These Things Matter to Me
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Some VMware Server 2.0 Beta screenshots
...wanted to upload a couple of screenshots from VMware Server 2.0. As I mentioned yesterday, VMware Server 2.0 beta update 1 only has a web-gui.
As you can see below, in a "read-only" way, this doesn't interfere too much. When you actually start to interact with the page, it gets a little more annoying, and you can feel the chug of the thinking and the rendering. I'll repeat that I appreciate that it isn't a draining Java applet doing all of this on the client side. But it's still pretty slow and painful. Aside from performance, the interface and navigation is inconsistent and confusing. I'll try to post about that tomorrow.
Now below you can see the web-ui get even more inconvenient when you want "console." By default, when you select a console view of a guest, you get only a partial view of it, ensconced in scrolly bars. You do have a fullscreen option, but nothing in between, let alone the "fit to screen" option available in the VMWare Server 1.x console client.
To be continued!
As you can see below, in a "read-only" way, this doesn't interfere too much. When you actually start to interact with the page, it gets a little more annoying, and you can feel the chug of the thinking and the rendering. I'll repeat that I appreciate that it isn't a draining Java applet doing all of this on the client side. But it's still pretty slow and painful. Aside from performance, the interface and navigation is inconsistent and confusing. I'll try to post about that tomorrow.
Now below you can see the web-ui get even more inconvenient when you want "console." By default, when you select a console view of a guest, you get only a partial view of it, ensconced in scrolly bars. You do have a fullscreen option, but nothing in between, let alone the "fit to screen" option available in the VMWare Server 1.x console client.
To be continued!
Labels: beta, interface, screengrab, screenshot, software, tool, virtualization, vmware, vmware server 2, vmware server 2.0, web app
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
1 night with VMware Server 2.0 beta: It sure is web-based.
VMware Server 2.0 beta came out today, and I've had a couple of hours to play with it tonight. As suggested at VMworld, this is a really different product from VMware Server 1.x. Some changes good, some bad. I don't have the same opinion that virtualization.info, that VMware Server is becoming a less relevant product, but I do agree that there's something lackluster here.
VMware Server 1.x felt whole, right off the bat. With VMware Server 2.0, I have this "well, this is just the beta, surely there will be radical improvements" vibe.
While there are a million good and bad features here, what will save us both a lot of time is for you to know that as of now, VMware Server 2.x administration is totally web-based, and that is almost all you can think about or notice when you're working with this tool. I will give to credit to VMware, they've enabled a lot of functionality (rebooting, creating VM's, etc) on a web-client that somehow doesn't involve a giant, slow Java applet. That said, there are many situations when you feel the web pain. The web page has to "think" and rebuild itself a lot. Console access requires a plugin in your browser (which kinda kills the whole "all-you-need-is-a-web-browser" spirit). People in the forums are missing the fit-to-screen feature you got with the "regular" console in VMware Server 1.x, as am I.
VMware is taking a big risk here. The next version of the (regular) VI client will be able to manage VMware Server guests, somewhat softening the blow of not otherwise having one. But this will only help people who have the (not free) VI. I see the "strategy" here... entice VMware Server users to jump up to VI. However I don't believe it will work, and will actually turn people off of VMware.
Despite supporting more OS's and architectures, I feel VMware Server 2.0 is "less" of a product than VMware Server 1.x.
To be continued.
VMware Server 1.x felt whole, right off the bat. With VMware Server 2.0, I have this "well, this is just the beta, surely there will be radical improvements" vibe.
While there are a million good and bad features here, what will save us both a lot of time is for you to know that as of now, VMware Server 2.x administration is totally web-based, and that is almost all you can think about or notice when you're working with this tool. I will give to credit to VMware, they've enabled a lot of functionality (rebooting, creating VM's, etc) on a web-client that somehow doesn't involve a giant, slow Java applet. That said, there are many situations when you feel the web pain. The web page has to "think" and rebuild itself a lot. Console access requires a plugin in your browser (which kinda kills the whole "all-you-need-is-a-web-browser" spirit). People in the forums are missing the fit-to-screen feature you got with the "regular" console in VMware Server 1.x, as am I.
VMware is taking a big risk here. The next version of the (regular) VI client will be able to manage VMware Server guests, somewhat softening the blow of not otherwise having one. But this will only help people who have the (not free) VI. I see the "strategy" here... entice VMware Server users to jump up to VI. However I don't believe it will work, and will actually turn people off of VMware.
Despite supporting more OS's and architectures, I feel VMware Server 2.0 is "less" of a product than VMware Server 1.x.
To be continued.
Labels: 2.0, application, beta, social software, sysadmin, testing, virtualization, vmware, vmware server, web-based
Oracle VM: Missing in Action
The Oracle VM FAQ says it will be available for download today. It's not.
[update: It later showed up sometime by late-afternoon. At least there was a download button. When I went to download it, it made me give a page of registration info, and then said it'd take up to two days to "process" my info in compliance with "U.S. Export Administration Regulations and applicable export laws." BTW, I'm American, downloading from the U.S. I've never had this happen before.]
Oracle VM is free, and will be available for download starting Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007, at oracle.com/virtualization. Both Linux and Windows guests are supported.It's not on the Oracle software downloads page, either.
[update: It later showed up sometime by late-afternoon. At least there was a download button. When I went to download it, it made me give a page of registration info, and then said it'd take up to two days to "process" my info in compliance with "U.S. Export Administration Regulations and applicable export laws." BTW, I'm American, downloading from the U.S. I've never had this happen before.]
Labels: download, Oracle, oracle vm, oracleworld, social software, vaporware, virtualization
Monday, November 12, 2007
By popular demand! Oracle announces deprecated virtualization product.
How much you want to bet that web-based Oracle VM management tool requires Java? I really want to be wrong about this, but I gotta play the odds. Less certain, but also likely: "works better in IE."
Not that I want Oracle VM, their new confusingly Xen-based, partially open source, only-virtualization-environment they'll officially support Oracle on, to be really be good anyway. I actually laughed when I listened to this keynote at Oracle OpenWorld today:
Like all Xen-based stuff, Oracle VM will only support Windows guests if you have hardware virtualization. Unlike most Xen-based stuff, they're only supporting RHEL3, RHEL4 and RHEL5 Linux, and the wildly popular Oracle Enterprise Linux (if there's any left!).
Not that I want Oracle VM, their new confusingly Xen-based, partially open source, only-virtualization-environment they'll officially support Oracle on, to be really be good anyway. I actually laughed when I listened to this keynote at Oracle OpenWorld today:
Virtualization is hot... people have been asking us... Oracle, what are you going to do with virtualization?Yeah, kinda like how people keep asking, "Hey Coolio, when's your next album coming out?" Like how they do on opposite day!
Like all Xen-based stuff, Oracle VM will only support Windows guests if you have hardware virtualization. Unlike most Xen-based stuff, they're only supporting RHEL3, RHEL4 and RHEL5 Linux, and the wildly popular Oracle Enterprise Linux (if there's any left!).
Labels: enterprise, enterprisey, javalasses, Oracle, virtualization, xen
First post-Leopard VMware Fusion release is out, plus new tool: VMware Importer for moving Windows VM's from Parallels to VMware Fusion
Just saw a tweet from VMware Fusion developer Ben Gertzfield:
Then there's VMware Importer, a new, beta tool for converting your Parallels guests to VMware (Fusion) guests. The docs say it works with Windows guests (Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista), and that because enough info about your (virtual) hardware will change during the conversion process (just in terms of identifiers I assume, not actual profile), you'll probably need to reactivate you Windows license upon conversion.
While we're talking about Macs, VMware Fusion, and Ben Gertzfield, I might as well link to a pretty cool (video) Google TechTalk Ben gave about VMware Fusion. It's about an hour, and the first 10 minutes are the standard talking points VMware gives about "it's about apps," etc, etc. But at about minute 11 it gets very interesting as Ben talks about how VMware approached certain Mac-specific problems.
Just saw a tweet from VMware Fusion developer Ben Gertzfield:VMware Fusion 1.1 and VMware Importer (Parallels to VMware) beta are out!Looking over the release dates, it looks like this is the first post-Leopard release of VMware Fusion, so if you have Leopard, you especially want to grab this.
Then there's VMware Importer, a new, beta tool for converting your Parallels guests to VMware (Fusion) guests. The docs say it works with Windows guests (Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista), and that because enough info about your (virtual) hardware will change during the conversion process (just in terms of identifiers I assume, not actual profile), you'll probably need to reactivate you Windows license upon conversion.
While we're talking about Macs, VMware Fusion, and Ben Gertzfield, I might as well link to a pretty cool (video) Google TechTalk Ben gave about VMware Fusion. It's about an hour, and the first 10 minutes are the standard talking points VMware gives about "it's about apps," etc, etc. But at about minute 11 it gets very interesting as Ben talks about how VMware approached certain Mac-specific problems.
Labels: apple, fusion, google techtalk, importer, mac, parallels, video, virtualization, virtualization ben gertzfield, vmware, vmware fusion, vmware importer
