[COLUG] Linux on VMware

[Jim Wildman]

Other issues

- do I need a specific version of Linux?  (I can probably run almost
any version on vmware, on Xen, I need a Xen enabled kernel)
- do I need 32 and 64 bit guests?  on the same box (no problem on VMware)
- do I need to support Windows (NT, 2000, 2003, blah 98)
- do I need to migrate an existing base to virtual instances (VMware has
nice migration tools, ymmv)
- do I want to be able to over commit my memory?
- how enamored is management of pretty graphs and gui tools?

Just off the top of my head and the tip of my fingers :-)


On Thu, 15 Nov 2007, Steve Roggenkamp wrote:

> Duane wrote:
>>  Scott Merrill wrote:
>> 
>> >  Duane wrote:
>> > 
>> > >  Steve Roggenkamp wrote:
>> > > 
>> > > >  My company, OCLC, has recently started to make significant use of 
>> > > >  Linux
>> > > >  on VMware.  We now have dozens of Linux servers running on VMware VI 
>> > > >  3. I'm looking for others with significant number of servers to 
>> > > >  exchange
>> > > >  experience, best practices, etc.  Perhaps get together for lunch for
>> > > >  discussions.
>> > > > 
>> > >  If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious as to the reasoning for going
>> > >  with VMware.
>> > > 
>> >  >From a business perspective, it can be nice to have a company to call
>> >  when seeking support, as opposed to trawling through support forum
>> >  message postings.
>> > 
>> >  VMWare also offers VMotion through their VirtualCenter product, which
>> >  allows you to move a running virtual machine between physical hosts.
>> >  That's a fairly big advantage for services for which downtime is
>> >  intolerable.
>> > 
>>
>>  Perhaps my original question was worded well enough, but I'm currently
>>  looking into deploying Xen and I'm interested in the advantages of
>>  VMware over Xen.
>>
>>  With the respect to the above comments, both features/options are
>>  available from Citrix (Citrix bought out XenSource) but I'm not sure at
>>  what cost.
>>
>> 
>
> From my perspective we were involved with VMware before Xen was a product, so 
> there really wasn't too much of a choice at that time.  From there you build 
> up a certain expertise with a particular package and develop your business 
> and management processes around it.  Then it becomes somewhat difficult to 
> dislodge, unless you have significant reasons to do so.
>
> I would say that VMware is stronger in the enterprise management area where 
> you have clusters running several dozen virtual machines simultaneously along 
> with storage pools, networks, etc.  They have had a few years to develop 
> their product.  In my opinion the two hypervisors have more or less 
> equivalent performance according to the published studies, which, in any 
> case, you have to take with a grain (big block?) of salt.  Of course, always 
> remember your mileage WILL vary.  Test your own applications on your 
> hardware.  A ten percent performance difference won't be enough to dislodge 
> an entrenched application unless you're up against hard performance 
> constraints.
>
> Having said that, there's a lot of energy going into Xen these days, 
> especially, I think, in the grid computing world.  Check out papers from * 
> First International Workshop on Virtualization Technology in Distributed 
> Computing at
>
> *http://workspace.globus.org/vtdc06/VTDC_files/programdraft.htm
>
> for some interesting reading.
>
> As an industry we're still in the early stages of moving into virtualization, 
> much like the Internet ten or twelve years ago.  Stay tuned, we're in for 
> more exciting times.
>
> Steve
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>

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Wildman, CISSP, RHCE       jim at rossberry.com http://www.rossberry.com
"Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best
state, is a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."
Thomas Paine