[Tfug] Virtualization Article in WSJ + Questions

[Charles R. Kiss]

The Wall Street Journal published an interesting article on 
virtualization, " 'Virtualization' is Pumping Up Servers," Tuesday, 
March 6, 2007; I thought I'd share with you some details, though some 
mind find this old news.

The authors, Don Clark and Christopher Lawton, write that IDC analyst 
Matt Eastwood largely credits the slowdown of x86 server sales (from 
8.8% 3rd quarter sales growth to just 1.1% 4th quarter sales growth) to 
increased virtualization.

For one example, according to the article, Mobius Management Systems 
Inc. "had amassed 380 [midsized servers]," and "in roughly eight 
months...  ...managed to get rid of 134 servers.  The bulk of them were 
so-called x86 servers,"

For other examples, David Siles for the Kane County in Illinois, in 
2004, "was managing roughly 300 servers scattered across 45 departments 
-too many for his three person staff to handle.  Things got so bad, he 
says, that people were running servers in broom closets and under 
desks."  "...Mr Siles used VMware's technology to consolidate the 
county's computing operations on just 35 new physical servers."  "The 
new machines are running at 65% their capacity, versus no more than 10% 
before the shift."  and "Central Transport International Inc. in Warren, 
Mich., used VMware to replace its underutilized servers with 70 virtual 
machines on six computers."

The article mentions, "A Forrester Research Survey last year found that 
40% of NOrthAmerican enterprises with 1000 or more employees were using 
or trying out virtualization, up from 29% in 2005.  Usage tends to be 
heaviest in large companies; IDC estimates that 72% of U.S. companies 
with 10,000 or more workers are using the technology, compared with 5% 
for those with fewer than 100 workers."

"Servers running virtual machines still accounted for only about 7.7% of 
all servers shipped last year, IDC says."

The article mentions, "Xen is being offered on the same open-source 
basis as the popular Linux operating system."

If I download VMware using a present Linux kernel, then change the 
kernel, do I have to reinstall the VMware?  Or, is it better to install 
it using the WindowsXP partition (since the Windows XP OS will probably 
not change as often)?  Or doesn't it make a difference (I realize this 
question was partially answered here at tfug, and thank you)? Has anyone 
had any experience with Xen?  Can I just run "aptitude install xen," 
since I use debian, and then start using Microsoft apps, like the 
scanner software, and others, ....  that would be freaky!"

Thanks for your previous help on this matter,

Charles