Oracle Adds More Functionality to VirtualBox Control Suite
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Oracle has added a feature it calls VM Groups, which are designed to streamline management, improve network capabilities, and provide support for new host and guest operating system platforms.
Oracle, in an escalating battle with VMware in its effort to gain more control over virtualized IT systems, on Sept. 13 said it has upgraded its freely downloadable, open-source, cross-platform VM VirtualBox virtualization control package to make it more user-friendly.
In updating its key data center virtualization control platform to v4.2,
Oracle has added a feature it calls VM Groups, which are designed to
streamline management, improve network capabilities, and provide support
for new host and guest operating system platforms.
VMs that don't need user interaction can now be started within Oracle VM VirtualBox the same way as standard VMs. Virtual machines of all types can be set to start automatically after the host system is booted, allowing virtual machines to be managed similarly to other host services. There are also a few networking improvements in VirtualBox 4.2. Oracle described them as such:
- With an increase in the maximum number of network cards per VM from eight to 36, Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.2 can be used to simulate complex networks without the need to procure costly hardware.
- New network bandwidth controls have been added, and are designed to prevent any VM from taking more than its allocated share of network traffic.
- The virtual network card in Oracle VM VirtualBox now supports VLAN tagging, allowing VMs to participate in VLAN environments.
Chris Preimesberger was named Editor-in-Chief of Features & Analysis at eWEEK in November 2011. Previously he served eWEEK as Senior Writer, covering a range of IT sectors that include data center systems, cloud computing, storage, virtualization, green IT, e-discovery and IT governance. His blog, Storage Station, is considered a go-to information source. Chris won a national Folio Award for magazine writing in November 2011 for a cover story on Salesforce.com and CEO-founder Marc Benioff, and he has served as a judge for the SIIA Codie Awards since 2005. In previous IT journalism, Chris was a founding editor of both IT Manager's Journal and DevX.com and was managing editor of Software Development magazine. His diverse resume also includes: sportswriter for the Los Angeles Daily News, covering NCAA and NBA basketball, television critic for the Palo Alto Times Tribune, and Sports Information Director at Stanford University. He has served as a correspondent for The Associated Press, covering Stanford and NCAA tournament basketball, since 1983. He has covered a number of major events, including the 1984 Democratic National Convention, a Presidential press conference at the White House in 1993, the Emmy Awards (three times), two Rose Bowls, the Fiesta Bowl, several NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, a Formula One Grand Prix auto race, a heavyweight boxing championship bout (Ali vs. Spinks, 1978), and the 1985 Super Bowl. A 1975 graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Chris has won more than a dozen regional and national awards for his work. He and his wife, Rebecca, have four children and reside in Redwood City, Calif.Follow on Twitter: editingwhiz
