PUBLIC MARKS with tags software & xen

This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions on how to install Xen on an Ubuntu Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04) server system (i386). You can find all the software used here in the Ubuntu repositories, so no external files (apart from a fixed Ubuntu Xen kernel to enable networking for the virtual machines) or compilation are needed.

Openfiler is a powerful, intuitive browser-based network storage software distribution. Openfiler ScreenshotsOpenfiler delivers file-based Network Attached Storage and block-based Storage Area Networking in a single framework. Openfiler is built on the rPath Linux metadistribution and is distributed as a stand-alone Linux distribution. The entire software stack interfaces with third-party software that is all open source. File-based networking protocols supported by Openfiler include: NFS, SMB/CIFS, HTTP/WebDAV and FTP. Network directories supported by Openfiler include NIS, LDAP (with support for SMB/CIFS encrypted passwords), Active Directory (in native and mixed modes) and Hesiod. Authentication protocols include Kerberos 5. Openfiler includes support for volume-based partitioning, iSCSI (target and initiator), scheduled snapshots, resource quota, and a single unified interface for share management which makes allocating shares for various network file-system protocols a breeze.

Virtualization offers advantages that include server consolidation, isolation, rapid provisioning, and improved change management processes. Since virtualization breaks the hardware dependency and isolates virtual machines from details about the physical servers on which they are hosted, virtual images can be moved from one hosting platform to another. They can also be cloned to create more virtual machines, as desired. One of the challenges with cloning virtual images is handling operating system, network, and application specific customization. This article provides a sample framework for automating virtual image activation on new host platforms. This article, along with a previous article on Using virtual image templates to deploy WebSphere Application Server, demonstrates an automated approach for quickly and easily provisioning new WebSphere Application Server environments. The sample deployment and activation code included with this article is independent of WebSphere Application Server and can be used in conjunction with other software inside a virtual image. The specific example provided here is for WebSphere Application Server V6 in VMware or XEN virtual images, using SUSE V10 as the guest operating system. The activation techniques described in this article can be used in conjunction with IBM Tivoli® Provisioning Manager as described in Using Tivoli Provisioning Manager to deploy composite virtual appliances.

This how-to provides step-by-step instructions on how to install Xen on an already working Debian Etch system. You can find all the software used here in the Etch repository, so no external files or compilation are needed.

The idea of using virtual machines to build high available clusters is not new. Some software companies claim that virtualization is the answer to your HA problems, off course that's not true. Yes, you can reduce downtime by migrating virtual machines to another physical machine for maintenance purposes or when you think hardware is about to fail, but if an application crashes you still need to make sure another application instance takes over the service. And by the time your hardware fails, it's usually already too late to initiate the migration.

Ganeti is a virtual server management software tool built on top of Xen virtual machine monitor and other Open Source software. However, Ganeti requires pre-installed virtualization software on your servers in order to function. Once installed, the tool will take over the management part of the virtual instances (Xen DomU), e.g. disk creation management, operating system installation for these instances (in co-operation with OS-specific install scripts), and startup, shutdown, failover between physical systems. It has been designed to facilitate cluster management of virtual servers and to provide fast and simple recovery after physical failures using commodity hardware.

The Enomalism Virtualized Management Console (VMC) is a powerful web-based systems administrator management tool for the XEN hypervisor. Geared toward hosted environments, Enomalism provides an easy to use interface to provision hundreds of concurrent isolated Virtual Private Servers (VPS). Multiple physical servers can be managed as a single server using a specialized tool set which include a centralized user provisioning system, virtualized server creation wizard and templates which facilitate virtual server configuration, application deployment mechanism, and integration into 3rd party applications via web services API as well as centralized software patch management.

Xen Software xen-shell is a simple console shell for a hosting company to allow customers to control their own Xen instance. xen-tools is a collection of software which allow you to create new guest domains. Argo is a work-in-progress Xen monitor and control panel.