Sun's VirtualBox 3.1 has definitely made a big hit with InfoWorld's reviewer Randall C. Kennedy, who writes, This is one freebie that breaks the mold and delivers more, not less, than you're expecting. In Kennedy's opinion, VirtualBox 3.1 should give VMware something serious to worry about. " ... after years of wallowing in obscurity, VirtualBox, the desktop virtualization solution of choice for FOSS groupies and similar anti-establishment types, is causing quite a ruckus," he continues.

Kennedy praises the management at Sun for realizing the potential in VirtualBox, which they acquired from its German developer Innotek when the solution was an obscure freebie.

Not so nowadays, given features like 32-way virtual SMP support and branched snapshots that finally bring it on par with its commercial competitors. Kennedy is most impressed with the capability of VirtualBox 3.1 to dynamically move running VMs between VirtualBox host systems. Similar to VMware's VMotion technology, this new feature, which Sun has dubbed "Teleportation," adds a whole new wrinkle to the VirtualBox story, he proclaims.

"Suddenly, this once shy, awkward desktop VM solution is sporting speeds and feeds that seem more at home on a VMware ESX or Microsoft Hyper-V datasheet," Kennedy writes.

In his final verdict on the new release, Kennedy assures the fans of VirtualBox that they can have confidence in the serious VM muscle lurking underneath their favorite product's pedestrian exterior.

"Sun's decision to gobble up this diamond in the rough is looking less like a compatibility play for OpenSolaris and more like a clever way to acquire a potentially class-leading VMM (Virtual Machine Monitor) with which to pry loose VMware's stranglehold. Kudos to Sun for seeing VirtualBox's potential and for keeping it FOSS so that the rest of the world can enjoy the benefits of its robust virtualization engine," Kennedy concludes.

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Kennedy's review

Sun VirtualBox 3.1

Sun VirtualBox 3.1 Earns a Technology of the Year Award [...read more...]

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