Well, today’s the day. The announcements have begun: SCVMM is finally out. I’m kind of waiting for someone to say Microsoft released it “early,” since the (latest) announced stated end of October.
Brace yourself for a tidal wave of FUD from Redmond that perhaps only the Linux community has known. Here are a couple examples for you.
Take a look at this item from the Top Ten Benefits list:
Support for Microsoft Virtual Server and VMware ESX
With this release, VMM now manages VMware ESX virtualized infrastructure in conjunction with the Virtual Center product. Now administrators running multiple virtualization platforms can rely on one tool to manage virtually everything. With its compatibility with VMware VI3 (through Virtual Center), VMM now supports features such as VMotion and can also provide VMM-specific features like Intelligent Placement to VMware servers.
Wow, isn’t this amazing. Now even VMware users can benefit from the awesome and innovative Intelligent Placement. At last! The only problem with this statement is complete omission of the fact that VMware DRS has had an intelligent placement option since its release over two years ago. You may recognize it:
Here is another little gem from the FAQ:
Q. Does this product enable “live” migration or zero downtime migration of workloads across physical servers?
A. Yes, when used with the VMware’s Virtual Center product, VMM can move workloads across physical hosts via VMotion. In a Hyper-V environment there is a short service interruption as workloads are moved via Quick Migration. The length of that service interruption will depend on the time needed to copy the files from one source server to the target, and will be sensitive to storage and network infrastructure. The migration wizard will automatically detect SAN infrastructure and will enable the admin to choose to migrate files over SAN at much faster pace.
Emphasis mine. VMM hasn’t enabled anything, it is calling a VMware API. They neglected to mention the fact that VMware ESX is also required.
How is that any different from this:
Q. Can you haul this sofa in your Volkswagen Beetle?
A. Yes, I will borrow my friend’s truck to haul the sofa. I can also haul two of the cushions in my VW.
Note to Microsoft: VirtualCenter is one word, not two.
