OpenVZ adds live migration capability

New virtualization software from the OpenVZ project provides 'live
migration' so that system administrators can move virtual servers between
physical servers without end-user disruption. If you need further
information, don't hesitate to contact me.

 

OpenVZ Delivers Live Migration Capability in Latest Open Source
Virtualization Software

 

HERNDON, Va., November 14, 2006 -- The OpenVZ project (http://openvz.org
<http://openvz.org/> ) today announced availability of its operating
system-level server virtualization software in the form of a kernel based on
Linux 2.6.9, including for the first-time in a stable branch, fully-tested
and performance-tuned live migration and Virtual Ethernet device features.
Previously, those features were only available in the development branch of
OpenVZ software.

 

Delivery of the checkpointing and live migration functionality as part of
OpenVZ brings a capability that no other open source operating system-level
virtualization software offers. It allows system administrators to move
virtual servers between physical servers without end-user disruption or the
need for costly storage capacity.

 

With checkpointing and live migration, the state of a running virtual
environment is frozen and the image stored on disk then restored on another
server. The function executes between any two servers on a network, so the
capability works for any server and any application. OpenVZ delivers this
capability without additional requirements, such as a storage area network
(SAN).

 

Also, the Virtual Ethernet device function allows for network devices to be
created inside virtual environments using designated names and hardware
(MAC) addresses that are different from the actual physical device.

 

"Now, the user community can enjoy rock-solid OpenVZ software with advanced
features," said Kir Kolyshkin, manager of the OpenVZ project. "This
represents months of work on performance tuning and quality testing to
ensure delivery of stable software code."

 

OpenVZ is operating system-level server virtualization software technology,
built on Linux, which creates multiple isolated, secure virtual environments
on a single physical server - enabling greater server utilization and
superior availability with fewer performance penalties. The virtual servers
ensure that applications do not conflict and can be re-booted independently.

 

The new OpenVZ kernel software can be downloaded here,
http://openvz.org/download/kernel/stable. Also, users can access helpful
installation instructions from the OpenVZ wiki,
http://wiki.openvz.org/Quick_installation. The site serves as a forum to
gain and share knowledge about OpenVZ and includes documentation and a
knowledge base with helpful advice.

 

With the power of today's processors from Intel, AMD and IBM, hardware is
often under utilized. With virtualization technology, the server can
effectively be split into many small ones, each running its tasks so that
the whole server is utilized more efficiently.

 

About the OpenVZ Project

The OpenVZ project freely distributes and offers support to its users,
promoting operating system virtualization through a collaborative, community
effort. Since going into full production late last year, the OpenVZ project
has been very active with the user community with more than 8,000 message
posts on its support Forum. The OpenVZ website attracted nearly one million
hits last month as more businesses and individuals explore and contribute to
the leading open source operating system virtualization project.

 

OpenVZ software comes with user tools that help automate management of
virtual servers. With its unique architecture that uses a single operating
system instance, the virtual servers perform and execute like independent
servers with their own memory, configuration files, users and applications.
Each can be re-booted independently. Using template-based application
deployment provides a simple way to get new virtual servers up and running
in minutes and OpenVZ can run several times more virtual servers per CPU
than other virtualization technologies.

 

Supported by SWsoft, the OpenVZ project serves the needs of the community
developers, testers, documentation experts, and other technology enthusiasts
who wish to participate in and accelerate the technology development process
OpenVZ is open source software that is used as the basis for the SWsoft
Virtuozzo virtualization software product. Also, the OpenVZ project
maintains a blog site discussing virtualization technology, which can be
accessed here, http://blog.openvz.org <http://blog.openvz.org/> .

 

____________________________________________________________________________

Glenn Rossman | Baker Communications Group, LLC | 914-419-8855 |
<mailto:glenn@bakercg.com> glenn@bakercg.com