Citrix has released a technical preview of a toolkit that allows developers to create portable virtual machine (VM) appliances across a number of platforms.
Project Kensho was first announced back in July this year, and now it is being released today as open source software under the Lesser General Public License (LGPL), in order to "accelerate adoption of the industry standard for portable packaging of applications and virtual machines (VMs), as well as management of virtual infrastructure."
So what exactly is Project Kensho? In essence, it is a project designed to solve a multitude of issues with interoperability between different virtual platforms. It is actually a multi-hypervisor toolkit that utilizes the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) Open Virtualization Format (OVF).
It aims to allow ISVs and IT managers to easily create independent and portable virtual machine appliances that are more independent of hypervisors. This will make it easier for enterprises to run a mixed environment, which is important as virtualization becomes an increasingly accepted technology in the enterprise.
Virtualized application workloads can be packaged as a secure, portable, pre-configured open standard virtual appliance, and can be imported and run on either Citrix XenServer, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, and VMware ESX virtual environments.
"We are excited about the opportunities that a portable virtual machine and virtual appliance infrastructure offer our customers, ISV partners, and the market at large," said Simon Crosby, CTO of the Virtualization and Management Division at Citrix in a statement.
Project Kensho is available as a free download, as of Tuesday, at the Citrix Developer Network.
Crosby hopes that by releasing the core components of Project Kensho, it will accelerate the adoption of OVF as an industry standard portable VM format.
In addition, Citrix has partnered with rPath to enable these DMTF-based virtual appliances on clouds such as Amazon EC2. This collaboration will allow Linux and Windows based OVF appliances created on XenServer or Hyper-V to be installed and run in the cloud.
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Making the Business Case for IT Consolidation
Controlling storage costs with Oracle database 11g
How to improve employee productivity in small and medium businesses
IT Service Management Needs and Adoption Trends: An Analysis of a Global Survey of IT Executives
The Case for an Untethered Enterprise
The state of Middleware
Look before you leap | Key considerations for moving to 802.11n
Zones provide focussed content from Computerworld and leading technology partners.
Discover how SOA can create smarter outcomes for your business.
Attend and learn:
- How SOA is helping leading companies to become more agile
- Where you should be applying SOA processes in your company
- The top SOA implementation mistakes to avoid
Click here for more information.
- +
Computerworld Live Podcast #97: The Future of Enterprise Networking 25/07/2008 09:45:36
This week CW Live chats with Mark Thompson, global sales and marketing manager for HP ProCurve, on the future of the enterprise networking. Mark discusses the trends we can expect to see in the near future and how the right infrastructure can ensure your enterprise network is secure. - +
Computerworld Live Podcast #96: Security at the Edge 11/06/2008 09:22:22
CW Live speaks with Amol Mitra, HP ProCurve Director of Marketing for Asia Pacific and Japan. Today's topic: how enterprises are starting to shift away from simply controlling security via server logins, firewalls and moving to more adaptive security frameworks. - +
Data Management Edition #10: Multi-Petascale Systems 02/05/2008 09:12:33
This week we look at sustainability and the development of multicore technologies to build multi-petascale systems. - +
IT Security Edition #11: How to poison the Storm botnet 01/05/2008 08:51:55
This week CW Live presents a case study on how to poison the notorious Storm botnet . Plus we take a look at Cisco's plans for Ironport. - +
IT Security Edition #10: Cyber-battles fought and won 24/04/2008 11:09:47
Vendors bow to end user pressure to improve product security, and we take a look at the latest concepts shaping the cyber-battlefield of the future.
FrontRange Solutions launches HEAT Plus Mobile to reduce help desk costs and improve service management productivity 2008-12-02 15:15:00+11
AARNet Helps to Advance Indigenous Health 2008-12-02 12:44:00+11
Orbis selects Telstra International as its data centre partner for the UK, Europe and Middle East Region 2008-12-02 11:23:00+11
ComOps Deploys Corporate Performance Reporting Solution For Healthcare Test Manufacturer 2008-12-02 10:09:00+11
Mornington Peninsula Shire implements Objective to manage knowledge and deliver service excellence 2008-12-02 09:56:00+11
Discover the advantages of an open architecture multi-vendor network solution
View this webcast and discover the drivers for changing network design practices, why many organisations are changing their approach to network architecture and how enterprises should be moving forward with open architecture multi-vendor network solutions. Register now and learn how your business can maximize the business value of the enterprise network.
Buying Guides
Latest Products
Buying Guides
