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Friday Apr 11, 2008
xVM Server UI Sneak Peak
You've been hearing a lot about xVM Server that's due out this summer. Many people who follow Solaris are familiar with the work going on at OpenSolaris around the Xen hypervisor. However, a lot of people don't realize there is a lot more to xVM Server than just that. When you install the true xVM Server it will not be as if you're installing Solaris. Instead, xVM Server turns the computer into a dedicated virtualization Software Appliance with a top-of-the-line, easy-to-use interface you attach to over a standard https connection. The UI that is served up by xVM Server's embedded web server is coming along really quickly now as the team picks up speed using the new AJAX toolkit they selected. The screen shot posted below is actually representative of the UI for xVM Server, and also for Ops Center 2.0 (both due in the summer). It's not complete yet, but gives you a sense what things will look like.
Posted at 08:44AM Apr 11, 2008 by Stephen Wilson in Virtualization | Comments[6] |
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Hi Steve,
Thanks for the update!
Will xVM Server be integrated with ZFS for storing VMs disks with all the ZFS goodies?
Dmitry
Posted by Dmitry Sorokin on April 11, 2008 at 09:00 AM PDT #
Where is the download link?
Posted by Mikael Gueck on April 11, 2008 at 09:59 AM PDT #
Being unable to download and check it out myself, I am uncertain if any work is already being done in this regard. In my opinion, if Sun really wants to win hearts and minds away from the likes of VMWare, one area of opportunity is for your team to work on the visualization of statistics. With your AJAX toolkit in place, start putting some dynamic charting controls on the management pages, and allow folks to add/change/zoom on series and ranges. Get the ability to visually stack the individual contributions of each guest so one can see how each is affecting to the total workload. Provide the flexibility to follow the statistics for an individual workload no matter where it has been hosted. It's this type of reporting that allows folks to really sink their teeth into virtualization and helps them get the supporting data to evangelize the practices within their organizations, which can only serve to increase adoption.
An example of an ISV that is doing this for VMWare today, and doing it reasonably well, is up.time software [http://www.uptimesoftware.com/]. They've recognized some shortcomings in VMWare's own VirtualCenter offering and chose to capitalize on it by producing some reporting features that are superior to the native VMVC offering, and it wouldn't hurt for the team to take a look. Keep innovating, it's looking great.
Posted by Michael on April 12, 2008 at 03:45 AM PDT #
Hi Steve,
I have been reading a lot of good things with regards to the Xvm Ops Centre solution and believe that Sun is right on the button taking Virtualisation to the next level.
One of the concerns customers have when using Virtualization is "do I still get the same resillence when putting all my eggs into one basket". What has Sun put in place to handle this type of objection? and what is sun's overall strategy for virtualization in the long term. What is your vision of the future not only for Sun's eco tools but alos for virtualization in general.
Thanking you in advance
Richard
Posted by Richard Barnes on April 13, 2008 at 04:22 AM PDT #
Richard, your comment is quite insightful. Virtualization puts "eggs in baskets" but also puts them into "conveyor belts between baskets." With physical servers, if your "basket" dies, there is much work involved in putting those "eggs" back into a "new basket." With virtualization, you simply give control of the "egg" to a new "basket" and you're back in business. VMware gets this right with VI3. Vmotion, DRS and HA are incredibly useful, especially since most of our "basket downtime" is the result of routine maintenance, not failure. Being able to move "eggs" around while they're still running is tremendous. VMware is supposedly working on "lock-step-HA" (instructions replicated to two different hosts to run in lock-step), which is a really interesting form of clustering. I hope Sun is working on similar solutions to these. After all, I may choose a different omelet, even if I usually have my old favorite...
Charles
Posted by Charles Soto on April 17, 2008 at 05:37 PM PDT #
Charles interesting , I know the Vmware product extremely well. The solution Lock-Step HA already exist on Stratus FT servers which Vmware partnered in Sep 2007 , is this the same technology you describe?
Thanks
Regards Richard
Posted by Richard Barnes on April 20, 2008 at 01:41 PM PDT #