A number of top computing companies undergo drafted an ad hoc standard for virtual machines paving the way for a new generation of software that would enable the best use of. The change state Format (OVF) aims to alter the process of moving virtual machines between computers.
Dell. Hewlett-Packard. IBM. Microsoft. VMWare and XenSource developed the and formally submitted it Sept. 10 to the Distributed Management Task Force. The DMTF which oversees a variety of ad hoc computing standards is expected to manage the process of finalising the standard that could be finished by late next year.
Virtual environmentsSoftware to create independent virtual environments is on the rise in tandem with the advent of multicore processors. The software managed by so-called hypervisors aims to back up make more efficient use of computing resources.
"The problem we have today is virtual machines tend to be tied to a specific version of a specific hypervisor so producing and distributing virtual machines can be difficult," said Winston Bumpus the president of the DMTF. "This standard is a way to simplify and automate that process," he added.
Specifically the draft standard defines the so-called TAR register format originally developed for tape archiving as a standard register format for virtual machines. It also defines XML metadata formats to be included in a virtual forge to define its hardware and licensing requirements.
Using the new standard one virtual environment could be automatically moved from one system to another when certain set conditions are met without the need for an operator's intervention. Moving jobs easily from one system to another to balance workloads automatically is one the primary goals of virtualization software.
In addition. OVF specifies procedures and technologies to permit integrity checking of the virtual machines to ensure that they undergo not been modified since they were produced. OVF also allows an installed virtual machine to acquire information about its host virtualization platform and run-time environment enabling it to hone its performance.
OVF supports existing virtual hard plough formats and is extensible to give future developments in virtual hard disk formats as well according to the DMTF.
'Zero controversy'Sun Microsystems which oversees the standards process was not specifically mentioned as a backer of the compose standard although it is an active DMYF member. Similarly. AMD and Intel have baked a good deal of virtualization technology into their processors and are members of the DMTF. However they did not release any immediate statements of support in tandem with the channel of the compose standard.
"I have heard zero controversy on this from anyone," said Bumpus.
"The impact of OVF will extend far beyond the participating server virtualization vendors to include the entire software community," said Chris Wolf senior analyst with market watcher the Burton Group in a prepared statement. "With OVF an ISV can potentially ship its solutions as a single virtual deployment package that is capable of running on any hypervisor," he added.
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