Server Specs: Mandriva Linux to include OS virtualization OpenVZ

By SearchDataCenter.com, Staff 26 May 2006 | SearchDataCenter.com

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Mandriva Linux to include OS virtualization OpenVZ
Mandriva, publisher of the Linux operating system (OS) with the same name, today announced that OpenVZ virtualization software will be included in its latest corporate server package, Corporate Server 4.0.

More open source virtualization: Xen founders tackle Windows virtualization Server virtualization: planning and pitfalls

OpenVZ is OS-level server virtualization software similar in essence to the popular, EMC-owned VMware, which works with x86-compatible computers, but is more comparable to the hypervisor Xen, as they are both open-source.

The OpenVZ project is supported by the virtualization startup, Herndon Virginia-based SWsoft, Inc. which uses OpenVZ technology as the basis for its premium virtualization offering, Virtuozzo.

Joe Clabby, president of Clabby Analytics, said being open-source obviously is a cost advantage, but that having virtualization software built into an OS eases the inconvenience of performing the integration oneself, a typical open-source caveat.

"The bottom line is it saves a lot of your energy," Clabby said. "I'm sure they've Q & A'd it and ensured it will install -- you won't have to go search and fix yourself any Xen integration problems. It makes me wish I were running Mandriva, although I run [Microsoft's] Virtual PC 2004, and I could maybe do virtualization in virtualization.

"What open virtualization gives me is low cost and access to more applications," Clabby said. "All I want is access to applications, transparent to whichever OS. I'm cheap as hell, and if I can get an application that I want, in virtualized service in Linux, and it's free, then I'm happy as hell."

Compliance drives database growth
Companies concerned about government regulations requiring the storage and retention of more data has driven growth in relational database management systems, research firms IDC and Gartner Inc. found.

Regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) for financial firms and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the health insurance industry require IT departments to retain and protect large volumes of data, while also keeping it well organized so it can be retrieved quickly.

Relational database programs from companies like Oracle, IBM and Microsoft, as well as some open source programs like MySQL, help companies do that. Gartner found that relational database software increased 8.3% from 2004 to 2005; IDC reported a 9.4% increase for the same time period.

With that growth, relational database management systems is now a $14 billion a year industry.

Intel's quad-core chip to consume no more than 120V
Intel Corp. reportedly told a group of Taiwanese press this week that its quad-core processor, code-named Clovertown and expected out next year, will consume less than 120V, which is less than some of its current dual-core models.

That will mean that the company's quad-core chip next year will run cooler than the dual-core model, code-named Dempsey, which it started shipping out this week. However, another dual-core chip code-named Woodcrest, likely due out this summer, has been touted as being more energy efficient and will run cooler than the quad-core chip expected out next year.

The quad-core chip will basically be two combined dual-core chips with the same frontside bus and interconnect.

Intel is the leader by far in processor sales, although rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) has made inroads in the past year, adding the argument of energy efficiency to the debate over whose chips are better.

Tags: IT Compliance: SOX and HIPAA in the data center,  Data center server virtualization,  VIEW ALL TAGS

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