AMD, Intel, Network Appliance and XenSource are joining
enterprise Linux provider Red Hat in ensuring customers receive the
full benefits of virtualisation.
Red Hat's new integrated virtualisation strategy involves the
open source firm supporting customers and partners with tools,
services and technology previews to let customers deploy computing
resources at what it says should be the lowest possible cost while
maximising utilisation of each resource in the long term.
"Conservative estimates show that servers typically operate at
between 15% and 25% of CPU capacity, but with virtualisation that
could improve to 80%," says Brian Stevens, CTO at Red Hat.
"Our customers, who already see Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the
choice for lower cost of ownership, will be able to ride this next
wave of virtualisation to further reduce costs and increase
operational efficiency.
“Red Hat's strategy is to methodically target and reduce every
cost driver associated with deploying IT infrastructure; we believe
integrated virtualisation will be a major milestone in this
effort."
Red Hat will integrate virtualisation capabilities with its
operating system and says its aim is to ensure all aspects of the
Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform, from management tools and
installation to software management, will enable customers to
deploy virtualised environments easily and effectively. Consistent
with an open source model, Red Hat will provide integration and
support for the Xen virtualisation technology developed by the open
source community.
As a first move, this month Red Hat will make Fedora Core 5
available, which will contain a preview of Red Hat Enterprise Linux
virtualisation technology. In the summer of 2006, Red Hat will make
Virtualisation Migration and Assessment Services available along
with an Enterprise Virtualisation beta. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5,
scheduled for general availability by the end of 2006, will feature
fully integrated virtualisation.