware, which maintains a two-year technology lead. He said use of Oracle's VM "will be limited to Oracle-dominated shops, which are a rarity in today's heterogeneous enterprise datacenters."
Anaylsts say VMware, which has a commanding 90% share of the virtualization market, will maintain its edge for specialized software that allows servers to run multiple operating systems because its management software tools are superior to those of their competitors, including Microsoft.
Market share will be determined by the sophistication of virtualization management tools. VMware has a clear start in these tools, said Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. He spoke last week at a Citigroup-sponsored analysts session on Microsoft.
Cherry said Microsoft, which recognizes the benefits of virtualization as a means for building big data centers, is going to be behind VMware in the development of these tools for some time to come.
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