Skip to main content

Zero configuration virtualization standard

A group of six server builders and virtualisation vendors plans to reveal a new standard to help IT departments automate the installation and deployment of virtual machines.

The proposed Open Virtual Machine Format (OVF), created by Dell, HP, IBM, Microsoft, VMware and XenSource, provides metadata about virtual machines such as memory, storage and networking requirements.

OVF also lists special feature requests like the need for certain chip instruction sets or large demands for floating point or integer calculations.

The standard allows for integrity checks, ensuring that a machine has not been altered during storage or shipping.

Makers of virtual appliances can use OVF to include licensing information, requiring the user to agree to certain terms and listing the maximum number of allowed installations, for instance.

OVF will not enforce the licences, although such technology could be created at a later stage.

The standard also allows the creation of application stacks where multiple virtual systems are stored in a single OVF file with one set of metadata.

As a file is deployed, the virtual machine monitor could automatically create each of the machines.

The group of vendors has submitted OVF as a draft to the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) standards body, and a version 1.0 is expected in six to nine months.


VNUnet reporting...
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Security: VMware Workstation 6 vulnerability

vulnerable software: VMware Workstation 6.0 for Windows, possible some other VMware products as well type of vulnerability: DoS, potential privilege escalation I found a vulnerability in VMware Workstation 6.0 which allows an unprivileged user in the host OS to crash the system and potentially run arbitrary code with kernel privileges. The issue is in the vmstor-60 driver, which is supposed to mount VMware images within the host OS. When sending the IOCTL code FsSetVoleInformation with subcode FsSetFileInformation with a large buffer and underreporting its size to at max 1024 bytes, it will underrun and potentially execute arbitrary code. Security focus
Post a Comment
Read more

Virtualization: GlassHouse hopes to cash in with its IPO!

GlassHouse Technologies Inc. on Tuesday registered to raise as much as $100 million in an initial public offering that, despite the company's financial losses, could prove a hit with investors drawn to its focus on "virtualization" technology. The Framingham, Mass., company offers consulting services for companies that use virtualization software to improve the performance of corporate servers and cut costs in their data centers. GlassHouse also provides Internet-based data storage. "Software-as-a-service," or SaaS, companies and vendors of virtualization products have proved popular among investors in recent years as corporate customers seek alternatives to conventional packaged software. GlassHouse, with roots in both sectors, will test the strength of that interest, said Peter Falvey, managing director with Boston investment bank Revolution Partners. "It will be a bit of a bell weather," he says. "It's not as though it's the 15th SaaS m...
Post a Comment
Read more