One is All You Need

One of the big announcements at Oracle OpenWorld last week was Oracle VM. I’m a big fan of virtualization and have worked a lot with VMWare, but honestly I’ve never paid much attention to Xen (which Oracle VM is based on).

Here’s some item’s I found interesting:

Oracle VM (based on Xen) requires the linux guest OS to be modified with paravirtualization drivers, Windows requires Hardware Assist and will likely run slower then OEL or RedHat until suitable paravirtualization drivers are delivered.

From: VMWare’s “A Performance Comparison of Hypervisors”

The full virtualization approach allows datacenters to run an unmodified guest operating system, thus maintaining the existing investments in operating systems and applications and providing a nondisruptive migration to virtualized environments. VMware uses a combination of direct execution and binary translation techniques to achieve full virtualization of an x86 system

The paravirtualization approach modifies the guest operating system to eliminate the need for binary translation. Therefore it offers potential performance advantages for certain workloads but requires using specially modified operating system kernels. The Xen open source project [and there by Oracle VM] was designed initially to support paravirtualized operating systems. While it is possible to modify open source operating systems, such as Linux and OpenBSD, it is not possible to modify “closed” source operating systems such as Microsoft Windows . It is also not practical to modify older versions of open source operating systems that are already in use. As it turns out, Microsoft Windows is the most widely deployed operating system in enterprise datacenters. For such unmodified guest operating systems, a virtualization hypervisor must either adopt the full virtualization approach or rely on hardware virtualization in the processor architecture.

The hardware virtualization support enabled by AMD-V and Intel VT technologies introduces virtualization in the x86 processor architecture itself. While first-generation hardware assist support includes CPU virtualization only, later generations are expected to include memory and I/O virtualization as well. The emergence of virtualization hardware assist reduces the need to paravirtualize guest operating systems. In fact, Xen vendors such as Virtual Iron have announced that they are supporting only full virtualization using AMD-V and Intel VT processors and are not supporting paravirtualization

It looks like paravirtualization and hardware assist are the future for the hypervisor until then check out:

Ten Reasons Why Oracle Databases Run Best on VMware (this is an interesting read but it does point out that a lot of important features relative to Oracle are not coming until the 3.5 ESX release)

Both Greg and I will be at OpenWorld this year, speaking (see the schedule below), working the booth and attending a few tech sessions stop by and visit us and the other Piocon folks at Booth 2822 in Moscone South.

IOUG:  Oracle Application Server High-Availability Options
Session Abstract:	This presentation addresses Oracle Application Server alternative configurations and the associated benefits and risks of each.
Speakers:	Jeremy Simmons, Piocon
Date/Time:	Thursday  11/15/2007  11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Venue/Room:	Moscone South 307
Session ID:	S291061

Procurement Business Intelligence (BI) from Disparate Datasources with Oracle Warehouse Builder and Oracle Portal
Session Abstract:	IPSCO Inc., a multinational steel manufacturer with 20+ facilities in North America, struggled to produce an enterprisewide view of expenditures from federated procurement systems. In this session, Piocon and IPSCO tell how Oracle Warehouse Builder facilitated the centralization of these disparate datasources into a single Oracle Database 10g warehouse. Combining BI analysis tools including Oracle Discoverer, IPSCO has produced significant, measurable ROI.
Speakers:	John Gosack, IPSCO Inc.; Gregory Pike, Piocon
Date/Time:	Monday  11/12/2007  3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
Venue/Room:	Westin SF Market Street / City Room
Session ID:	S292381

IOUG RAC SIG: High Availability Options for Oracle Database
Session Abstract:	From Oracle RAC to cold backups, this session will introduce the various Oracle and third party features, products, and options that provide high availability for Oracle Database. IT Managers, DBAs, and system architects will benefit from the information provided in this technical session.
Speaker:	Dan Norris, Piocon
Date/Time:	Sunday  11/11/2007  10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Venue/Room:	Moscone West / 2002 - L2
Session ID:	S292927

OAUG Oracle BI SIG:  How to get the Most out of OpenWorld
Session Abstract:	With a myriad of presentations spanning a vast array of topics, OpenWorld can be a tough place to navigate.  If you are focused on learning about Oracle Business Intelligence, you will find over 300 sessions on this topic alone.  Breaking down all the Oracle BI sessions at OpenWorld, this talk will focus on where to find the most pertinent information on Oracle BI given your needs.
Speakers:	Joe Thomas, Oracle; OAUG OBI SIG Chairs:  Basheer Khan, Innowave Technology; Glenn Hoormann, Optimum Solutions; Dave Herringtong, DARC; Matthew Vranicar, Piocon
Date/Time:	Sunday  11/11/2007  2:45 PM - 3:45 PM
Venue/Room:	Moscone West / 2014
Session ID:

IOUG: Oracle RAC for Beginners–The Basics
Session Abstract:	Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) has been steadily gaining momentum. DBAs and managers need to understand the basics of Oracle RAC and how it is managed. Many mistakes are made in attempts to create Oracle RAC environments without having a solid understanding of the architecture. This session focuses on the technical architecture of the Oracle RAC feature, emphasizing frequently misunderstood areas.
Speakers:	Dan Norris, Piocon
Date/Time:	Monday  11/12/2007  4:45 PM - 5:45 PM
Venue/Room:	Hilton / Yosemite Room C
Session ID:	S291026