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A Virtual World
Much of server virtualization's future lies in the hands of tech vendors. EMC's VMware posted $310 million in virtual machine software sales in 2005, capturing some 55% of the market (for the market share breakdown, see "Virtual Market Share," at right).
"Most virtualization layers don't interoperate with 'competitive' virtualization layers," says Elliot. A virtual machine is not a universal translator; rather, it's a one-to-one translator between the hardware operating system and the guest OS (or operating system running on the virtual machine). So vendors must decide which hardware operating system and guest OSes they want to support on their virtual machine.
VMware overtook IBM in 2004 because Big Blue's virtual machine was largely available only on its mainframe and midrange Risx Unix Systems, says IDC. Meanwhile, Microsoft plans to deliver the next version of its Virtual Server this year to coincide with the launch of its long-anticipated Longhorn Server. Microsoft is working with XenSource to expand potential guest operating systems beyond just Windows, such as Novell Inc.'s NetWare, the SCO Group's OpenServer, UnixWare and older Windows, IDC says.
Last year VMware began offering its virtual server for free in the hopes that users will upgrade to its flagship virtual ESX Server. The VMware Virtual Server can be installed on any existing physical server's host operating system and partitions the server into multiple virtual machines by abstracting processor, memory, storage and networking resources. ESX Server, on the other hand, installs directly on the "bare metal" hardware and allows multiple unmodified operating systems and their applications to run on virtual machines. "Because ESX Server runs directly on the hardware, it is more scalable and higher performing," says Raghu Raghuram, VP of product and solutions marketing at VMware.
VMware also launched VMware Infrastructure 3, a package that combines ESX Server 3.0 with a management console called VirtualCenter 2.0 to help companies manage IT environments through virtualization. With VirtualCenter, CIOs can monitor virtual machines' performance.
Indeed, midmarket CIOs want to see what the management of a virtual environment will look like down the road. CIO Barry Kadets of the Gem Group Inc., a Lawrence, Mass.-based maker of promotional products, has a server virtualization project under way using VMware, and software management is his top concern. "You need software that can manage more than one use of a machine," he says. "It's not hard, but it's not simple."
As companies continue to push virtual servers deeper into the data center -- by having them handle more mission-critical applications -- IDC foresees a portfolio of uses that will drive some of the biggest trends in technology. If applications are no longer tied to underlying hardware, for instance, companies can more easily create and manage a service-oriented architecture, or SOA.
"Virtual servers are a foundational technology," says Elliot. "This is one of those technologies that can trigger cultural change and cause enlightenment of IT."
Tom Kaneshige and Ellen O'Brien were senior editors at CIO Decisions. To comment on this story, email editor@ciodecisions.com.
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