When will virtualisation be real?

For those of us not lucky enough to be blessed with invites to Las Vegas (or, as I prefer to call it, Lost Wages) this week to share in the hotdogs and hullabaloo at VMworld 2008, it’s a tough call as to what has made the most newsworthy item of the week.

There’s been plenty to munch into already reported on ZDNet.co.uk, but what caught my eye most of all was news that VMware had saved up all its pocket money to pump out news today that there is a new product devoted to development, deployment and management of virtual appliances.

You would think that Citrix would be ready for this kind of thing and have a Citrix XenServer story up its sleeve wouldn’t you? But they didn’t. Hang on – no they did! According to Citrix, “XenServer 5 changes the game in server virtualisation with unprecedented reliability, openness and ease-of-use.” Jeepers – those VMware guys must be kicking themselves. They host a big fancy conference and on very the same day, Citrix goes and changes the game. Who’d have thought it?

VMware says that, “Using virtual appliances lowers development and distribution costs, accelerates time to market and expands customer reach.” But you know, I was discussing virtualisation with Microsoft this week and the jury seems to be out on where the key advantages to be gained from virtualisation really are. For some of us, the jury on virtualisation is just out in general I guess.

Anyway – after the fawning, “As a VMware partner we are pleased to be working with blah blah … etc…” stuff – this is the most interesting proposition for me:

“Hardware appliance and software vendors that use virtual appliances can reduce development and testing time by selecting the optimal operating system (OS) for their software instead of developing software to be compatible with multiple OSes. They can also remove unneeded OS components for a thinner, more secure OS.”

It’s interesting isn’t it that when IDC cash their cheques for providing VMware with a supporting comment for these stories that they still sit on the fence. Hint: look for the word “POTENTIAL” and notice the lack of THIS STUFF WILL HAPPEN.

“Virtual appliances have the potential to revolutionise the way customers will consume applications by simplifying deployment and management,” said Brett Waldman, research analyst, systems software at IDC.

The authoring and management tool in question is called VMware Studio and is available online as a free download. It’s a web-based console with templates to streamline the authoring process of virtual appliances. My best guess is that it does what it says on the tin, but with all this big talk and every vendor from Microsoft to IBM keen to snuggle up with the darling of the virtualisation world, my question is simple.

When will virtualisation truly become real?