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Virtual Infrastructure products: features comparison LAST UPDATED on 3rd April 2008
This is a refrence table for those interesting in comparing features of the virtual infrastrcuture solutions available today for the x86 platform.
Any feedback please send me a private e-mail to massimo@it20.info.
Disclosures:
Structure of the Comparison:
r: the feature is not available
a: the feature is availableN.A.: Not Applicable
|
VMware www.vmware.com |
Microsoft www.microsoft.com |
Citrix www.citrix.com |
VirtualIron www.virtualiron.com |
Suse/Novell www.suse.com |
Red Hat www.redhat.com |
Sun www.sun.com |
Parallels www.swsoft.com |
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| VI3 Enterprise | VI3 Standard | VI3 Foundation | Server (w/ Virtual Center) | Hyper-V (w/ VMM) | Virtual Server (w/ VMM) | XenServer Platinum | XenServer Enterprise | XenServer Standard | XenServer Express | Extended Enterprise | Enterprise | SingleServer | SLES | RHES | Solaris Containers | Virtuozzo | ||
| Shipping Date | today | today | today | today | estimated 2H 2008 | today | today | today | today | today | today | today | today | today | today | today | today | Shipping Date |
| Version | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.0 | N.A. | 2005 R2 SP1 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 4.0 (for Linux) 4.0 (for Windows) |
Version |
| Virtualization model | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | HW virtualization | OS Virtualization | OS Virtualization | Virtualization model |
| Virtualization model (type1=hypervisor, type2=hosted) | type 1 | type 1 | type 1 | type 2 | type 1 | type 2 | type 1 | type 1 | type 1 | type 1 | type 1 | type 1 | type 1 | type 1 | type 1 | N.A. (not a hypervisor / hosted solution) | N.A. (not a hypervisor / hosted solution) | Virtualization model (type1=hypervisor, type2=hosted) |
| Hypervisor nature | ESX (VMware proprietary) | ESX (VMware proprietary) | ESX (VMware proprietary) | N.A. (not a hypervisor) | Viridian (MS proprietary) | N.A. (not a hypervisor) | Xen derivative | Xen derivative | Xen derivative | Xen derivative | Xen derivative | Xen derivative | Xen derivative | Xen derivative | Xen derivative | N.A.(not a hypervisor) | N.A.(not a hypervisor) | Hypervisor nature |
| Target | Enterprises | Small Enterprises | Small Enterprises | Workgroups | Enterprises, Small Enterprises, Workgroups | Workgroups | Enterprises | Enterprises | Workgroups | Test /pilots | Enterprises | Workgroups | Test / pilots | Enterprises | Enterprises | Enterprises | Hosting providers / Enterprises | Target |
| Maturity | Highest | Highest | Highest | High | N.A. | Somewhat | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | High | Somewhat | Maturity |
| Market Acceptance | Highest | Highest | Highest | High | N.A. | Somewhat | Limited/Moderate | Limited/Moderate | Limited/Moderate | Limited/Moderate | Limited/Moderate | Limited/Moderate | Limited/Moderate | Limited | Limited | Limited | Moderate | Market Acceptance |
| Hardware Vendors Commitment | Highest | Highest | Highest | N.A. | Highest | N.A. | High | High | High | High | Limited | Limited | Limited | High | High | Limited | Limited | Hardware Vendors Commitment |
| Software Vendors Commitment | Highest | Highest | Highest | Moderate | Highest | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Limited | Limited | Limited | Limited | Limited | Limited | Limited | Software Vendors Commitment |
| HW officially supported | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Broadest | Broadest | Broadest | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Limited | Limited | Limited | Broad | Broad | Limited | Broadest | HW officially supported |
| Cost | High | Medium | Low | Free/Low | Free/Low | Free/Low | Medium/High | Medium | Low | Free | Low | Low | Free | Free/Low | Free/Low | Free (ships with Solaris) | Low/Medium | Cost |
| Support for heterogenous OS'es on same host | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | r | r | Support for heterogenous OS'es on same host |
| Performance relative to "native" | Good | Good | Good | Medium | Good | Medium | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Very Good | Very Good | Performance relative to "native" |
| Performance overhead | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Medium | Minimal | Medium | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | Minmal | Negligible | Negligible | Performance overhead |
| Scalability (# of virtual environments per system) | High | High | High | Medium | High | Medium | High | High | High | Poor (license restricted) | High | High | High | High | High | Very High | Very High | Scalability (# of virtual environments per system) |
| Virtual Machine self containment | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | r | r | Virtual Machine self containment |
| Virtual Disk format | VMDK format | VMDK format | VMDK format | VMDK format | VHD format | VHD format | VHD format | VHD format | VHD format | VHD format | VHD format | VHD format | VHD format | VHD format | VHD format | N.A. | N.A. | Virtual Disk format |
| Guest OS images reduction | r | r | r | r | r | r | a (Citrix Provisioning Server) | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | a | a | Guest OS images reduction |
| Host Characteristcs | Host Characteristcs | |||||||||||||||||
| Max # CPU's | 32 logical processors | 32 logical processors | 32 logical processors | 16 logical processors | 16 logical processors | 64-sockets | 32 logical processors | 32 logical processors | 2 sockets (license restricted) | 2 sockets (license restricted) | 32 logical processors | 32 logical processors | Host OS dependent | Max # CPU's | ||||
| Max Memory | 256GB | 256GB | 256GB | 64GB | 2TB | 256GB | 128GB | 128GB | 128GB | 4GB | 128GB | 128GB | Host OS dependent | Max Memory | ||||
| SAN MPIO | a | a | a | Host OS dependent | a | Host OS dependent | r | r | r | r | a | a | Host OS dependent | SAN MPIO | ||||
| NIC fault tolerance | a | a | a | Host OS dependent | a | a | a (via CLI) | a (via CLI) | a (via CLI) | a (via CLI) | a | a | Host OS dependent | NIC fault tolerance | ||||
| VLAN Support | a | a | a | Host OS dependent | a | r | a | a | a | r | a | a | r | VLAN Support | ||||
| SCSI disk support for vm files |
a (dedicated only / not shared) |
a (dedicated only / not shared) |
a (dedicated only / not shared) |
Host OS dependent |
a (dedicated only / not shared) |
a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | N.A. | a | SCSI disk support for vm files | ||
| SAS disk support for vm files |
a (dedicated only / not shared) |
a (dedicated only / not shared) |
a (dedicated only / not shared) |
Host OS dependent |
a (dedicated only / not shared) |
a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | N.A. | a | SAS disk support for vm files | ||
| IDE/SATA disk support for vm files | a | a | a | Host OS dependent |
a (dedicated only / not shared) |
a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | N.A. | a | IDE/SATA disk support for vm files | ||
| NAS disk support for vm files | a | a | a | Host OS dependent | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | r | N.A. | a | NAS disk support for vm files | ||
| iSCSI disk support for vm files (HW initiator) | a | a | a | Host OS dependent | a | a | a | a |
a (dedicated only / not shared) |
a (dedicated only / not shared) |
r | r | r | N.A. | a | iSCSI disk support for vm files (HW initiator) | ||
| iSCSI disk support for vm files (SW initiator) | a | a | a | Host OS dependent | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | r | N.A. | a | iSCSI disk support for vm files (SW initiator) | ||
| FC disk support for vm files | a | a | a | Host OS dependent | a | a |
a (via CLI) |
a (via CLI) |
a (via CLI) |
a (via CLI) |
a | a | r | N.A. | a | FC disk support for vm files | ||
| Live Snapshot of virtual environments | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | N.A. | Live Snapshot of virtual environments | |||
| Clustered File System | a | a | a | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | Clustered File System | |||
| Physical Memory overcommitment | a | a | a | a | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | a | Physical Memory overcommitment | |||
| CPU Resource Management (QoS) | a | a | a | r | a | a | a | a | r | r | a | a | a | a | CPU Resource Management (QoS) | |||
| Memory Resource Management (QoS) | a | a | a | r | r | r | a | a | r | r | r | r | r | a | Memory Resource Management (QoS) | |||
| Disks Resource Management (QoS) | a | a | a | r | a | r | a | a | r | r | r | r | r | a | Disks Resource Management (QoS) | |||
| Network Resource Management (QoS) | a | a | a | r | a | r | a | a | r | r | r | r | r | a | Network Resource Management (QoS) | |||
| Support for Cisco Dicovery Protocol | a | a | a | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | Support for Cisco Dicovery Protocol | |||||
| Support for Infiniband | a | a | a | Host OS dependent | a | Host OS dependent | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | a | Support for Infiniband | |||
| Support for 10Gbit Ethernet | a | a | a | Host OS dependent | a | Host OS dependent | a | a | a | a | r | r | r | a | Support for 10Gbit Ethernet | |||
| Support for TOE cards | a | a | a | Host OS dependent | a | Host OS dependent | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | N.A. | N.A. | Support for TOE cards | ||
| Support for NPIV | a | a | a | r | a | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | N.A. | N.A. | Support for NPIV | ||
| Hypervisor boot from local drives | a | a | a | N.A. | a | N.A. | a | a | a | a | r | r | r | N.A. | N.A. | Hypervisor boot from local drives | ||
| Hypervisor boot from flash | a | a | a | N.A | a | N.A. | a | a | a | a | r | r | r | N.A. | N.A. | Hypervisor boot from flash | ||
| Hypervisor boot from network | r | r | r | N.A. | r | N.A. | r | r | r | r | a | a | r | N.A. | N.A. | Hypervisor boot from network | ||
| Hypervisor boot from SAN | a | a | a | N.A. | a | N.A. | a | a | a | a | r | r | r | N.A. | N.A. | Hypervisor boot from SAN | ||
| Hypervisor boot from iSCSI | a | a | a | N.A. | a | N.A. | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | N.A. | N.A. | Hypervisor boot from iSCSI | ||
| Support for Linux paravirtualization | a | a | a | r | a | r | a | a | a | a | Minimal (through VStools) | Minimal (through VStools) | Minimal (through VStools) | N.A. | N.A. | Support for Linux paravirtualization | ||
| Support for Windows paravirtualization | No | No | No | No | Yes (for selected guests only) | Minimal (through VS Tools) | Minimal (through Xentools) | Minimal (through Xentools) | Minimal (through Xentools) | Minimal (through Xentools) | Minimal (through VStools) | Minimal (through VStools) | Minimal (through VStools) | No | N.A. | N.A. | Support for Windows paravirtualization | |
| VM Characteristics | VM Characteristics | |||||||||||||||||
| 32-bit Guests require AMD-V or Intel-VT | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Windows Guests Only | Windows Guests Only | Windows Guests Only | Windows Guests Only | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 32-bit Guests require AMD-V or Intel-VT | |||
| 64-bit Guests require AMD-V or Intel-VT | Intel CPU's only | Intel CPU's only | Intel CPU's only | Intel CPU's only | Yes | Yes | Windows Guests Only | Windows Guests Only | Windows Guests Only | Windows Guests Only | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 64-bit Guests require AMD-V or Intel-VT | |||
| AMD Rapid Virtualization Indexing (was NPT) support | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | AMD Rapid Virtualization Indexing (was NPT) support | |||
| Max # of vCPU's x Linux vm's | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Host-limited | Max # of vCPU's x Linux vm's | ||||
| Max # of vCPU's x Windows vm's | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 1 | Host-limited | Max # of vCPU's x Windows vm's | |||
| Max Memory | 64GB | 64GB | 64GB | 3.6GB | 64GB | 3.6GB | 32GB | 32GB | 32GB | 4GB | 32GB | 32GB | Host-limited | Max Memory | ||||
| Max # of virtual disks | 15 per 4 vSCSI Adapters | 15 per 4 vSCSI Adapters | 15 per 4 vSCSI Adapters | 15 per 4 vSCSI Adapters | 256 | 7 per 4 vSCSI Adapters | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | N.A. | Max # of virtual disks | ||||||
| Max # of virtual nics | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | N.A. | Max # of virtual nics | ||||
| NT 4.0 | a | a | a | a | a | a | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | NT 4.0 | ||
| Windows 2000 | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | r | r | Windows 2000 | ||
| Windows 2003 x32 | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | r | a | Windows 2003 x32 | ||
| Windows 2003 x64 | a | a | a | a | a | r | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | r | a | Windows 2003 x64 | ||
| Windows 2008 x32 | r | r | r | r | a | a | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | r | Windows 2008 x32 | ||
| Windows 2008 x64 | r | r | r | r | a | r | r | r | r | |||||||||