[Tfug] Virtualization Article in WSJ + Questions

[erich]

I just checked,
       And Xen is masked on my machine by "~x86" keyword. In Gentoo
parliance that means it's a package in testing.
       The Wikipedia article is rather informative too.

                  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xen

                                                       Erich


Charles R. Kiss wrote:

>The Wall Street Journal published an interesting article on 
>virtualization, " 'Virtualization' is Pumping Up Servers," Tuesday, 
>March 6, 2007; I thought I'd share with you some details, though some 
>mind find this old news.
>
>The authors, Don Clark and Christopher Lawton, write that IDC analyst 
>Matt Eastwood largely credits the slowdown of x86 server sales (from 
>8.8% 3rd quarter sales growth to just 1.1% 4th quarter sales growth) to 
>increased virtualization.
>
>For one example, according to the article, Mobius Management Systems 
>Inc. "had amassed 380 [midsized servers]," and "in roughly eight 
>months...  ...managed to get rid of 134 servers.  The bulk of them were 
>so-called x86 servers,"
>
>For other examples, David Siles for the Kane County in Illinois, in 
>2004, "was managing roughly 300 servers scattered across 45 departments 
>-too many for his three person staff to handle.  Things got so bad, he 
>says, that people were running servers in broom closets and under 
>desks."  "...Mr Siles used VMware's technology to consolidate the 
>county's computing operations on just 35 new physical servers."  "The 
>new machines are running at 65% their capacity, versus no more than 10% 
>before the shift."  and "Central Transport International Inc. in Warren, 
>Mich., used VMware to replace its underutilized servers with 70 virtual 
>machines on six computers."
>
>The article mentions, "A Forrester Research Survey last year found that 
>40% of NOrthAmerican enterprises with 1000 or more employees were using 
>or trying out virtualization, up from 29% in 2005.  Usage tends to be 
>heaviest in large companies; IDC estimates that 72% of U.S. companies 
>with 10,000 or more workers are using the technology, compared with 5% 
>for those with fewer than 100 workers."
>
>"Servers running virtual machines still accounted for only about 7.7% of 
>all servers shipped last year, IDC says."
>
>The article mentions, "Xen is being offered on the same open-source 
>basis as the popular Linux operating system."
>
>If I download VMware using a present Linux kernel, then change the 
>kernel, do I have to reinstall the VMware?  Or, is it better to install 
>it using the WindowsXP partition (since the Windows XP OS will probably 
>not change as often)?  Or doesn't it make a difference (I realize this 
>question was partially answered here at tfug, and thank you)? Has anyone 
>had any experience with Xen?  Can I just run "aptitude install xen," 
>since I use debian, and then start using Microsoft apps, like the 
>scanner software, and others, ....  that would be freaky!"
>
>Thanks for your previous help on this matter,
>
>Charles
>
>_______________________________________________
>Tucson Free Unix Group - tfug at tfug.org
>Subscription Options:
>http://www.tfug.org/mailman/listinfo/tfug_tfug.org
>
>  
>