At the time of writing VMware support two version of vCenter - an installable version which runs on the Microsoft Windows platform and virtual appliance edition which runs on the SUSE Linux platform. In terms of their core APIs, the two editions are functionally the same.
- VM Backup Appliance Based on QNAP NAS. Even if some of your VMware or Hyper-V servers are down. A QNAP NAS-based VM backup appliance has all necessary components streamlining disaster recovery: backed up VM data, feature-rich software, and reliable hardware.
- > List of VSA Virtual Storage Appliances and SAN Storage Simulators Where to Download and How to Set Up Free Storage Simulators and VSA Virtual Storage Appliances For your lab you’re going to need compute (the servers), networking (routers and switches etc.) and storage.
- With Synology NAS-Based VM Backup Appliance, you get all VM data protection components in a single system that is fast to deploy and easy to manage. Create a high-performance VM Backup Appliance by installing NAKIVO Backup & Replication Directly on your Synology NAS! 'The Synology-based VM backup appliance is separate from our VMware.
Virtual appliances are great for the same reasons physical appliances took the IT world by storm: They make deployment a snap -- even instantaneous -- while at the same time reducing costs. It's a formula that made hardware-based appliances immensely popular for network security, backup, storage networking, file services, email, and many other single-focus solutions.
By leveraging open source solutions, and shedding the hardware entirely, virtual appliances can push the cost savings to whole new level: completely free. You'll find an increasing number of open source projects available for download in virtual machine formats for Xen, VirtualBox, VMware, and other virtualization platforms. Naturally, the virtual appliance is especially handy when the solution stitches together a host of components or relies on an entire LAMP stack. Why build it yourself when you can download the whole installation, already pre-configured?
In short, with the rise in popularity of virtualization and server consolidation, IT pros have many other options, options that offer all of the pros of a physical appliance, with very few of the drawbacks. Even when the software is proprietary, a virtual appliance costs less than a physical hardware appliance. And then there are all the other advantages of virtualization: The ability to run multiple virtual appliances on a single server, the ability to migrate virtual appliances from one server to another, and the ability to back up a virtual appliance almost instantly. All of these capabilities play well into disaster recovery and business continuity planning and help make virtual appliances a 'must consider' technology for businesses large and small.
Before diving into the widening world of virtual appliances, there is no better way to experiment than with virtual appliances that are free to use and meet unique needs in an enterprise. Listed below are some of the free standouts that we have come across over the years, all of which offer enough features and capabilities to make the transition from an experimental virtual appliance to a line-of-business solution.
Openfiler NAS and SAN
Openfiler is a full-fledged NAS/SAN appliance (or IP storage gateway) that can be downloaded as a virtual appliance for VMware and Xen hypervisors directly from openfiler.com. Openfiler offers storage administrators a set of powerful tools that are used to manage complex storage environments. The product brings reliability to storage with support for both software and hardware RAID, monitoring and alerting facilities, and volume snapshot and recovery features. High availability is included in the form of active/passive clustering, multipath I/O, and block level replication. Scalability is also addressed by a filesystem that can support up to 60TB, with the ability to expand filesystems and volumes without taking storage offline. High performance is guaranteed by a Linux 2.6 kernel that supports the latest CPU, networking, and storage hardware.
Openfiler is a full-fledged NAS/SAN appliance (or IP storage gateway) that can be downloaded as a virtual appliance for VMware and Xen hypervisors directly from openfiler.com. Openfiler offers storage administrators a set of powerful tools that are used to manage complex storage environments. The product brings reliability to storage with support for both software and hardware RAID, monitoring and alerting facilities, and volume snapshot and recovery features. High availability is included in the form of active/passive clustering, multipath I/O, and block level replication. Scalability is also addressed by a filesystem that can support up to 60TB, with the ability to expand filesystems and volumes without taking storage offline. High performance is guaranteed by a Linux 2.6 kernel that supports the latest CPU, networking, and storage hardware.
Configuring Openfiler can be rather complex, but there are plenty of resources available on the Web that cover the most typical installations. Openfiler is managed using a browser-based console, which offers dashboard-like simplicity and several submenus to address the more complex configuration settings available. When paired with VMware ESXi, Openfiler brings enterprise level storage capabilities -- including iSCSI and other SAN and NAS services -- to most any network, completely free of charge. Support plans and commercial add-ons are available at www.openfiler.com for those looking to add additional capabilities or receive professional technical support.
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That's right, create your own Linux virtual appliances with '>VMware Studio. Appliances are small, single purpose servers that provide a service to users. Some examples are Content Management Systems (CMS), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, web servers, mail servers, DNS servers, database servers, and so on.
VMware Studio is actually a virtual machine (VM) image that runs in VMware Server, VMware Player, and possibly their other products. To use the Studio, download and boot the VM. Instructions on how to access the web-based interface are displayed to you on the VM's console.
The appliance-building process is simple but requires that you have some advanced knowledge of Linux. VMware's Studio is a tool that is really more suited to ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) who want to supply an appliance that hosts their application or service. When you build your appliance, you can add in an update repository so that your appliance users can easily download and install updates from your repository with minimal effort--a great feature for ISVs.
There are a few glitches with the VMware Studio system but they are relatively minor and should be fixed in the next release since VMware is aware of them. If you need to build an appliance or always wanted to build your own distribution, this is the tool for you.
Novell also offers a tool called '>SUSE Studio (still in alpha) that fills the same needs as VMware's Studio. I find that SUSE Studio is friendlier to work with and requires less of the user than VMware's product. SUSE Studio is entirely web-based so you can create virtual appliances at a customer site, if needed. I think SUSE Studio is ready for general use but Novell is notoriously conservative with its releases of new software--one explanation for their products having a reputation of rock solid stability.
Novell also offers a tool called '>SUSE Studio (still in alpha) that fills the same needs as VMware's Studio. I find that SUSE Studio is friendlier to work with and requires less of the user than VMware's product. SUSE Studio is entirely web-based so you can create virtual appliances at a customer site, if needed. I think SUSE Studio is ready for general use but Novell is notoriously conservative with its releases of new software--one explanation for their products having a reputation of rock solid stability.
You can also download ready-to-run virtual appliances from '>VMware, '>Thoughtpolice, JumpBox, and several other appliance repositories. I'd rather build my own using VMware Studio so that I can have complete control over all the included packages. You don't have to use a 'Studio' application to create your own virtual appliances, you can install your own favorite distribution into a VM, customize it, and distribute it but these Studio apps make it much easier to do so.
You can get the full story on VMware Studio, SUSE Studio, and virtual appliances by picking up a copy of the January 2008 Linux Pro Magazine (Linux Magazine in Europe) and reading my Virtualization column at Linux Magazine.
Nas For Vmware
How do you use virtual appliances? Talk back and let me know.