Channel takeaway: VMware and Red Hat's partnership is aimed at developing a high level of integration between the two vendors. VARs will be able to take advantage of the union to increase the number of Linux server virtualization boxes that customers employ.
At the heart of the VMware-Red Hat union was the development of a certification program that would cement a higher level of interoperability between VMware's virtualization platform and Red Hat's flagship operating system, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL5). Red Hat Linux was the first operating system certified by VMware as part of its Virtual Appliance Marketplace, unveiled in November.
This four-point checklist discusses some of the topics every IT manager should understand when researching virtual appliances and the new ways applications -- including the OS -- might soon be delivered to their doorstep.
- Virtual Appliances. A virtual appliance is a software application shipped with a pre-configured operating system inside a virtual machine.
- Packaging. The packaging of the operating system with a suite of other applications like Red Hat Application Server is designed to slash the cost of installing, configuring and maintaining a new application, in theory meaning fewer tasks for the IT manager to complete.
- Vendor maintained. One drawback of the packaging approach is that each application vendor will be maintaining its own operating system, usually a custom Linux distribution.
- TLC. For all their benefits, virtual appliances still need care and feeding. Linux administrators will need to seek out vendors they can trust. Like any significant investment, research and testing are necessary tools before any mission critical components of the data center are moved over, migrated or put under the auspices of a virtual appliance.
Read the rest of Jack Loftus's article at SearchEnterpriseLinux.com.
