[NTLUG:Discuss] Virtualization recomendations

[Chris Cox]

Ted Gould wrote:
> On Fri, 2008-06-13 at 10:24 -0500, Bob Netherton wrote:
>>> Oddly enough, Ubuntu has decided to standardize on KVM instead of Xen. 
>>>
>>> http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-9867657-39.html
>>>
>>> I have privately wondered whether it had anything to do with the Citrix 
>>> acquisition of Xen, or some new Citrix strategies afterwards.
>> I had seen that.  I don't run into that many customers running Ubuntu -
>> sure lots of folks running it at home (I do, but more in a keeping up
>> with the Joneses voyeurism).  I attribute the decision more to the
>> Ubuntu approach of keeping close to the core bits (kernel + GNOME) and
>> use derivative distributions for projects that don't align conveniently
>> to the release schedule.  Maybe there's more to it than that, but the
>> Xen release schedule would make me lose what's left of my hair if I had
>> to build product plans around it :-)
>>
>> I know Thomas Cameron is around here - but being suspiciously quiet :-)
> 
> I have heard that privately Redhat's position is:
> 
>         We have enterprise customers who we support using Xen.
>         Therefore we support Xen.
>         
> But internally they see KVM as the future.  (thus the investment into
> virtualization manager and others)  The fact that Xen requires modified
> guests and has a significant number of Kernel patches that are required
> makes it a hard sell for any distribution.  Especially those starting
> with a clean slate.

Early Xen was only paravirtualized guests... but with the VT extensions
made by Intel and AMD, full virtualized guests are possible (e.g. Windows).

Paravirtualization gets you the performance gains.... Novell's work
with Microsoft (love it or hate it) has helped to produce the
paravirtualized drivers necessary for Windows guests.  So Xen not
only can support full virtualized (unmodified) Windows guests, but
can now also support a level of paravirtualized acceleration.

Does KVM do windows guests now?  I know it didn't at first.

We'll all have to see if Xen overtakes VMware or if something
else does.  I know we're looking at Xen as a possible replacement
for VMware now.