A Presentation on VMware ESX 3i (A Must Read)
Announced recently at VMworld, ESX 3i is VMware's venture into a diskless operating system. You see, even with the Red Hat kernel that ESX 3.0 relies upon, there's actually no requirement for the Linux kernel for the VMkernel to operate. So, VMware is developing a mechanism for embedding just the VMkernel hypervisor into hardware.
This eliminates 98% of the code necessary to drive virtual machines. It also requires the hardware piece to reside on your hardware. So, you won't be using this new O/S in your existing hardware. New hardware will arrive with this code on-board.
Click below for some of the interesting bits from the presentation...
ESX Server 3i meets the demands for hardware integration through a unique, small footprint architecture.
Feature:
Thin architecture = 32MB code = does not rely on a general purpose OS
Benefits:
Minimizes complexity for security and reliability
Removes the management overhead associated with a general purpose OS (user management, security hardening, OS backup, etc)
Feature:
Server integration
Benefits:
Reduces hardware certification time: hardware ships ready-to-run
Menu driven interface provides intuitive start-up experience. Go from server boot to running VMs in minutes
Designed for management through remote tools and central management tools
Two ways to acquire ESX Server 3i:
1. Working with all major OEMs to integrate ESX Server 3i directly into server hardware. The code will be available in Q4 as will the first integrated servers. Additional servers will come on line over the course of 2008.
2. VMware will also release a hard drive install version. ALL EXISITNG VI3 CUSTOMERS WITH VALID SUPPORT & SUBSCRIPTION WILL RECEIVE ESX Server 3i AT NO ADDITIONAL COST. ESX Server and ESX Server 3i can co-exist in the same data center and the same cluster. VMotion compatible. All purchases of VI3 will provide customers the choice to deploy either architecture (ESX Server or ESX Server 3i)
Pricing:
Details to be announced. Basic idea: ESX Server 3i WILL BE INCLUDED AS COMPONENT OF ALL VI3 EDITIONS (Starter, Standard, Enterprise), JUST AS ESX SERVER IS TODAY. One change: ESX Server 3i will ALSO be available for purchase as a standalone product.
VI Compatibility: ESX Server 3i will be fully compatible with all the VI3 features and products (VirtualCenter, DRS, VMotion, HA, etc) Additional functionality on top of the hypervisor just requires the right licenses, not any changes to the code itself. No reinstalls and no VMFS changes to go from running a standalone instance of the hypervisor to a full VI3 Enterprise deployment.
Get the full presentation at:
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/ESX_Server_3i_presentation.pdf
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