Category Archives: [FOS]

Useful Slashdot posting on the varieties of VMWare offerings

Posted on by

From one of the developers of both VMware Server 1.0 and Workstation 5.x, a clarification of the different versions. Also note the economic argument:

VMware Server, while similar in appearance and sharing much of the same functionality as Workstation, is a completely different product with a different use case and target audience. It is the successor to GSX, and is for people who want to set up, well, servers! The key feature that Server has that Workstation does not is remoting, where you run a server on a computer and connect to it from a separate computer via a remote console or web interface. The VMs can start up with the computer, shut down with it, and can be accessed by multiple users. The VMs also don’t require an X installation to run the VMs, nor does it require any sort of UI to be running for the VM to run.

Workstation has a number of features that Server does not have. Among other differences, it supports multiple snapshots, teams of VMs (where multiple VMs can start up/shutdown together, can be in their own special network with custom NIC speeds and packet loss), and 3D acceleration in the guest (currently experimental, and requires DirectX in the guest for now). We have a lot in the works for the product, and the gap will widen.

The one difference that people seem to for some reason get upset over is the price. Workstation costs $189, while Server is free. People have asked me why they should get Workstation if Server is free. The answer is that you should get Workstation if it has the features you want. If Server is better suited to your requirements or budget, go ahead and get that. We’re not trying to force you into buying Workstation, and we’re in no way crippling the VMs. A VM made in Server should work in Workstation and Player just fine. Likewise, a VM made in Workstation should work in Server or Player.

Workstation is not somehow “better” than Server just because it costs more. It’s a different product. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Yes, Server is free while Workstation is not, and part of this is because that’s where mid-level server virtualization products were heading. Microsoft was considerably lowering the price on Virtual Server in an effort to hurt GSX sales. Xen, while not a huge contender in the enterprise yet, is free and good work is being done on it. Workstation, however, is unique enough in its dev/test features and still has value that we and our customers still feel is worth something. And you’ll see that value continue to grow over time, just as you will with our other products.

I hope that helped you understand why we’re still charging for Workstation while Server is free. Choose whichever product you like: Player, Server, Workstation, ACE, ESX.. They’re all fine choices, and they all offer solutions to different problems. It’s not just about virtualization itself anymore. It’s about what you can build on top of it.

Google spreadsheet as AJAX mashup for Everyman

Posted on by

On 6 June, Jon Bultmeyer, on the topic of Goggle’s spreadsheet, said:

…imagine you migrate your spreadsheets into the Google cloud because you want to share them live, which creates demand for others to have gmail accounts.” Now once you have the spreadsheet there, imagine formulas that want to keep your content there like

=search($A$1)

=rss(“http://foo.com/bar.xml”)

=flickr(“http://flickr/tag/foss”)

=webservice(“http://salesforce.com/mycustomers”, “custid”, $A$1)

=video(…)

=map(geocode($A$1))

in other words, formulas don’t have to live in within your machine, they can be resolved in the cloud. So is this the Everyman’s application- as-potential-AJAX-mashup-platform?

I think this is right on; I’m not sure if he’s joking about the Excel spreadsheet formula syntax, but that’s what people understand.

I have a very specific use case in mind for Enterprise Web 2.0, which consists of a business analyst mailing around spreadsheets and I’m sure it’s consistent from company to company. It would be fantastically useful for them to be able to call external services using something simple and familiar like Excel formulas. A lot of times, people use Excel *just* for presentation, which is absurd, of course, but they know how to do it.