Sun Microsystems Expands Virtualization Portfolio with Sun xVM

By VSM News Staff
published: Wednesday, September 10 2008

Sun xVM Server Software and Sun xVM Ops Center 2.0 Lead Market With Open, Freely Available Desktop-to-Datacenter Virtualization Technologies.

SANTA CLARA, CA September 10, 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) today announced the availability of Sun xVM Server software and Sun xVM Ops Center 2.0, key components in its comprehensive virtualization strategy. Designed to operate at Internet scale, the Sun xVM virtualization portfolio is open, flexible and delivers the industry's most robust offerings for virtualization from the desktop to the datacenter. Sun also announced the addition of comprehensive services and support for Sun xVM Server software and xVM Ops Center 2.0 to its world-class virtualization suite of services to help customers and partners virtualize and manage datacenters around the globe. Additionally, Sun launched xVMserver.org, a new open source community, where developers can download the first source code bundle for Sun xVM Server software and contribute to the direction and development of the product at www.xvmserver.org. Additional pieces of the Sun xVM virtualization portfolio, including Sun xVM VirtualBox software and Sun xVM Ops Center, are open source and freely available for immediate download at www.openxvm.org. For more information about Sun's virtualization announcements today, visit: www.sun.com/aboutsun/media/presskits/2008-0910/.

With today's announcement, Sun xVM Server software and xVM Ops Center 2.0 join Sun's xVM product portfolio, which includes Sun xVM VirtualBox software for desktop virtualization and Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) software for virtual desktop consolidation and management. The Sun xVM platform targets the mainstream commodity x86/SPARC operating systems - Windows, Linux and Solaris - and leverages a variety of enterprise-class technologies already powering Fortune 500 companies, to enable customers to virtualize everything and manage anywhere. As a result, Sun estimates that customers running Sun xVM Server software can expect up to 50 percent decrease in their virtualization infrastructure costs when compared to offerings from leading competitors.

"In today's virtualization market, consolidation is just the first step in moving toward a dynamic datacenter built on open, standards-based solutions. The open Sun xVM portfolio was built to manage Internet-scale infrastructure and complexity with unmatched performance and ease-of-use," said Rich Green, executive vice president of Software, Sun Microsystems. "From servers to desktops, the Sun xVM portfolio offers a broad and comprehensive set of solutions brought to market by a world-class set of partners, including: AMD, CSC, Intel and Microsoft Corp."

Support for Leading Operating Platforms; Sun x86- and SPARC-Based Servers Make Scaling Seamless

With the new Sun xVM Server software, Sun delivers an easy-to-use, open source, datacenter-grade server virtualization solution to virtualize and manage heterogeneous workloads, including Windows, Red Hat and SUSE Linux, Solaris and OpenSolaris operating systems, on Sun x86 platforms and SPARC-based servers. With a state-of-the-art web GUI, Sun xVM Server software provides built-in management through a browser, enterprise-class scalability, reliability and security. Sun xVM Server software is designed to interoperate with VMware and uses the same virtual hard disk and virtual appliance formats, enabling customers to easily move workloads between VMware ESX and Sun xVM Server software.

With the release of Sun xVM Ops Center 2.0, Sun provides integrated, simplified management of virtual and physical environments. The new release adds virtual guest management to its existing ability to manage physical infrastructures, making it easier for users to manage thousands of geographically distributed systems simultaneously. Sun xVM Ops Center's best-of-class software lifecycle management simplifies and accelerates the discovery, provisioning, updating, monitoring and reporting of physical and virtual assets, as well as compliance reporting via one unified browser-based interface.

"We have relied on Sun as a true partner from the start. Their dedication to our success has helped simplify how we manage both Solaris OS and Linux updates with one tool," said Juergen Fischer, IT Infrastructure and Customer Services, Operation Systems UNIX Systems, ING-DiBa. "We have great confidence in Sun technologies and Sun's vision to now bring virtualized environments under the management infrastructure that is core to the service commitment we make to our customers."

"We are extremely satisfied with Sun technologies that continue to help keep our environment updated," said Volker Hafner, head of IT Server Systems, BHF Bank. "The ease of administration makes rolling out patches and updates much less painful with a view across the entire distributed environment. We look forward to seeing the benefits of Sun's virtualization plans for the Sun xVM portfolio."

Sun's Comprehensive Virtualization Services

Today, Sun also announced comprehensive services for Sun xVM Server software and Sun xVM Ops Center 2.0 to help customers build and support their next-generation virtual datacenters. With the addition of Sun xVM software technology to Sun's Virtualization Suite of Services and availability of software subscriptions, Sun is well positioned to provide unmatched expertise and support for the Sun xVM portfolio. Sun's Virtualization Suite provides the right mix of services for planning, designing and implementing, including: Virtualization Workshop, Virtualization Architecture and Virtualization Implementation. As part of this offering, Sun will provide customized assessment of customers' current and long-term needs and help implement the appropriate virtualization technology from Sun and other recognized platforms, reduce risk, and speed up deployments.

Pricing Information

Sun offers standalone subscriptions for Sun xVM Server software and Sun xVM Ops Center, as well as additional options that offer the combined benefits of the two products, allowing customers to virtualize and manage at Internet scale. Commercial subscriptions are priced annually in four-socket increments and provide premium 24X7 support, access to the latest, up-to-the-minute patches and updates, as well as installation and training. Available pricing options include:

•  xVM Server software: Priced at $500/year per physical server.

•  xVM Infrastructure Enterprise Subscription: Priced at $2000 per physical server per year, the enterprise subscription is designed to simplify the management of large scale virtualized environments and includes advanced features, such as management of live migration and of multiple network storage libraries.

• xVM Infrastructure Datacenter Subscription: Priced at $3000 per server per year, this option includes all the features in the Sun xVM Infrastructure Enterprise Subscription in addition to physical server monitoring, management and advanced software lifecycle management capabilities.

• xVM Ops Center: Available from $100 per managed server up to $350 a year, depending on customer selected features, along with a required $10,000 Satellite Server annual subscription for Sun xVM Ops Center.

Sun xVM Platform at VMWorld 2008

Attendees will be able to see the complete Sun xVM portfolio from desktop to datacenter at VMWorld in Las Vegas, Sept. 15-19, 2008 at booth 1108 and join a panel with Sun's leading experts in virtualization on Sept. 18, 2008 at 9 a.m. at the Titan conference room (#2305) as well as a session on "Virtualizing the Desktop" on Sept. 17, 2008 at 10 a.m. at the Marcello room (#4502).

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Sun Microsystems develops the technologies that power the global marketplace. Guided by a singular vision -- "The Network is the Computer" -- Sun drives network participation through shared innovation, community development and open source leadership. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.