Ten Things Holding Virtualization Back

by Michael Vizard; illustrated by Brian Moore

With the advent of server, storage and application virtualization, nobody is sure of what anybody is referring to anymore. Does anybody want a JVM to go with that other virtual machine?

Between VMware, Microsoft, XenSource, Virtual Iron and whatever else may come, nobody knows if they want hosted, hypervisor or now para-virtualization, or why they need what.

Arguments between Red Hat and Novell in the Linux community and the squabbling between VMware and Microsoft just serve to freeze the market.

Virtualization is tightly coupled with server consolidation, which brings a whole new set of system issues, concerns about network performance and higher energy costs.

The virtualization of file servers is all well and fine, but trying to apply it to a database server just creates all kinds of counterproductive I/O performance issues.

Systems running the next generation of built-in virtualization technology from Intel and AMD that add a lot of value to the equation are just now coming to market.

Microsoft and VMware are now giving away some virtual machines for free, but the one that everybody wants for free won’t show up until sometime after Windows Server 2008 shows up.

For the most part, virtual machines are closed operating systems that offer very little visibility into how they work, creating the potential for vendor lock-in.

In a virtual world, nobody is sure if they are in or out of compliance with their application licenses.

Virtual machine sprawl is making it more rather than less difficult to manage the overall IT infrastructure.

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