Rackable servers undercut virtualisation

Server virtualisation provides a way to cut costs and simplify infrastructure by dividing up a single physical system into many virtual servers, reports ZDNet.

Rackable's MicroSlice architecture achieves a similar effect through the use of small Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX motherboards, originally designed for PCs or embedded systems.

This technique can fit up to 264 servers per cabinet, while drawing on as little as 72 watts of power per server, Rackable stated.

Red Hat has released the latest version of its corporate Linux distribution, offering enhanced support for virtualisation and an open source implementation of Sun Microsystems' Java platform for the first time, states Vnunet.

Available immediately, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 (RHEL 5.3) includes over 150 updates, according to the firm, the most significant addressing virtualisation, support for new processors and integration of the open source Java OpenJDK.

"With RHEL 5.3, customers have access to the latest in open source, including leading virtualisation scalability and performance," said Scott Crenshaw, vice-president of Red Hat's Platform Business Unit.

Sits Group, a Northern UK-based professional services organisation, is offering customers Parallels' server virtualisation tool: Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, says Aim 168 Real Estate.

The product gives users greater utilisation from their server hardware by creating virtual servers or "containers" so multiple isolated workloads can run simultaneously.

Focused purely on virtualisation, Sits Group joins a growing number of partners and resellers that see Parallels Virtuozzo Containers as a strong and unique alternative to hypervisor-based products currently on the market.