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Aug. 13, 2009

After many months of anticipation, Oracle has finally unveiled its new open source technology called Oracle VM Template Builder, which enables users to design their own virtual software appliances.

The database giant says its new VM Template Builder is categorized as production enterprise software. This is meant to speed the deployment of enterprise applications, whether they run on Linux, Solaris or Windows.

It also incorporates a graphical utility that uses Oracle's VM virtualization technology and JeOS ("Just Enough Operating System") version of Oracle's Linux operating system.

Oracle first released its VM virtualization hypervisor technology two years ago, and it is based on the open source Xen hypervisor. In 2008, Oracle began its VM Templates program, which provides users with pre-built Oracle software virtual appliances.

Now with the Oracle VM Template Builder, the company is opening up its virtualization technology to build software appliances for any type of IT system.

Monica Kumar, senior director for Linux and open source product marketing at Oracle says "basically, it's something that is only applicable for building Oracle VM templates. It's not something that we directly support for users to deploy as an operating system."

Oracle's new product launches it directly into the competitive market for virtual appliance creation, which now includes VMware, Novell and rPath.

Sitting underneath the hypervisor technology is Oracle's JeOS, which Kumar explained is a version of Oracle's Enterprise Linux tailored specifically for Oracle VM Templates.

Linux vendor Novell recently launched its online virtual appliance building service SUSE Studio application, while rPath Linux has had a similar service in market for several years.

Kumar added "this is only the beginning for us. It has only been a year and a half since we announced Oracle VM. In 2008, we focused on creating templates of Oracle software, and now we are taking the next step and we're helping ISVs build templates for their software."

While VM Template Builder is installed locally, other competitive virtual appliance building services are available as online Software-as-a-Service or cloud services offered by Oracle.

Kumar said the VM Builder program is a free development tool and there is no charge to ISVs to use the software. The database giant considers the virtual appliance just another deployment mechanism. Instead, enterprise software subscriptions and support for the actual applications is where new revenue generation could be factored in.

Oracle is also adding Oracle VM to its Validated Configuration program, which is a guide to best practices for deployment.

Kumar added "what all this means is that our best practices are no longer just for physical infrastructure, but we are also providing best practices for virtual software deployment. The way Oracle looks at virtualization is part of a complete application deployment solution, that is part of a whole and integrated information system."

Source: Oracle.

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