This information comes from a VMware employee. We've all read the news from VMware, CNET, and The Register... well here is the skinny from an insider. Enjoy!
What VMware Server Is:
- Free virtualization for servers.
- A way to give people free virtualization with the hope that they’ll consider eventually moving up to ESX for the enterprise.
- Based on VMware GSX.
- The successor to GSX.
- Capable of 64-bit guests, Virtual SMP, new guests like Ubuntu, auto-detect devices, etc.
- Capable of opening Workstation 5.5 VMs.
- Available for Linux and Windows hosts. It should be the same set that Workstation 5.5 works on.
- Ported to GTK2 (using a slightly more evolved Workstation 5.5-based UI).
- Beta!
What VMware Server Is Not:
- A stripped down or crippled version of VMware GSX. Server has even more capabilities than GSX did.
- A replacement for Workstation. VMware Server has no support for multiple snapshots or team functionality, and while Server is a server product, Workstation is a good desktop and development product.
- A replacement for Player. Player is still high on our priority list, and we useful for the average person who just wants to run VMs.
- A response to an apparent Xen or QEMU threat. While Xen has potential, it’s primarily just a hypervisor, and we’ve had one of those for ages. The interesting work is built on top of that (as XenSource, another proprietary software company, is doing).
- A sign that VMware is doomed. I’ve heard this one a lot, and it just makes me chuckle. This should be taken as a sign that we’re doing pretty good. How many companies have the insight and abilities to give away their products for free and still make money?
- A dead product before it begins. I don’t think there’s a worry about that. We’ve put a lot of effort into it so far, and are already hard at work on beta 2.
- A money sink for us. We’ll be making money through optional support contracts.
His thoughts: