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Sun Microsystem's new virtualization strategy

October 19, 2006

Sun Microsystems now sells new server virtualization services to corporate clients that one industry analyst says amounts to the first overall virtualization strategy from the IT company.

On October 17, Sun introduced six new initiatives offering comprehensive server virtualization capabilities to enterprises that need it.

Virtualization technology refers to managing a data center holistically by running concurrent operating systems or specific applications on the same physical server simultaneously, while automatically assigning additional servers to a complex task as demand grows over time.

To facilitate server virtualization, Sun Microsystems is offering SunFire T1000 and T2000 servers that can run multiple operating systems simultaneously, while integrating XenSource open source virtualization software into Sun's Solaris 10 OS.

Additionally, Sun is upgrading its Galaxy line of x64-class servers with the newest AMD processors, and offering free two-day customer workshops on virtualization. Sun will also provide longer term education and support for virtualization and extend VM-Ware virtualization software support to the SunFire x4600 and Sun Blade servers.

"What we're saying is that we have a vast choice for server virtualization software, not just one product or service," said Pradeep Parmar, product line business manager for Sun's Network Systems Group.

Parmar added "We believe that by offering so many choices to the industry, this will position us very well."

Some enterprise customers are still trying to understand what virtualization is and how to implement it, and the latest Sun announcements address those issues, said John Rymer, senior analyst at Forrester Research.

"It’s the first time Sun has put together a virtualization strategy," Rymer said. "Sun has been approaching this piecemeal and now they will coordinate various developments so different strategies would work together."

One of the benefits of server virtualization is making better use of a company's server farm by running multiple programs and operating systems on one piece of hardware.

Previously, one server would be dedicated to running just one program, often using only 15 to 20 percent of its overall capacity. Through server virtualization, any company or organization can add various workloads, but without having to spend more on servers.

Joyent Inc. provides Web-based services for small businesses, including management of e-mail, calendar services, contacts and file storage. Virtualization on Sun's technology allows the company to use every one of its servers to its full capacity, said David Young, chief executive officer of the company.

"We've been able to double our customer base without doubling our server base," Young said.

But even as companies like Sun pursue their virtualization strategies, the market is still in its early stages of infancy, said analyst Rymer.

Sun and other serious competitors like IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell, along with software companies like VM-Ware, are greatly focused on server virtualization in the corporate environment.

Although some have individual virtualization products for application software or storage, as a whole, the industry has yet to comprehensively address virtualization of the storage, middleware, applications software or networking environments.

"My sense of it all is that they have been operating on a piecemeal mode," Rymer said.

A lot of enterprise customers "think virtualization equals VM-Ware," he says, but there are many more components to server virtualization. Although virtualization will help better manage IT infrastructure, there is still some confusion in the marketplace about what it all means.

"This is a bit like rocket science," Rymer said.

Source: IT World Canada