WALTHAM, Mass., June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Novell(R) announced today it is
collaborating with VMware to improve Linux performance in VMware environments
by incorporating support for the VMware Virtual Machine Interface (VMI) into
the SUSE(R) Linux Enterprise kernel. Demonstrating their commitment to provide
open interoperability and optimization for virtualized environments, the
companies have worked together to optimize SUSE Linux Enterprise for the
VMware platform.
"Customers are looking to interchangeably deploy their server operating
systems and their related workloads on both physical and virtual servers,"
said Al Gillen, research vice president, System Software at IDC. "The goal of
any hypervisor is to deliver the flexibility of virtualization accompanied by
the performance delivered by a physical deployment. This joint effort directly
addresses those requirements for SUSE Linux Enterprise customers."
Announced at VMworld in September 2007, the enhancements have been in
development for the past nine months, and the code was released as part of
SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP2 in May 2008.
Improved Performance
As part of this collaboration, Novell has modified the SUSE Linux
Enterprise kernel to support the VMware Virtual Machine Interface (VMI), a
communication mechanism between the guest operating system and hypervisor that
simplifies the task of virtualization. Adding VMI patches to SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server improves its efficiency as a virtualized operating system
when running on VMI-compliant infrastructure and offers better
interoperability by allowing the same kernel to run on physical machines. This
simplifies virtualization and makes SUSE Linux Enterprise Server a more
efficient guest operating system when running on VMI-compliant hypervisors.
"VMware is pleased to be working with Novell to further increase the
benefits of running SUSE Linux Enterprise on VMware Infrastructure," said
Parag Patel, vice president, Alliances at VMware. "Performance is an important
attribute for customers when virtualizing their Linux systems. Working with
Novell brings the benefits of virtualization such as reduced costs, improved
operational efficiencies and faster performance, to customers running SUSE
Linux Enterprise 10 SP2."
Roger Levy, senior vice president and general manager for Open Platform
Solutions at Novell, said, "Our collaboration with VMware deepens the business
relationship between our companies, ensuring customers have the choice to run
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server with optimal performance in physical or virtual
environments. This is an important step forward in Novell's continued
commitment to deliver the best engineered and most interoperable Linux
platform for mission-critical computing from the desktop to the data center."
For more information about Linux virtualization with Novell, or to
download the VMI-enabled SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 software, visit
www.novell.com/linux.
About Novell
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) delivers the best engineered, most
interoperable Linux* platform and a portfolio of integrated IT management
software that helps customers around the world reduce cost, complexity and
risk. With our infrastructure software and ecosystem of partnerships, Novell
harmoniously integrates mixed IT environments, allowing people and technology
to work as one. For more information, visit www.novell.com.
Novell and SUSE are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United
States and other countries. *Linux is a registered trademark of Linus
Torvalds. All other third-party trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
SOURCE Novell