According to a report on CNET News.com, Microsoft today will reveal that its upcoming server virtualization software, Virtual Server 2005 R2, will be made available to customers for free. The current version costs either $99 or $199, depending on the number of supported processors. Virtual Server 2005 R2 will allow corporations to run guest operating systems in special software-based virtual machines under the host server. It will compete with products such as VMWare Server, which will also be made available for free.
Also new from the Microsoft camp is a sudden resurgence in Linux support. When Microsoft initially developed its Virtual PC and Virtual Server products, both of which are based on technology acquired from Connectix, the first thing the software giant did was remove any official support for running Linux virtual machines. Now, however, after a few years of customer complaints, Linux support is back, and Microsoft says that it has even developed methods for more easily installing popular Linux distributions in Virtual Server-based virtual machines. The company will even support customers that wish to run Windows and Linux virtual machines side-by-side on the same hardware.
"We’ve made a long-term commitment to make sure that non-Windows operating systems can be run in a supported manner, both on top of Virtual Server and our future virtualization products," says Windows Server director of product marketing Zane Adam. Additionally, Microsoft is working to build virtualization services directly into the next Windows Server version, currently codenamed Longhorn Server and due in 2007.
Microsoft's Virtual Server moves are timed to coincide with the start of LinuxWorld in Boston this week. Though Microsoft is a staunch opponent of Linux, the company has been opening up to various Linux interoperability and migration scenarios over the past few years.
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The idea is to build virtual services into the OS in such a way that all Internet speaking applications will run from it, using a default undo disk like ability and some mechanism to make it the core source .vhd or equivalent read only hence un-hackable.
Then design a new proprietary network protocol or neuter the TCP/IP of the carrier or host system in such a way; like maybe take out raw sockets, and low level protocols that are not needed except to allow local LAN connectivity where you would have a private un-hackable protocol that bridges the TCP/IP one or if the case is the neutered TCP/IP case make it so it does not get along with the internet, but can bridge the virtual system so it does get along with the Internet.
The idea is either make applications that need to talk to the Internet virtual like Virtual PC and Virtual Server with the focus of instant recovery and un-hackability so that we can all enjoy the Internet again. Since MS has such a huge base of installed PC’s in the world we would be able to frustrate the average hacker enough to maybe slow them down.
For IIS servers, SQL Servers, Exchange Servers, all running in virtual environments at production level so instant recovery is achieved. Application level virtualization is another possible way, such as a Virtual IE 7.0 where just the browser is detached from the OS just the way OS’s are now.
We can’t stop hackers, not now not ever, but we can put our focus on recovery hence the analogy I used in my first statement. If we got infected it would be like we got AIDS but are only the carriers of it, we can transmit it but we won’t die from it and if undo disk is enabled we can wipe it out until we get infected again.
They need to push this virtualization as far as then can.
kalisjr@yahoo.com
kalisjr April 03, 2006 (Article Rating: