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News and insights from the vibrant world of virtualization and cloud computing

openQRM 4.3 Hits The Street

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At the verge of the old year .. Matthias Rechenburg released the 4.3 edition of openQRM

The new 4.3 release comes with improved usability for the storage management , implemented storage security features , a new debian build system, different fixed bugs, an improved Cloud Plugin (with auto-create-virtualmachines) , new support for VMWare server 2.X , an Enhanced Xen plugin that now allows booting via pypxeboot, and different other features.

Together with the 4.3 release Matt also published a Cloud Computing Howto

Get openQRM 4.3 here

Call for Papers 3rd International Workshop on Virtualization Technologies in Distributed Computing (VTDC-09)

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Late last year our inbox received the Call for Papers to the 3rd International Workshop on Virtualization Technologies in Distributed Computing (VTDC-09)

It will be organised in conjunction with ICAC 2009 in Barcelona, Spain on June 15 2009

According to the the workshop’s Call for Papers “Virtualization has proven to be a powerful enabler in the field of distributed computing and has led to the emergence of the cloud computing paradigm and the provisioning of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). This new paradigm raises challenges ranging from performance evaluation of IaaS platforms, through new methods of resource management including providing Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and energy- and cost-efficient schedules, to the emergence of supporting technologies such as virtual appliance management.

For the last three years, the VTDC workshop has served as a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences studying the challenges and opportunities created by IaaS/cloud computing and virtualization technologies. VTDC brings together researchers in academia and industry who are involved in research, development and planning activities involving the use of virtualization in the context of distributed systems, where the opportunities and challenges with respect to the management of such virtualized systems is of interest to the ICAC community at large.”

More information is on their website

* Submission deadline: February 20th, 2009
* Notification of acceptance: March 23rd, 2009
* Final manuscripts due: April 6, 2009
* Workshop: June 15, 2009

Details on how to submit will be posted on the above mentioned website.

Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) or Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V)?

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WindowsITPro answers this question: when should one use Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) as opposed to Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V)?

APP-V and MED-V address two very different scenarios. APP-V virtualizes at the application level, placing applications in a sandbox-type environment. Applications can’t see one another through the user of virtual file systems, virtual registries, or virtual services but the applications are still running on the local client OS. APP-V is great for resolving conflicts between applications and expediting application testing deployment, as APP-V applications aren’t locally installed on a computer.

MED-V, set to be available in the first half of 2009, virtualizes at the OS level and is used to resolve incompatibility problems between applications and an OS. MED-V is also a solution for the delivery and maintenance for virtual machine (VM) images on a client desktop. For more information about MED-V, see this previous FAQ.

If your problem is that applications are incompatible with one another or you need to deploy apps quickly with minimal testing, you want APP-V. If you have applications that won’t run on a new client OS or you want to manage VM images then you want MED-V. Either way, you need the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack to get access to the technologies. It’s highly likely you may need to use both technologies for different applications within your organization.

Windows 7 Beta 1 Seems Virtualization-Ready

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From MaximumPC:

Although the official release of Beta 1 of Windows 7 isn’t expected until early January, a leaked copy of what looks like Beta 1’s been making the rounds on the Internet for a few days. ZDNet’s Ed Bott has spent some “quality time” with the build, and reports some interesting tidbits from the EULA:

  • The revision ID at the end of the EULA is: Win7_B.1_PRO_NRL_en-US – so it sure sounds like Beta 1 is on the loose.
  • There’s no limit on the number of installs you can perform, but they stop working on August 1.
  • Redmond says you can’t use Beta 1 in a production environment.
  • You can install Beta 1 in a virtual machine instead of a normal installation, but only one VM per hardware device.
  • Potential privacy concerns (such as Customer Experience Improvement Program and automatic error reporting) are turned on by default, but you can turn them off if you prefer.
  • Beta 1 must be activated.
  • Releasing benchmark test results to third parties without Microsoft’s prior written agreement is not permitted.

VMware Hosted Products and Patches for ESX and ESXi: Critical Security Issues Resolved, bzip2 Updated

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VMware Hosted products and patches for ESX and ESXi resolve two security issues. The first is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in virtual device hardware. The second is an updated bzip2 package for the Service Console. (via VMblog)

a. A memory corruption condition may occur in the virtual machine hardware. A malicious request sent from the guest operating system to the virtual hardware may cause the virtual hardware to write to uncontrolled physical memory. VMware would like to thank Andrew Honig of the Department of Defense for reporting this issue. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2008-4917 to this issue.

The following lists what action remediates the vulnerability if a solution is available.

Workstation 6.0.x  replace with 6.5.0 build 118166 or later

Workstation 5.x replace with 5.5.9 build 126128 or later

Player 2.0.x replace with 2.5.0 build 118166 or later

Player 1.x replace with 1.0.9 build 126128 or later

ACE 2.0.x on Windows replace with 2.5.0 build 118166 or later

ACE 1.x on Windows replace with 1.0.8 build 125922 or later

Server 1.x replace with 1.0.8 build 126538 or later

Fusion 1.x on Mac OS/X upgrade to Fusion 2.0 or later

ESXi 3.5 update with ESXe350-200811401-O-SG

ESX 3.5 update with ESX350-200811401-SG

ESX 3.0.3 update with ESX303-200811401-BG

ESX 3.0.2 update with ESX-1006980

b. Updated Service Console package bzip2

bzip2 versions before 1.0.5 can crash if certain flaws in compressed data lead to reading beyond the end of a buffer. This might cause an application linked to the libbz2 library to crash when decompressing malformed archives.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2008-1372 to this issue.

The following lists what action remediates the vulnerability if a solution is available.

ESX 3.5 update to ESX350-200811406-SG

ESX 3.0.3 update to ESX303-200811404-SG

ESX 3.0.2 update to ESX-1006982

ESX 2.5.5 update to ESX 2.5.5 Upgrade Patch 11

Solution

Please review the patch/release notes for your product and version and verify the md5sum of your downloaded file.

VMware Workstation 5.5.9

http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/ws5.html

Release notes:

http://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/releasenotes_ws55.html

Windows binary:

md5sum: 509c7b323a8ac42c0a92b0a1446bb0f8

Compressed Tar archive for 32-bit Linux

md5sum: 9d189e72f8111e44b27f1ee92edf265e

Linux RPM version for 32-bit Linux

md5sum: 0957c5258d033d0107517df64bfea240

VMware Player 1.0.9

—

http://www.vmware.com/download/player/

Release notes Player 1.x:

http://www.vmware.com/support/player/doc/releasenotes_player.html

Windows binary

md5sum: e2c8dd7b27df7d348f14f69de017b93f

Player 1.0.9 for Linux (.rpm)

md5sum: 471c3881fa60b058b1dac1d3c9c32c85

Player 1.0.9 for Linux (.tar)

md5sum: bef507811698e7333f5e8cb672530dbf

VMware Server 1.0.8

–

http://www.vmware.com/download/server/

Release notes:

http://www.vmware.com/support/server/doc/releasenotes_server.html

VMware Server for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit

md5sum: 4ba41e5fa192f786121a7395ebaa8d7c

VMware Server Windows client package

md5sum: f25746e275ca00f28d44ad372fc92536

VMware Server for Linux

md5sum: a476d3953ab1ff8457735e692fa5edf9

VMware Server for Linux rpm

md5sum: af6890506618fa82928fbfba8a5f97e1

Management Interface

md5sum: 5982b84a39479cabce63e12ab664d369

VMware Server Linux client package

md5sum: 605d7db48f63211cc3f5ddb2b3f915a6

ESXi

–

ESXi 3.5 patch ESXe350-200811401-O-SG

http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESXe350-200811401-O-SG.zip

md5sum: e895c8cb0d32b722d7820d0214416092

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007507

NOTE: The three ESXi patches for Firmware “I”, VMware Tools “T,” and

the VI Client “C” are contained in a single offline “O”

download file.

ESX

ESX 3.5 patch ESX350-200811401-SG (memory corruption)

http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX350-200811401-SG.zip

md5sum: 988042ce20ce2381216fbe1862c3e66d

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007501

ESX 3.5 patch ESX350-200811406-SG (bzip2)

http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX350-200811406-SG.zip

md5sum: 285ec405ac34a196cbb796922e22cca2

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007504

ESX 3.0.3 patch ESX303-200811401-BG (memory corruption)

http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX303-200811401-BG.zip

md5sum: 26bf687a3483951d1f14ab66edf1d196

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006986

ESX 3.0.3 patch ESX303-200811404-SG (bzip2)

http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX303-200811404-SG.zip

md5sum: 2707e4a599867b0444e85a75a471ed4f

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007198

ESX 3.0.2 patch ESX-1006980 (memory corruption)

http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX-1006980.tgz

md5sum: 5e73f1585fea3ee770b2df2b94e73ca4

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006980

ESX 3.0.2 patch ESX-1006982 (bzip2)

http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX-1006982.tgz

md5sum: 4921cf542b5979bd0eef7f2c15683b71

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006982

ESX 2.5.5 patch 11 build 126598

http://download3.vmware.com/software/esx/esx-2.5.5-126598-upgrade.tar.gz

md5sum: 8d1d84c433c474334639ed22bd9d1d2a

http://vmware.com/support/esx25/doc/esx-255-200810-patch.html

Insight Enterprises Named First Reseller Partner In U.S. To Serve VMware Service Provider Program

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Insight Enterprises announced today that it has been named the first U.S.-based reseller partner to offer subscription licenses to serve the expanded VMware Service Provider Program (VSPP). With the addition of Insight, VSPP partners can now expect the licensing flexibility they need in hosting environments leveraging the VMware technology, marketing and training they need.

VSPP partners are part of the VMware vCloud Initiative, which delivers an enterprise-class cloud computing platform. The VMware vCloud initiative offers broad support for existing and new applications, and it enables federation between on- and off-premise clouds. The core technology underpinning of the VMware vCloud Initiative is a set of VMware vServices that provide the APIs and technologies to enable this federation and facilitate business needs such as flex capacity, disaster recovery, or test and development for enterprises. VMware vServices also enable cloud providers to simplify how SMBs acquire compute capacity.

With the growth of cloud computing and VMware’s vCloud initiative, Insight can enable service providers to rent VMware licenses to capitalize on the market opportunity in delivering new on-demand cloud-like services for enterprises and SMBs, while preserving their capital.