VMworld 2007: The Open Virtual Fomat (OVF) Initiative

Technical Editor Michael Otey attended a few sessions discussing the Open Virtual Format (OVF), a initiative that intends to improve compatability and interoperability between the leading virtualization developers. Microsoft, VMware and XenSource are part of the program, as are leading hardware vendors like IBM, Dell and HP. Mike says that the effort could help make things easier for enterprises that may have to deal with multiple virtualization products from multiple vendors.

"One aspect of the OVF format under discussion is a software wrapper that surrounds each vendor's proprietary format," Michael says. "The format takes care of the underlying details of compatability -- the users won't have to worry about that."

One trend that we've both noticed at the show is a move by hardware appliance vendors to virtualize the functionality of their appliances. This will undoubtedly accelerate the move towards virtualization in large enterprises, and also reap some additional cost saving by further reducing energy and cooling costs at the data center. Expect to see more on that trend from Windows IT Pro in the future.