Xen virtualization will catch up to VMware in 2008
Virtualization is a technology in flux. Even though it has roots dating back to the 1960s mainframe, today, the term is practically synonymous with VMware ESX. Look out a few years, however, and VMware will no longer be the (practically) sole proprietor of the virtualization fiefdom, said Chris Wolf, Burton Group senior analyst, who's speaking at the Burton Group Catalyst Conference this week about "Server Virtualization: What the vendors aren't telling you."
"I still recommend the mature virtualization technologies for production use," said Wolf, but, "by the end of this year or early 2008, Xen-based virtualization will have caught up, feature-wise, with VMware."
Today, Wolf said, enterprises are actively looking at Xen-based virtualization, if not in production, then at least in their labs. "There are a lot of people who prefer the Xen architecture," he said, and they are just waiting for the platform to catch up to VMware in terms of features, reliability and manageability.
