* Virtual Iron introduces server virtualization software
Virtual Iron last week launched a system that trumps VMware’s ESX Server in that it lets an IT administrator not only partition individual processors but also span multiple physical processors to create a symmetrical multiprocessing machine.
The Virtual Iron VFe Foundry and VFe Manager are software products that partition as well as congregate physical servers to create a single virtual computer whose resources can be allocated dynamically as the needs of an application changes.
VFe Foundry can be installed on any x86 server, where it can divide the processor into as many as 10 partitions. It can also be used to create a single symmetrical multiprocessing machine from as many as 16 physical processors.
VFe Foundry works with SuSE Enterprise Linux Server and Red Hat Advanced Server. The present capabilities of the Linux kernel limit consolidation to 16 physical processors.
VFe Manager software is available to manage the environment and to let an IT professional create policies that govern how compute, network, storage and I/O resources are allocated to an application.
Virtual Iron, which was founded in March 2003, claims that when IT managers deploy x86 servers, they often dedicate them to a single application. This causes over-provisioning and the inefficient use of resources. Virtual Iron (VFe is named “V” for Virtual, “Fe” for Iron. Get it? I didn’t at first.) figures that a company would be viable that produced a product of this type.
Unlike VMware or Microsoft, whose software only partitions up a processor, Virtual Iron has extended the technology to spanning a number of physical processors. These processors, taking from a common pool of resources, could help run large databases.
Gordon Haff, senior analyst of Illuminata, says that any application that requires more than a two- or four-way server will benefit from Virtual Iron’s software.
VFe Foundry and VFe Manager will be available in the second quarter of this year. The product, which is still not priced, is being beta tested by a number of users.
