Red Hat Promotes Enterprise Virtualization Platform to VARs
Red Hat is starting to evangelize its Enterprise Virtualization Platform to VARs, managed service providers and other channel partners. Here’s some perspective on Red Hat’s continuing efforts to diversify beyond Linux.
The Enterprise Virtualization Platform is built on two things: The Hypervisor and the Manager.
1. The Hypervisor is based on KVM. For the uninitiated, KVM is a “kernel-based virtual machine.” It’s a custom Linux kernel virtualization infrastructure (now owned by Red Hat) that supports virtualization using Intel VT or AMD-V. This Hypervisor solution is capable of hosting Linux and Windows machines while simultaneously providing features that the standard kernel provides. It’s available in a “bare metal” outfit, or as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 installed as a hypervisor host and managed through Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager for Servers.
2. With all the hosting comes the managing. The Manager is built specifically to “…reduce the cost, complexity and time required to manage large-scale virtualization deployments.” What does that entail exactly? It means live-migration, power-saving features, system scheduling and all the bells and whistles you’d come to expect from an enterprise-level suite, Red Hat asserts. This is a big step, since word around the ‘net was that a management solution was the missing piece for Red Hat.
Money Matters
Some of the Red Hat hype is, of course, ‘old hat.’ There’s the general virtualization highlights: Lower power consumption, consolidation, time saved managing. increased performance over-all.
But the real saving features were highlighted in a presentation. According to Red Hat, a 3 year cost of running a server with 200 RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) with 200 guests is just under $300,000 — and comparatively, the 3 year cost with 200 RHEL and 200 Windows Guests is just over $600,000.We haven’t confirmed those figures independently.
The chart shows VMware and Microsoft are comparatively priced, with VMware being slightly cheaper, but Red Hat is between 40-60% cheaper than both. If the numbers don’t lie, that a big deal.
Lastly, coming in 2010 is Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops. Built to allow thin-client PCs to access desktops in the cloud, this solution clearly has its sights aimed at VMware’s own offerings.
The future of cloud computing is heating up the atmosphere with Red Hat’s latest addition.
VARs, SMBs — will your new cloud solution be from Red Hat?
