Virtualization for x86-based servers is still maturing compared to virtualization on mainframes and RISC based servers. As such there is still a learning curve for both vendors and users. One area that is finally becoming defined in this commodity server space is that the hypervisor is not the major component of any virtualization platform. Going forward, management and control will be the biggest factor in the selection of virtualization software. This is demonstrated by Microsoft offering its Hyper-V package for $28 and VMware providing its ESXi Hypervisor package for free.
Who's On First?
For the past several years there were really only two x86-based virtualization packages widely available for enterprises: VMware, the market leader, and Microsoft Virtual Server. VMware allows different operating systems to be virtualized and run through its hypervisor while Virtual Server only supports Windows Server OSes.
