OpenVZ operating system virtualization software will be included as part of the latest commercial distribution product from Mandriva (formerly MandrakeSoft) Mandriva Corporate Server 4.0.
With virtualization technology, a Linux server running either Intel or AMD CPUs, can effectively be split into many small ones, each running its tasks so that the whole server is utilized more efficiently.
Mandriva is the publisher of the popular Mandriva Linux, which is used by IT departments in enterprise, government, and education. OpenVZ is OS-level server virtualization built on Linux, which creates isolated, secure virtual environments on a single physical server.
“Embedding the OpenVZ technology directly into the Mandriva kernel will give Mandriva customers unparalleled virtualization functionality,” said Kir Kolyshkin, manager of the OpenVZ project.
As a result of the partnership, Mandriva users will see greater server utilization and availability with fewer performance penalties. Further, bundled OpenVZ virtualization will let Mandriva admins ensure that applications do not conflict, and allows apps to be re-booted independently. Read the OpenVZ Project’s blog on virtualization.
The OpenVZ Project latest software, based on the Linux kernel 2.6.15 provides the following upgrades and benefits:
- better hardware support, including AMD dual-core fixes and improved x86_64 support
- I/O schedulers, which makes it possible to assign different I/O rates to virtual private servers (VPSs)
- improved memory management, such as 4-level tables support and performance enhancements
- improved locking scheme and
- support for filesystem in userspace (FUSE).The OpenVZ project freely distributes and offers support to for its Open Source OpenVZ software. OpenVZ software comes with user tools that help automate management of virtual servers. With its unique architecture that uses a single operating system instance, the virtual servers perform and execute like independent servers with their own memory, configuration files, users and applications.OpenVZ is also used as the basis for the SWsoft Virtuozzo virtualization software productSupported by SWsoft, the OpenVZ project serves the needs of the community developers, testers, documentation experts, and other technology enthusiasts who wish to participate in and accelerate the technology development process.