| Sun rev's "open source" desktop VM manager |
Dec. 17, 2008
 Sun has updated its "open source" desktop virtualization software. xVM VirtualBox 2.1 reportedly features improved 64-bit support, 3D acceleration, easier Windows and Linux networking, hardware virtualization on Macs, and "full" VMDK/VHD support, including snapshots, although many new features are "experimental."
(Click for larger version of the "about" page from the "open source edition" of VirtualBox)
Though boasting a seemingly minor release number (2.1), the new VirtualBox represents a major release, according to the changelog. However, many of the most significant new features are still described as "experimental." The changelog calls out new features that include:- Support for hardware virtualization (VT-x and AMD-V) on Mac OS X hosts
- Support for 64-bit guests on 32-bit host operating systems (experimental)
- Added support for Intel Nehalem virtualization enhancements (EPT and VPID)
- 3D acceleration via OpenGL (experimental)
- LsiLogic and BusLogic SCSI controllers (experimental)
- "Full" VMDK/VHD support including snapshots
- New NAT engine with "significantly better" performance, reliability and ICMP echo (ping) support
- New Host Interface Networking implementations for Windows and Linux hosts with easier setup (replaces TUN/TAP on Linux and manual bridging on Windows)
VirtualBox backgrounder
VirtualBox is a graphical tool for managing virtual machines on the desktop. It lets users create and manage one or more "virtual machines," on which various x86 operating systems can be installed and run.
As in the past, VirtualBox 2.1 targets both users and developers. It lets users run favorite software, Sun says, while enabling developers convenience when building, testing, and running "cross-platform, multi-tier applications." It does this by enabling development and target systems to share a single physical host. Supported target "platforms" include Linux, OpenSolaris, Solaris, Windows, and Mac OS X.
The OSE (open source edition) of VirtualBox 1.6.6
(Click to enlarge)
In a recent review, DesktopLinux called VirtualBox "the best virtualization program you've never heard of," noting that "it manages the trifecta of being good, free and, sort of, open source."
Much of VirtualBox was released under the GPL in 2007, according to the project's open source homepage. And, project developers continue to offer VirtualBox OSE (open source edition) as a source-code distribution. This code is subsequently built and distributed by many downstream distributors, such as Debian, Fedora, and others. Today's release of the new "enterprise" or "xVM" version of VirtualBox was accompanied by a "snapshot" of OSE sources "made at the time of the stable 2.1.0 release," though the code will likely take some time to get included in standard open source Linux distributions.
Users not wishing to wait for the OSE version of VirtualBox can immediately download binaries of the xVM version, under the terms of the VirtualBox Personal Use and Evaluation License (PUEL). Or, naturally, they can buy a license from Sun for the "enterprise" version, reportedly gaining in the process the added features listed here (or on Sun's site, here).
Jim McHugh, VP of datacenter marketing at Sun, stated, "With xVM VirtualBox software, developers all around the globe are turning their desktops and laptop computers into testing labs, creating multiple virtual machines, networking them together, and deploying them using any OS."
McHugh adds, "[Other users have] taken xVM VirtualBox software into IT departments, where we've seen desktop virtualization software being used to solve issues of PC management, software distribution, and desktop security."
Sun claims that xVM VirtualBox has been downloaded over 8 million times, worldwide, with 2.5 million registrations since October 2007, and 25,000 downloads a day, currently.
Availability
The 30MB download of VirtualBox 2.1 can be found here. Sun's enterprise versions start at $30 per user per year, including "premium" (any time) support. More details may be found here.
-- Henry Kingman
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