- Nokia's new N97 vs. the iPhone
- 10 Microsoft research projects
- Hard to get justice in MySpace case
- Smartphone smackdown: Storm vs. iPhone
- Apple removes antivirus support page
The concept of virtual machines (VMs) is not new. Mainframe architectures have often been divided into virtualized host environments to support multiple, concurrent applications, such as discrete jobs (consider IBM’s Job Control Language) and time-sharing systems (Control Data’s Plato and IBM’s VM and MVS fall into this category).
Early VM mainframe constructions allowed entire environments to coexist and run concurrently, or jobs to be rapidly reloaded and used as "atomic"-system instances.
The sensible goal here is obvious — use expensive hardware assets more efficiently through the use of multiple concurrent operating system and application instances.
Microcomputers (a term once used to describe PCs and microprocessor-based systems), on the other hand, have had a historically strict and dogmatic one-computer-to-one-operating-system relationship. Multitasking and multithreading on microcomputers are capabilities that sat on the IT wish list for decades.
Early PC applications, such as DESQview (popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s), spawned interest in multitasking, the ability to rapidly switch between client applications. Microsoft and Apple eventually adopted, altered and integrated multitasking into Windows and MacOS, additionally taking up the gauntlet of multithreading — the ability to use CPUs to manage individual instances of jobs on the client side.
Novell’s early NetWare servers upped the ante by allowing applications to run along side kernel resources, in a "kernelish" mode (ring 0, rather than ring 3 of the Intel memory model). This measure allowed Novell’s NetWare-hosted applications to run very quickly.
Partner Content
SMART Steps Toward Consolidated Workload Automation
Consolidating job scheduling into a single, comprehensive workload automation solution is a critical first step to effective workload automation (WLA).
White paper on WLA here
A Comprehensive Approach to Practicing ITIL Change Management
Read a compelling whitepaper by EMA, Inc. to learn best practices for integrating workload automation.
Whitepaper here
2 Minutes to IT workload automation
BMC CONTROL-M can put money back into your IT budget and strip the complexity and risk from workload automation.
View video here
Gain a faster, cheaper way to manage workload
BMC CONTROL-M can help you migrate to a workload automation solution to meet your organization’s goals.
Listen here for more info
Comments (3)
RE: VM management tools from Microsoft, VMware, XenSource leaveBy Anonymous on November 19, 2007, 4:42 pmA majority of these vendors have lost focus on what’s a necessity in managing this virtual connection information. Its fine to have all of the bells and whistles...
Reply | Read entire comment
Creative ways to manage VMwareBy Micronet on September 21, 2007, 2:34 pmSee Microsoft Subnet for more Microsoft-related news, blogs, security alerts, technical group. This is a little bit off topic from the test, but still interesting...
Reply | Read entire comment
RE: VM management tools from Microsoft, VMware, XenSource leave room for improvementBy sumj on September 17, 2007, 4:37 pmWe want to hear from YOU! Weigh in on these VM management tools, share your experiences or just let us know what you thought of the test results.
Reply | Read entire comment
View all comments