Intel-platform server virtualization is relatively new, but all three vendors have specific ideas about where its product lines--and the technology in general--is headed.
VMware's Greene said, "We think that the server virtualization capabilities envisioned by IBM's eLiza, Sun's N1, and HP's Utility Datacenter represent the future of server-side computing. All of these require the ability to dynamically repurpose servers for new tasks, while maintaining constant service availability. They have the vision of hardware being managed as a single pool of computing resources. Due in part to their hardware independence and encapsulation capabilities, VMware virtual machines are a natural enabler for the kinds of dynamic computing environments envisioned by the major server providers. We see our virtual machines serving as key building blocks in blade, grid, utility computing, and server virtualization scenarios.
"Longer term, we think we're headed for a world in which the services that run on top of a computing infrastructure, like an e-business service or a supply chain service, will be deployed and managed completely independently of the physical components that power the service. That's Microsoft's .Net vision, and that's very exciting indeed."
Beloussov described SWSoft's roadmap: "In the short term, we will continue to improve Virtuozzo and dominate the market for Linux/Unix virtualization in the hosting space. In the next few releases, we will continue to productize Virtuozzo for the enterprise, providing more service-level and mass-management tools that make it easy to manage and deploy virtualized environments on Intel-based servers.
"In addition to an Itanium product--which should be out by next summer--we are putting a lot of development muscle behind our Windows offering--due out the second quarter of 2003--which will make us more attractive to enterprise customers. Longer term, we will release a sophisticated and integrated storage virtualization product."
And as for the future of virtualization, he said, "Server virtualization will play a pivotal role in helping enterprises, SMBs, hosting providers and other organizations fully utilize and consolidate hardware. For service providers, server virtualization will redefine the industry by providing an automated infrastructure on which to create both new channels and a wide-range of virtual hosting plans."
Shaler described the Connectix roadmap. "In the short term, we are focused on saving customers money today in the 1- to 4-way range, consolidating commodity infrastructure services such as file/print, collaboration, and domain control servers. We're very excited by the capabilities that Microsoft's .Net server brings to the table for us, and are very busy right now cultivating technology and reseller partnerships to enlarge the capabilities of Virtual Server as a virtualization platform. Connectix's open-platform approach enables the creation of value-added applications by partners.
"As we move forward to the vision of a processor area network enabled by self-healing autonomic computing, we will see more powerful, flexible, reliable solutions leveraging Virtual Server to continue to save our customers money. The datacenter of the future, enabled by server virtualization, is going to be a very exciting place to be."
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